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Vathek: Occult Classic
Vathek: Occult Classic
Vathek: Occult Classic
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Vathek: Occult Classic

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This Beckford's novel, translated by Samuel Henley, was originally written in French when the author was 21. It was composed in French beginning in 1782, and then translated into English by Reverend Samuel Henley in which form it was first published in 1786. It is the story of Caliph Vathek, whose eye can kill at a glance, who makes a pact with the Devil, Eblis. The Caliph Vathek is dissolute and debauched, and hungry for knowledge. When the mysterious Giaour offers him boundless treasure and unrivalled power he is willing to sacrifice his god, the lives of innocent children, and his own soul to satisfy his obsession. Vathek's extraordinary journey to the subterranean palace of Eblis, and the terrifying fate that there awaits him, is a captivating tale of magic and oriental fantasy, sudden violence and corrupted love, whose mix of moral fable, grotesque comedy, and evocative beauty defies classification. Thomas Beckford ( 1760 – 1844), usually known as William Beckford, was an English novelist, a profligate and consummately knowledgeable art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer and sometime politician, reputed at one stage in his life to be the richest commoner in England.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherDigiCat
Release dateMay 25, 2022
ISBN8596547002130
Vathek: Occult Classic
Author

William Beckford

William Beckford (1760-1844) was an English novelist, art collector, slaveowner, and politician. Born in London, he inherited a massive fortune from his father, a former Lord Mayor of London, as well as an estate in Wiltshire and sugar plantations in Jamaica with around 3,000 African slaves. He lived in ease and luxury, studying music with Mozart and drawing with Alexander Cozens while leading a semi-open bisexual lifestyle. Inspired by a Grand Tour of Europe, Beckford published a travel narrative, Dreams, Waking Thoughts and Incidents (1783). Several years later, he wrote Vathek (1786), a popular Gothic novel originally drafted in French. He earned a reputation as an obsessive art collector and eccentric builder, burning through his fortune at an alarming rate. Throughout his life, he owned and sold original works by Turner, Blake, Velázquez, Lippi, and the Bellini family.

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    Vathek - William Beckford

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