It is a historical romance with gothic elements that depicts Henry VIII's pursuit of Anne Boleyn.
The first mention of Windsor Castle comes in a letter to Crossley 17 November 1841:[1] "I am just now finishing Old St. Paul's and am consequently very busy [...] I have made all arrangements to start my Magazine at Christmas next, and have engaged Tony Johannot (the artist), who is now at work for me [...] Windsor Castle, of course, forms the main feature of the design, and I propose commencing the story with Henry the Eighth entering into the Castle on the morning of St. George's Day, 1529, attended by Anne Boleyn and the Cardinals Wosley and Campeggio.
[4] After declining the service of Forster, it was published in a serialised form in the Ainsworth's Magazine starting July 1842 and ending in June 1843.
[5] Chapman and Hall published a cheap version of Ainsworth's works in late 1849, with a misprint in Windsor Castle that marked the later editions.
[6] In a letter to Charlies Ollier, Ainsworth wrote "Windsor Castle was worked off during my absence in Spain, and I had not observed the vexatious error into which the accursed printer had fallen, until you called my attention to it.
[8] It was continually in print until the 1960s, and appeared in multiple languages; a French paper Le Messenger carried a translation of the work soon after its original release.
[9] The focus of the novels is on the events surrounding Henry VIII's replacing Catherine of Aragon with Anne Boleyn as his wife.
[12] Characters in order of appearance in the shortened version of Windsor Castle by W. Harrison Ainsworth (from the Super Book Of Ghost Stories compiled and edited by Leonard J. Matthews — Hamlyn).
Cruikshank, during the beginning of the publication of Windsor Castle was busy producing illustrations for Ainsworth's The Miser's Daughter.
[5] Ainsworth told Delamotte exactly what he wanted for his work, and, in a letter written with these orders, said, "I shall be glad to see you to a family dinner at half-past three o'clock to-morrow-Sunday.
The character of Herne is also connected to Cernunnous, the Celtic god of the hunt, which was an image of nature and also a version of the devil in Christian belief.
Stories, including those found in Shakespeare's Richard II describe the supernatural keeper of Windsor forest.
The legend appealed to Ainsworth, and a tree that was supposedly haunted by Herne still existed in the forest until 1863 when a storm blew it down.
[18] 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.
[20] 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.
"[22] In 2003, Stephen Carver claims that the novel's depiction of Herne "is Ainsworth at his gothic best, rivalling Lewis, Maturin and even Byron.