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Aeneas Press edition Victorian First published 1843

Windsor Castle

by William Harrison Ainsworth 1805–1882

The book, and the century it came out of.

Windsor in 1529: Henry has seen Anne Boleyn, Wolsey is falling, and Herne the Hunter rides the forest with antlers on his head and an offer for anyone desperate enough. Ainsworth briefly outsold Dickens and wrote thirty-nine novels; here he binds the Tudor court to a genuine Berkshire legend, and the result is history and folk horror in the same volume, which nobody else managed. Illustrated with 57 full-page plates — paintings by Elder and van Scorel among them.

Of the Earl of Surrey’s solitary Ramble in the Home Park—Ofthe Vision beheld by him in the Haunted Dell—And of hisMeeting with Morgan Fenwolf, the Keeper, beneath Herne’sOak.
The first sentence of Windsor Castle
A note on this edition

Windsor Castle, by William Harrison Ainsworth, complete and unabridged. Spelling and punctuation follow present-day American usage; the sentences, the paragraphs and the voice are the author’s, word for word.

It was written in another era and may carry attitudes a reader today will find dated. They are kept for the sake of the work and do not reflect the views of this house.

The edition
Format
Ebook
Extent
about 360 pages
Reading time
about 7 hours
Illustrations
Full-page plates, credited
Text
Complete, unabridged
Language
en
This edition
2026
ISBN
9785486288425
The plates

57 paintings are bound into this edition

Six of them are shown here, taken from the volume itself. Each is reproduced full page and named with its painter and year.

Hunting near Hartenfels Castle, Lucas Cranach the Elder
Hunting near Hartenfels Castle Lucas Cranach the Elder 1540
Mountain Range, Albrecht Altdorfer
Mountain Range Albrecht Altdorfer 1530
The Concert, Titian
The Concert Titian 1510
Labors of the Months: December, Hans Wertinger
Labors of the Months: December Hans Wertinger 1521
Hilly landscape with the story of the Good Samritan  (Luke 10:25-37), Herri met de Bles
Hilly landscape with the story of the Good Samritan (Luke 10:25-37) Herri met de Bles 1540
View of Kalchreuth, Albrecht Dürer
View of Kalchreuth Albrecht Dürer 1511
The setting

A page from this edition

Not a mock-up: this page is taken from the finished volume. The ornament above the chapter belongs to its shelf and to no other, the opening letter is set as a drop capital, and the plate below carries the name of the painter and the year.

A page of Windsor Castle as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of Windsor Castle as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

Windsor Castle, first published 1843, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Adventure & the Sea shelf. Newly set, with the ornament of its series above each chapter and a drop capital on the opening page. Illustrated with full-page plates, each named with its painter.

Published as an ebook and not issued in print by this house; it carries one ISBN, 9785486288425, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.

Before you buy

Questions readers ask

Is this the whole of Windsor Castle?
Yes — complete and unabridged. Nothing is cut, condensed or paraphrased. This is the book, not a summary of it.
What exactly did you change?
The spelling and the punctuation follow present-day American usage. William Harrison Ainsworth's sentences are untouched — same words, same order, same rhythm.
Are the pictures really in the book?
Yes. The edition carries full-page plates bound into the text, each one named with its painter and the year it was made. Six of them are shown on this page.
How long is it?
About 360 pages, which is roughly about 7 hours of reading.
What do I actually get?
An illustrated ebook with its own ISBN, sold worldwide. One file, yours to keep, readable on any device.
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Windsor Castle
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