Book description
Beckford's Gothic novel
Vathek
, an Arabian tale, was originally written in French when the author was
twenty-one. Published in English in 1786, it was one of the most
successful of the oriental tales then in fashion. This edition makes
available to a new generation of scholars and general readers, the
originality of Beckford's ideas, and the excellence of his prose.
William Beckford (1760-1844) inherited a large fortune and, at the age
of nineteen, went on a tour of Holland, Germany, Belgium, France and
Italy. He was a Member of Parliament and a traveller who spent large
sums of money collecting rare books, curiosities and paintings for the
embellishment of his Gothic Extravaganza, Fonthill Abbey, where he lived
in opulent seclusion until forced by bankruptcy to sell it in 1822.
