Vathek / William Beckford ; translated with an introduction by Herbert B. Grimsditch ; illustrated with lithographs by Edward Bawden

Author:: Beckford, William, 1760-1844
Uniform Title:: Vathek. English
Published:: London : Folio Society, 1958.
Physical Description:: 128 pages, 8 unnumbered leaves of plates : color illustrations ; 22 cm
Additional Creators:: Grimsditch, Herbert B. (Herbert Borthwick), 1898-, Bawden, Edward, 1903-1989, and Folio Society (London, England)

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Summary:

"The novel chronicles the fall from power of the Caliph Vathek (a fictionalised version of the historical Al-Wathiq), who renounces Islam and engages with his mother, Carathis, in a series of licentious and deplorable activities designed to gain him supernatural powers. At the end of the novel, instead of attaining these powers, Vathek descends into a hell ruled by the demon Eblis where he is doomed to wander endlessly and speechlessly"--Wikipedia.

Subject(s):

Caliphs—Fiction
Arab countries—Fiction

Note:

Vathek was first published in English (without Beckford's name) as An Arabian Tale, in a translation by Samuel Henley, London, 1786. The original French text was first published at Lausanne, 1787; revised edition, Paris, 1787; revised edition, London, 1815. This translation was originally published in a limited edition by the Nonesuch Press in 1929.
In slipcase.

Source of Acquisition:

Rare Books copy: Gift of Lyman Tower Sargent; 2014.

View MARC record | catkey: 14990476