Lot 130
[Beckford, William]
[Vathek.] An Arabian Tale, from an Unpublished Manuscript
Estimate: £500 - £800
Auction: 19 September 2024 from 10:00 BST
Description
with Notes Critical and Explanatory. London: for J. Johnson, 1786. First edition, 8vo (18.8 x 11.9cm), vii 334 pp., later sprinkled calf gilt, neatly rebacked with richly gilt spine (ink-stamp ‘Bound by Riviere & Son’ to front free endpaper, perhaps referring to the rebacking only, the covers possibly earlier, the rear binder's blank watermarked 1809), marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, 5 woodcuts of fans in the text, final blank discarded [Rothschild 352]
Provenance
The Library of a Scottish Gentleman
Footnote
A classic work of Gothic fiction and oriental fantasy, Vathek was originally written by Beckford in French, then translated into English by his friend the Reverend Samuel Henley, who published his English version before the publication of an edition in the original French, contrary to Beckford's instructions. French editions were subsequently printed at Lausanne in December 1786 (dated 1787) and Paris in December 1787; it has been suggested that these editions were in fact retranslations of the English version.
![[Beckford, William]](https://media.app.artisio.co/media/104cbde6-0d38-43cb-9e0f-bb721ef57bcf/inventory/8b0f8d40-407e-402a-92bf-26a2008761ac/e5aedafe-6688-463b-b5b9-360726848e5d/0001_uXBXWN_original.jpg)