Sign-In
Cart
Windsor Castle
Paperback
Publisher: Bibliotech Press
Published: Feb 11 2025
Pages: 284
Weight: 0.76
Height: 0.71 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Windsor Castle is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1842. It is a historical romance with gothic elements that depicts Henry VIII's pursuit of Anne Boleyn. Intertwined with the story are the actions of Herne the Hunter, a legendary ghost that haunts Windsor woods.
W H Horne, in A New Spirit of the Age, claims that Ainsworth's so-called historical romance of 'Windsor Castle' is not to be regarded as a work of literature open to serious criticism. It is a picture book, and full of very pretty pictures. Also full of catalogues of numberless suits of clothes. Such a passion, indeed, he has for describing clothes, that he frequently gives us two suits with a single body [...] As to plot or story it does not pretend to any.
In 1911, S. M. Ellis claims that Windsor Castle was thus a great success; and it is still very popular. This is not to be wondered at, for, despite some faults in construction, it is one of Ainsworth's most fascinating works [...] More powerfully still did he interpret the mystery of trees in this romance [...] Most skilfully, too, he adapted and revivified for the purposes of his woodland romance the ancient and weirdly picturesque legend of Herne the Hunter. Ellis continues by claiming that Windsor Castle is one of the best examples of Ainsworth's skill in combining a vivid and exciting narrative with wealth of historical detail and scenic description, the whole interwoven with supernatural events in the most natural manner, so much so that it is difficult to say where the mundane ends and the occult begins. It was an art quite peculiar to this author, who, by the force and interest of his narrative, compels the reader to accept his supernatural beings and improbable events as a necessary and essential part of the dramatic work in hand. George Worth, in 1972, focuses on the winding plots and gaps that Ainsworth leaves behind as he says, Despite the basic unity of the novel, then, we have the feeling that Ainsworth allows himself to stray too often from the main, broad track of his narrative and to abandon his reader at the end of little trails that lead nowhere. In 2003, Stephen Carver claims that the novel's depiction of Herne is Ainsworth at his gothic best, rivalling Lewis, Maturin and even Byron. Herne effortlessly steals every scene in which he appears, much as he steals souls. (wikipedia.org)
14 different editions
Also available
Windsor Castle: An Historical Romance. [With Three Plates by G. Cruikshank.]
Cruikshank, George
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Also from
Ainsworth, William Harrison
The Lancashire Witches: A Romance of Pendle Forest
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Gilbert, John
Paperback
Spooky Stories to Tell in the Dark: Ghosts, Ghouls, and other Horrors
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Bangs, John Kendrick
Hardcover
Cruikshank's Water Colours
Dickens, Charles
Maxwell, W. H. (William Hamilton)
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Ainsworth's Novels. With all the Original Illus. by George Cruikshank and Others
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
The Lancashire Witches, a Romance of Pendle Forest. With Illus. by Sir John Gilbert
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Hardcover
History of the Dunmow Flitch of Bacon Custom
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Berry, William
Andrews, William
Paperback
History of the Dunmow Flitch of Bacon Custom
Berry, William
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Andrews, William
Hardcover
The Leaguer of Lathom: A Tale of the Civil War in Lancashire - Vol. II
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Ovingdean Grange: A tale of the South Downs. Vol. 1
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Browne, Hablot Knight
Paperback
Windsor Castle: An Historical Romance
Johannot, Tony
Cruikshank, George
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Ainsworth's Novels: With all the Original Illus. by George Cruikshank and Others
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
James the Second, Or, the Revolution of 1688, Ed. [Really Written] by W.H. Ainsworth
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Hardcover
Rookwood. By: William Harrison Ainsworth (NOVEL ) a historical and gothic romance (Illustrated) by: George Cruikshank and Sir John Gilbert
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Jack Sheppard; a romance. By: William Harrison Ainsworth ( Newgate NOVEL based on the real life of the 18th-century criminal ) (Illustrated)
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Guy Fawkes; or, The gunpowder treason, an historical romance. By: William Harrison Ainsworth ( NOVEL )
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
The Lancashire witches, a romance of Pendle forest. By: William Harrison Ainsworth, illustrated By: Sir John Gilbert (21 July 1817 - 5 October 1897).:
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Gilbert, John
Paperback
Auriol; or, The elixir of life By: William Harrison Ainsworth, illustrated By: Hablot Knight Browne(10 July 1815 - 8 July 1882) his pen name, Phiz.: H
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Browne, Hablot Knight
Paperback
The flitch of bacon; or, The custom of Dunmow, a tale of English home By: William Harrison Ainsworth, illustrated By: Sir John Gilbert: Novel (World's
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Gilbert, John
Paperback
The Tower of London; an historical romance By: William Harrison Ainsworth: It is a historical romance that describes the history of Lady Jane Grey fro
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Ovingdean Grange: a tale of the South Downs (1860). By: William Harrison Ainsworth, illustrated By: Hablot K. Browne: Novel (Original Cl
Browne, Hablot K.
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Cardinal Pole; or, The days of Philip and Mary, an historical romance. By: William Harrison Ainsworth, illustrated By: Gilbert, Frederick, fl. 1862-18
Frederick, Gilbert
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Bentley's Miscellany, Volume 38
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Dickens, Charles
Cruikshank, George
Hardcover
Cardinal Pole: Or, The Days Of Philip And Mary. An Historical Romance; Volume 1
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Hardcover
Bentley's Miscellany, Volume 5
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Dickens, Charles
Cruikshank, George
Hardcover
The Lord Mayor of London, Or, City Life in the Last Century, Volumen II
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Hardcover
The Tower of London ... Illustrated by George Cruikshank. Fifth Edition
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
The Lancashire Witches: A Romance of Pendle Forest
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Gilbert, John
Hardcover
Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason: An Historical Romance
Cruikshank, George
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason: An Historical Romance
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Cruikshank, George
Hardcover
Cardinal Pole; Or, The Days of Philip and Mary
Gilbert, Frederick
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Cardinal Pole; Or, The Days of Philip and Mary
Gilbert, Frederick
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Hardcover
Cruikshank's Water Colours
Maxwell, W. H. (William Hamilton)
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Dickens, Charles
Hardcover
New Monthly Magazine
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Hall, Samuel Carter
Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton
Paperback
New Monthly Magazine
Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Hall, Samuel Carter
Hardcover
Talbot Harland. With Port of Charles II, After the Painting by Sir Peter Lely, and Three Etchings by Eugène-And
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Ainsworth's Novels. With all the Original Illus. by George Cruikshank and Others
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Hardcover
The Lord Mayor of London, Or, City Life in the Last Century, Volumen II
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Talbot Harland. With Port of Charles II, After the Painting by Sir Peter Lely, and Three Etchings by Eugène-And
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Hardcover
Cardinal Pole: Or, The Days Of Philip And Mary. An Historical Romance; Volume 1
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Paperback
Also in
Classic Fiction
James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales Vol. 1 (Loa #26): The Pioneers / The Last of the Mohicans / The Prairie
Cooper, James Fenimore
Hardcover
Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, a Midsummer Night's Dream, the Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
Before Gatsby: The First Twenty-Six Stories
Baughman, Judith
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Bruccoli, Matthew J.
Paperback
The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Paperback
The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paperback
The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by the Author: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Hardcover
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Hardcover
The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (Revised and easy-to-read)
Vermilye, Alan
Bunyan, John
Paperback
Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Stoker, Bram
Shelley, Mary
Paperback