Five years later, Beckford was to pen his Oriental romance VATHEK, which has made his name immortal. "Beckford, well read in Eastern romance, caught the atmosphere with unusual receptivity." -- H.P. Lovecraft From his earliest years he had shown himself to be an amazing prodigy, writing and speaking French at age three, learning Latin and Greek by the time he was seven. He was also the richest commoner in Britain, who, in the course of his tour of the Continent to complete his education (the tour during which THE VISION was written) moved in such state that he was mistaken for the Holy...
Five years later, Beckford was to pen his Oriental romance VATHEK, which has made his name immortal. "Beckford, well read in Eastern romance, caugh...
Macabre and melodramatic, set in haunted castles or fantastic landscapes, Gothic tales became fashionable in the late eighteenth century with the publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764). Crammed with catastrophe, terror, and ghostly interventions, the novel was an immediate success, and influenced numberous followers. These include William Beckford's Vathek (1786), which alternates grotesque comedy with scenes of exotic magnificence in the story of the ruthless Caliph Vathek's journey to damnation. The Monk (1796), by Matthew Lewis, is a violent tale of ambition, murder,...
Macabre and melodramatic, set in haunted castles or fantastic landscapes, Gothic tales became fashionable in the late eighteenth century with the publ...
First published in 1796, "Modern Novel Writing" is a satirical attack on the sentimental and sensational novels of the day, as well as William Pitt the Younger, the war with France, repressive legislation, and government neglect of the poor. Edited with an introduction and notes by Robert Gemmett, professor of English at SUNY Brockport and an acknowledged expert on William Beckford, it is the first scholarly edition of this novel.
First published in 1796, "Modern Novel Writing" is a satirical attack on the sentimental and sensational novels of the day, as well as William Pitt th...
An enthralling work of Gothic fiction, modelled on the Arabian Nights This collection of writings features the complete text of William Beckford's best-known book, Vathek. Beckford's talent for satire emerges in selections fromBiographical Memoirs, a collection of essays on imaginary artists, and the novel Azemia, a scathing attack on British politics. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best...
An enthralling work of Gothic fiction, modelled on the Arabian Nights This collection of writings features the complete text of Will...
Azemia is a satirical attack on what William Beckford perceived as characteristically feminine novel-writing. First published in 1797, under the pseudonym Jacquetta Agneta Mariana Jenks, it joined its companion volume Modern Novel Writing, or, The Elegant Enthusiast (1796) in ridiculing the sentimental and sensational novels of the day, and especially the productions of William Lanes Minerva Press. However, it is also a biting political satire, attacking the Tory party and its leader, William Pitt the Younger, for the war with France, repressive legislation, and neglect of...
Azemia is a satirical attack on what William Beckford perceived as characteristically feminine novel-writing. First published in 1797, unde...
