Vathek and Other Stories

by William Beckford

  1See M. Conant, The Oriental Tale in England in the Eighteenth Century (New York, 1966) and J. Butt & G. Carnall The Mid-Eighteenth Century, Oxford History of English Literature, 13 Vols. (Oxford, 1979), 8: 35–7 & 491–4.

  2 On this subject see F. M. Mahmoud, ‘Beckford, Vathek and the Oriental Tale’ in William Beckford of Fonthill, 1760–1844. Bicentenary Essays, ed. F. M. Mahmoud (Cairo, 1960) and K. W. Graham ‘Beckford’s Adaptation of the Oriental Tale in Vathek,’ Enlightenment Essays, 5, no. 1, (1974), pp. 24–33.

  1 See above, p. xii.

  2 Redding, 1:243.

  3 For a description of this monster see Alexander, E.W.S., pp. 87–8.

  1 Boyd Alexander states categorically that Vathek is autobiographical. See Alexander, E.W.S., p. 92. Fothergill, although somewhat more cautious, tends to this interpretation also, see Fothergill, p. 131 ff.

  2 Some of these interpretations are to be found in Vathek?? The Escape from Time, ed. K. W. Graham (New York, 1990).

  3 A phrase from the Portuguese writer, Fernando Pessoa, The Unnatural and the Strange (1906).

  1 D. Varma, ‘Beckford’s Treasures Rediscovered; The Mystic Glow of Persian Sufism in Vathek’ in Vathek?? The Escape from Time, ed. K. W. Graham (New York, 1990), pp. 97-111.

  2 See Gemmett, Memoirs, p. 18.

  3 C. Redding, ‘Recollections of the Author of Vathek’, the New Monthly Magazine, LXXI June 1844, 151–2.

  1 H. V. Lansdown, Recollections of the Late William Beckford of Fonthill, Wilts and Lansdown, Bath (Bath, 1893), p. 35.

  1 Philip Ward says he may be alone in preferring Biographical Memoirs to Beckford’s travel writing. See P. Ward ‘Introduction’ to Biographical Memoirs (New York, 1977), p. 1 (pages unnumbered).

  2 Benjamin Disraeli met Beckford, whose work he admired, in 1834 describing him as very bitter and malin’. See Fothergill, p. 350.

  3 Michel de Montaigne (1533–92), essayist who observed the prejudices and manners of his contemporaries with a stoical eye.

  1 B. Willey, The Eighteenth-Century Background (London, 1962), p. 99.

  2 See above, p. xiii ff.

  3 See Oliver, p. 209.

  1 Mrs Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823), one of the leading exponent of the Gothic novel, published five novels between 1789 and 1797.

  1Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78). His dircetness is apparent in his earliest work and attracted the notice of critics; however his Confessions, where the address to the reader is most intimate, was published posthumously. Beckford certainly read and admired Rousseau’s writings on nature. See Fothergill, p. 161.

  2 See T. G. Smollett, Travels Through France and Italy (1766).

  1Samuel Purchas (?1577–1626) whose accounts of voyages cover territory as far flung as the North-West passage and Africa, as well as the Far East.

  2 H. L. Piozzi, Observations and Reflections made in the Course of a Journey through France, Italy and Germany (1789).

  3 J. Boswell, An Account of Corsica (1768) to which he appended his Journal of A Tour to Corsica.

  1 Their visit took place in 1739; two years later Gray wrote his famous Alcaic Ode in the album of the monastery. See E. Gosse, Gray (London, 1930), p. 31.

  2 W. Gilpin, Observations on the Mountains and Lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland (1786).

  1 See Boyd Alexander, Life at Fonthill (London, 1957).

  2 Boyd Alexander, ‘Dry Bones’ an Unpublished Manuscript in which the Journal and Sketches are compared and contrasted. MSS. Eng. lett. c.687–95 etc., Bodleian Library, Oxford.

  1 The battle of Aljubarrota in 1385 secured Portuguese independence from Castile for two hundred years.

  1 Oliver is referring to the letters that Beckford wrote to Louisa in 1784.

  2 J. W. Oliver, The Life of William Beckford (London, 1932), p. 160.

  3 S. Sitwell, Beckford and Beckfordism (London, 1930), p. 21.

  4 R. Macaulay, They Went to Portugal (London, 1985), p. 108.

  1 André Parreaux, ed. William Beckford Excursion à Alcobaça et Batalha (Lisbon, 1956).

  2 A volume from the collection, Suite de Contes Arabes (Paris, 1992), includes hitherto unpublished stories. Also see D. Girard ‘Beckford’s Juvenilia?’, Beckford Tower Trust Newsletter (Spring 1992), p. 2.

  3A collection of Beckford’s poetry has also been gathered by D. Varma in The Transient Gleam A Bouquet of Beckford’s Poesy (Cheshire, 1991).

  4 Samuel Johnson, Lives of the Poets, 2 Vols (Oxford, 1952), 2:345.

  1 Manuscript d.5, Beckford Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford. The extract, fols 73–90 is published by kind permission of the Bodleian Library.

  2 See Sir Walter Greg, ‘The Rationale of Copy-Text’ Studies in Bibliography III (1950-1), 21. The most important principle, applied to printed works, distinguishes variants intended by the author (substantives) from those that appear in the text as a result of printers’ errors or changes made by anyone other than the author (accidentals).

  3 Lonsdale, pp. xxxiii–xxxv.

  1 Kenneth W. Graham, William Beckford’s Vathek. A Critical Edition. 2 Vols, Unpublished PhD thesis (London, 1971), 2:404.

  2 Ibid.

  1Confused as to.

  2 A main room in ‘Splendens’, Beckford’s childhood home, was the Egyptian Hall.

  3Manifested.

  4The list of those who will inherit eternal life.

  5Beckford suddenly addresses himself.

  1Beckford echoes the argument from design, a favoured theological explanation throughout the eighteenth century.

  1 More in the sense of disregarding than not knowing.

  1A plant or rather shrub with large thin white, red and yellow flowers which the least wind shakes off, common in English gardens. [Beckford’s note]

  2 Wanderings.

  3 Of wild scenery.

  1Showed [me].

  2 A larger species of the Iris than I ever saw. [Beckfor’s note]

  3 An element filling space, conceived of as a purer form of fire or water.

  1Her eyes were of no determinate colour; sometimes blue, then hazel, then emerald, then black, &c…. [Beckford’s note]

  2 one who searches for knowledge about the causes of things.

  3 Spirits dwelling in the upper regions of space.

  4 Beckford was to use the name again in Vathek, see below p. 62.

  1The groves of the Bramins. [Beckford’s note]

  2 A mountain in the interior of India. [Beckford’s note]

  3 Member of the highest or priestly caste among the Hindus.

  1An European. [Beckford’s note]

  2 The harmonious sound supposed to be produced by the motion of moon, sun, planets and stars.

  1The Shastah is a Book written on the leaves of Palmtrees of very remote antiquity. Contains all the Learning and mythology of the Bramins. Its contents scarce ever reached Europe. Mr Bathurst, a Bookseller in London, possesses a few leaves of this inestimable treasure but none are sufficiently learned in the Sanscrit language to expound them. [Beckford’s note]

  1In his teens, Beckford had taught himself Persian and Arabic.

  2 Grottoes.

  1Unpolished.

  2 It is remarkable that deaf people hear best during some great noise. Speak to them near a water mill and they will understand. [Beckford’s note]

  1 Sulphate of metal chemically combined with water.

  1 I call it aloe; because it most resembled that plant amongst us; but it was very different. [Beckford’s note]

  1Empty, unfilled.

  2 Shrivelled.

  1Unconsciousness.

  2 River in Hades, the Greek mythological underworld.

  3 Burial rites.

  4The name of the BRAMIN. [Beckford’s note]

  1 I have made bold with this frenchified expression. [Beckford’s note]

  1 Ancient inhabitants of Peru.

  1 Vathek was an historical figure, Caliph al-Wathik Bi’llah who died in 847 AD although Beckford’s caliph shares the characteristics of other historic
al figures. See Boyd Alexander, E.W.S., p. 91 ff.

  1In the first edition the palace titles were set in small capitals. These were changed to italics in the second edition, but in the case of the palace of mirth the compositor extended his italics to include the conjunction, ‘or’, originally in lower case roman and not part of the palace title. It was not possible to take the same action with the title at 29:24 ‘The Eternal or unsatiating Banque’, since Henley’s translation of what are two distinct titles in the French versions (‘le Festin éternal ou l’Insatiable’) draws them together into a single title. [K.G.]

  1Babylonian prince, see Genesis X:8–9.

  2 Ants.

  3 So irregular are the two instances in the 1823 edition of the substitution of an –ise ending for a word printed –ize in the 1816 edition that nothing is to be gained from including the 1823 revision. Consequently, ‘merchandize’ and ‘enterprize’ at 49:3, retain their 1816 spellings. The spelling, enterprize, appears without alteration at 54:1 of the 1823 edition. [K.G.]

  1 Biblical prophet, Numbers XXII-XXIV.

  1 This is an instance of the careful reproduction in successive editions of an error in the 1816 edition. The 1786 reading accords with Beckford’s normal practice in the 1816 edition in recording the transition from direct to indirect speech. Beckford’s practice in a similar situation may be seen at 37:33. [K.G.]

  1 The reading in the first edition accords with common sense and corresponds to all French versions. Cf. Lausanne edition, p. 18: ‘où tout est merveilleux & digne d’être vû….’ [K.G.]

  2 In cases of end-of-line hyphenation the readings in the first, fourth and fifth editions are not applicable. [K.G.]

  3 Thundercloud.

  1 Part of Muslim house or palace appropriated to women where wives and concubines live.

  2 Sweet-briar.

  1 Exclamatory address.

  1 Gaudy trifles.

  1Term of reproach used by Muslims to describe infidels, especially Christians. In this case Giaour is an agent of Eblis, the Prince of Darkness.

  2 Torches.

  3 Celestial fieryness.

  1The 1786 version reads: “ ‘Wouldest thou devote thyself to me: Adore then the terrestrial influences….’ ” In his revision it seems likely that Beckford, intending to tighten the structure of the sentence, changed the question mark to a comma, began adore with the lower case, and marked out “then”. The compositor included all revisions but the substitution of a comma for a question mark. The editorial emendation brings the text into agreement with the Lausanne version which, in a similar structure, uses a comma rather than a question mark. [K.G.]

  1 According to Beckford’s fairly consistent usage, an interrogative statement is followed by a question mark. In this case the capitalized “Come” would indicate that Beckford intended to use a question mark rather than a semicolon, since he never follows a semicolon with a new sentence beginning with a capital letter. Beckford altered this passage in the1786 edition to conform with his French-language edition of 1815. In that version a question mark is used.[K.G.]

  2 Patterned, coloured carpet.

  1 The 1823 revision accords with all French-language versions in using the plural. [K.G.]

  1Spray.

  2 Monarch of the world or Jewish king famed for his wisdom and justice.

  1Spirits. See Beckford’s note below, p. 99.

  1 Dull brownish.

  1 Kettledrums.

  2To correct each instance of the careless use of the comma and semicolon would not be to present an accurate version of Beckford’s text. However, in this instance of a long series with each element save one separated by a semicolon, it seemed reasonable to remove the anomaly. [K.G.]

  3 Stones or rings engraved with characters and supposed to have occult powers. They appear in many oriental tales of the eighteenth century.

  4 Open spaces in the wall.

  1Appartments for wives and concubines.

  2 The reasoning used in 49:20 applies here. In this case each element in the series but one is set off by a comma. [K.G.]

  1 A measure equivalent to 45 inches.

  2 Brooms made of twigs.

  1Nothing is to be gained from adopting the 1823 spelling, villanous, to replace the more accepted form, villainous, used in the copy-text. The 1816 spelling of the same word is retained at 64:18 also. [K.G.]

  1The 1786 reading seems to be the correct one. The parallel reading in all French-language versions employs the past indefinite rather than the pluperfect tense. [K.G.]

  2 If intended as a pun, unforgivable.

  3 The 1823 revision brings the spelling of this word into conformity with the usage at 56:28 of the copy-text. In both editions of 1816 and 1823, however, the spelling, burthen ing, is maintained at 85:14. [K.G.]

  1 Wives or concubines of a sultan or caliph.

  1Man who looks after animals.

  2 Rid of fleas.

  3 Ammonium chloride was supposed to have been produced from the dung of camel near the shrine of Jupiter of Ammon.

  1 Fine wheaten bread rolls.

  2 The first appearance of this word (at 17:17 in the 1816 edition) is in the form, Shiraz, in all texts, English and French. In its second and subsequent appearances the spelling, Schiraz, is adopted in all English-language texts, whereas in the French editions the spelling, Shiraz, continues to be used. It appears to be a case of a variant spelling creeping into the first edition through carelessness and religiously adopted in all subsequent editions. I have normalized the spelling to Shiraz, the accepted spelling of the Persian city denoted. [K.G.]

  1 Chintz Indian covers

  2 Evil spirits: see Beckford’s note.

  3 Beckford had a great fascination for dwarfs. At Fonthill Abbey, he kept one, Pierre Colas de Grailly from Evian, on his staff. Pierre was sketched by Benjamin West, President of the Royal Academy.

  4 Ablution. See Beckford’s note following.

  5 In the one instance of a quotation appearing within a quotation in Beckford’s Azemia(II, 155), the distinction is observed with single quotations marks as it is in the 1823 revision. [K.G.]

  1 The seven stars.

  1 This is the only instance of the spelling, sopha, in the copy-text. The adoption of the 1823 revision imposes consistency on the spelling of this word. [K.G.]

  1This spelling error, initiated in the second edition and repeated in the third, is one easily missed in proofreading. It is probably compositorial; Beckford was a competent Latinist. [K.G.]

  2 Beckford had used this name in The Vision, see above, p. 9.

  3 Daughter of Pandion who, according to legend, was turned into a nightingale.

  1 At 62:24 the word is spelled correctly, dome. The repetition of this error in the Clarke editions is probably consequent upon the proofreader’s losing the thread on turning the page. [K.G.]

  2 Clown.

  3 Voltaire had made the figure of the Brahrnin a wise, sage-like person in Histoire d’un Bon Bramin (1761).

  1 Ceylon or Sri Lanka, according to legend, first terrestrial abode of Adam. Serendip also features in the work of Horace Walpole whose The Three Princes of Serendip appeared in 1754.

  2 Poultice or dressing.

  1 Rice dish with meat, spices and raisins, many coloured.

  1 Mother.

  2 Small white or pink flowers.

  1Evil spirits in Persian demonology.

  2 At 46:31 and 91:38, the spelling, subtile, is used. I have followed the 1823 text in imposing consistency on the spelling of this word. [K.G.]

  1 Clothes.

  2 Beckford was much taken with these plants, enjoying their profusion in Portugal. Also see above, p. 17 n.1.

  1There is an apparent inconsistency in the spelling of this word in all English editions. At this reference the spelling, dervish, is employed, whereas at 63:38 and 64:9 the plural form of the word is spelled, derviches. I have taken the ostensibly undifferentiated spelling to be characteristic of Beckford’s usage and allowed the wor
d to stand. [K.G.].

  2This word is used four times in the 1816 edition, twice with the accent and twice without. In the only section of the edition set from manuscript, the passage extending from page 154 to 156 that Beckford translated for this edition to correct Henley’s omission, the spelling, Meimouné, is used. I have taken this to be an indication of Beckford’s conscious intent and normalized spellings accordingly. [K.G.]

  1 Loose garments for women.

  2 There is no God but God.

  1In the absence of evidence of Beckford’s preference, the undifferentiated spellings, simars here – symars 73:15, have not been normalized. [K.G.]