Books by William Beckford

Ambientato a Samarah nel IX secolo, "Vathek" ha per protagonista l’omonimo personaggio, califfo abbaside che si interessa dell’occulto. Dopo aver conosciuto uno straniero dall’aria misteriosa, Vathek accetta di prestarsi a rituali cruenti e terribili, solo per poter conoscere le verità che egli sostiene di potergli rivelare. Giaour – questo il suo nome – è in realtà un demone, che minaccia di allontanare Vathek dalla religione coi suoi perfidi tranelli. Solo la bella Nouronihar, insieme all’intervento provvidenziale di un Genio, riuscirà a riportare Vathek sulla retta via...William Thomas Beckford (1760-1844) nasce a Fonthill in una famiglia estremamente agiata. Suo padre, ex sindaco di Londra, gli garantirà una rendita annua di ben 100.000 sterline, che lui dissiperà per un’esistenza al servizio dell’arte e della bellezza. Dopo aver compiuto il Grand Tour in Italia – anche per evitare un’incriminazione per omosessualità – sposa Margaret Gordon nel 1783. Nel 1786 scrive 'Vathek', il suo capolavoro, e negli anni successivi si fa apprezzare come critico e collezionista d’arte. Nel 1807 fa costruire Fonthill Abbey, stravagante residenza eretta per ospitare la sua biblioteca e le sue collezioni. Muore nel palazzo di Lansdown Crescent, a Bath, nel 1844.

Vathek (1786) is a novel by William Beckford. Inspired by his travels, Beckford wrote Vathek in French before supervising its translation into English by Reverend Samuel Henley. Recognized as an instrumental work in the popularization of Orientalist fiction, Vathek is an early Gothic novel that influenced such writers as Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron, Robert Southey, and H. P. Lovecraft. Born into a royal family, Vathek is appointed the ninth caliph of the Abassides as a boy. Spoiled and enabled at every turn, he grows to be an insufferably vain and vindictive ruler, unschooled in diplomacy and always quick to anger. When a deformed stranger arrives at his palace claiming to be a merchant from India, Vathek purchases a set of inscribed sabers. At dinner that night, the merchant insults the caliph with his silence and is sentenced to prison. The next morning, the merchant escapes, killing every guard in his path. As Vathek examines the glowing blades, he sees that the messages inscribed on them have changed¿he has been cursed, and the only way to reverse his fate is to find the man he mistreated. Determined to remain his own master, he sets out for the mountain to clear his head, beginning a journey from which few return. Immersed in Islamic mythology, Vathek is a cautionary tale of power, faith, and desire that earned its author a reputation as a leading young artist with a gift for fantasy. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of William Beckford¿s Vathek is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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William Thomas Beckford (1760-1844) war ein englischer Exzentriker, hauptsächlich bekannt als Schriftsteller und Baumeister. Darüber hinaus war er auch Kritiker, Sammler und Politiker. Sein Roman Vathek beeinflusste Byron, Poe, Carl Einstein, Gottfried Benn und H. P. Lovecraft. 1783 schrieb er auf Französisch in einer einzigen, drei Tage und zwei Nächte dauernden Anstrengung das Buch, auf welchem sein literarischer Ruhm ausschließlich beruht: Vathek, die Geschichte des Kalifen Vathek, der einen so hohen Turm baut, dass er von ihm aus alle Königreiche der Welt überwachen kann. Als er einen Abgesandten des Bösen trifft und dessen Verlockungen erliegt, ergreift das Böse am Ende von ihm Besitz und setzt sein Herz auf ewig in Flammen.

WORK IS IN FRENCH This book is a reproduction of a work published before 1920 and is part of a collection of books reprinted and edited by Hachette Livre, in the framework of a partnership with the National Library of France, providing the opportunity to access old and often rare books from the BnF's heritage funds.