Vathek SYNOPSIS
Witches, demons, human sacrifices and other spectral horrors: all intercept Vathek as he journeys to the underworld in this weird and wonderful gothic masterpiece.
This classic of 18th century Gothic literature, was highly acclaimed by such eminent writers as Byron and H P Lovecraft and remains the most extreme example of this genre.
Originally composed in French, Vathek was translated into English in 1816, and it is this version which is now presented as part of the popular Creation Classics series. The book includes lithographs by the symbolist artist Odilon Redon, complementing the bizarre text and making this the most completely decadent edition available in print.
An introduction by Jeremy Reed illuminates both the text and the eccentric life of William Beckford, a youthful millionaire who spent his fortunes on building the ultimate Gothic folly, where he indulged in such homosexual indiscretions that he was finally exiled from England.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Vathek marches onward with a phantasmagoric pomp in which the laughter is that of skeletons feasting under arabesque domes. The descriptions are triumphs of weird coloring which raise the book to a permanent place in English letters.
H. P. Lovecraft