The Three Princes of Serendip The Three Princes of Serendip The Three Princes of Serendip is the English version of the story "Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo" published by Michele Tramezzino in Venice in 1557. Tramezzino claimed to have heard the story from one , who had translated the Persian fairy tale into Italian, adapting Book One of Amir Khusrau's "Hasht-Bihisht" of 1302. The story first came to English via a French translation, and now exists in several out-of-print translations. "Serendip" is the Old Persian name for Sri Lanka (Ceylon). The story has become known in the English-speaking world as the
Horace Walpole of Orford (c.1701–1751), passed the title on to his son, the 3rd Earl of Orford (1730–1791). When the 3rd Earl died unmarried, Horace Walpole became the 4th Earl of Orford, and the title died with him in 1797. The massive amount of correspondence he left behind had been published in many volumes, starting in 1798. Likewise, a large collection of his works, including historical writings, was published immediately after his death. Strawberry Hill had its own printing press, the Strawberry Hill Press, which supported Horace Walpole's intensive literary activity. In 1764, not using his own press, he anonymously published his