Editions
- paperback· 110 pp9781975939175
First published 1786
An Arabian tale
from an unpublished manuscript: with notes critical and explanatory.
By Samuel Henley, Richard Garnett , John Beckford, Franz Blei, William Beckford, Samuel Henley, Giaime Giaime Pintor
Vathek is one of the earliest and most influential Gothic novels. Its hero is the Caliph Vathek who renounces Islam in a hedonistic quest for supernatural powers, which leads to his downfall. Beckford's genius was in marrying Orientalism with the Gothic, both sources of fascination and delight to reading audiences of the time.