The Remains of a Dream: Alexander Pope’s Villa at Twickenham

By Loredana Massa

For a common tourist, nowadays, Twickenham, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, may mean nothing but a nice little spot just outside the confused threads of the big city. Yet, it undoubtedly strikes the imagination of the modern literary traveler searching for evocative paths, for this smart town is deeply steeped in eighteenth century literary memories and full of that unexcelled, refined spirit of the Augustan Age which still emanates from the remains of ancient rural England.

Twickenham was the dream of Alexander Pope.

Despite being the dominant fi...