Vathek OWC

Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Roger Lonsdale`when he was angry, one of his eyes became so terrible, that no person could bear to behold it; and the wretch upon whom it was fixed, instantly fell backward, and sometimes expired9Vathek (1786), originally written in French, remains one of the strangest eighteenth-century novels and one of the most difficult to classify. Perverse and grotesque comedy alternates with scenes of `oriental` magnificence and evocative beauty in the story of the ruthless Caliph Vathek`s journey to superb damnation among the subterranean treasures ofEblis. Underlying the elegant prose is a strong element of self-indulgent personal fantasy on the part of Beckford himself, youthful millionaire, dreamer, and eventually social outcast. Byron, Poe, Mallarme, and Swinburne are some of the literary figures who have admired Vathek`s imaginative power. The text follows that of the Third Edition9 of 1816, in which Beckford extensively revised and corrected Samuel Henley`s original English translations from the French. The elaborate notes retained by Beckford in 1816 are also included.