<b>The Old English Baron</b> is a Gothic novel written by <b>Clara Reeve</b>. It was first published in 1777 and is considered one of the early examples of the <b>Gothic genre</b>.<br /><br />The story is set in the late 16th century and follows the tale of <b>Sir Philip Harclay</b>, who has been wrongly accused and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.<br /><br /><b>Clara Reeve</b> (1729-1807) was an English novelist best known for her gothic novel &quot;The Old English Baron&quot;, which was published in 1777. She was also the author of an innovative history of prose fiction called <b>The Progress of Romance</b>, which was published in 1785. Reeve was born in Ipswich, England, and was the daughter of Reverend William Reeve and the granddaughter of William Smithies, a goldsmith and jeweler to King George I.<br />She was one of eight children and grew up in a family that valued education. Reeve&#39;s first work was a translation from Latin, which was an unusual language for a woman to learn at the time.