New-York tribune., 1891-05-24
A SUPPRESSED BOOK.
BECKFORD'S TRAVELS AT LAST REPRINTED
IN A FORM NEARLY COMPLETE.

THE HISTORY OF THE cALIpIr yATHER ES,,oSd AMp
EUROPEAN TRAVELS BY William Bechoru'
Pp. xiv, $40. Ward. Lock Co
1t was mistake on the part Of the Editor oil
"The Minerva Library" to begin this book with
the eighteenth century pseudo-orientalsm o!
Vathek," for his reprint of the Travels Will
startle those familiar with Beckfords writings py
its novelty. Few books, after they once got lnto
print. suffered more at the hands OF the author'
He had been persuaded TO seek Parliamentary
career, and after his letters emerged from the
press. timid friends convinced him that ne had
been too bold. The whole edition OF 300 copies
with the exception Of six numbers, was destroyeo.
Important passages of the original were suppressed
in the reprint of 1884. This was not all. Ex-
traordinary changes were made In the text tnat
remained Mr.. Bethany barely suggests the gen.
eral fact. and one might suspect him to be un-
awere that he was presenting to TIE puohc wnht
is in fact almost new book.
To illustrate the wholesale editing TO which
Beclxford subjected his youthful letters, we may
compare the versions of the sentences In which
he mentions the Church at Gheht. This passage
is part of the first letter in the ordinary EDITIONS
Of the work, but in the book now in hand 1t be-
longs to the second. In the usual form the pas
sage runs: In the great church there we're sev.
eral pictures by Rubens, so striking, so mastery,
AZ TO hold me broad awake though / must own
there are moments when | could contentedly 1an
asleep in Flemish cathedral for the mere chance
of beholding in vision the temple OF oiympan
.Jupiter.n So much for Beckford's mature opin-
ion as to what he should have written. What ne
actually wrote according to Mr.. Bettanys reprint,
was this: In the great church were TWO or tnree
nictures bv Rubens mechanically excellent, but
u, a
manner as 70 divert my attention from the mere
descriptions Pausaniss gives US OF the works OF
Grecan artists, and l would at any time fall
asleep in q Flemish Cathedral for vision OF the
temple of Olympian Jupiter" Observe how his
views of Rubens bad changed in the interval De-
tween 1880 and 1884. Such an indication OF un-
certainty regarding the merit Of an artist upon
whom the world had passed its verdict long before
ooes far to iustifv the severe criticism Of Haztt
upon Beckford as an amateur, that ne was all
enthusiastic collector Of expensive trifies."
As an example of changes made to avoid Offend
inc national susceptblties, take these lines from
the Journey through Flanders; Before every vii
laee is wealthy dunghil not at all offensive, be-
cause seldom disturbed and there sows and pork
ers bask in the sun and wallow at their ease till
the hour Of death and bacon arrives. But 1t Is
high time to lead you toward Antwerp" That
was. perhaps. irritating enough to Flemish feel
inos but what the traveller did in the first place
was 70 insert after the alusion to the hour OF
death and bacon this sentence: II may Judge
from the healthy looks and reposed compilations
Of the Femings, they have every reason to eX-
meet a peaceful tomb" And he did not announce
his departure for Antwerp simply, but put 1t more
emphatically, thus But it is high time to leave
our swinish u7oralties behind us and to jog on
toward Antwerp
The Gordon riots had just been suppressed In
London when Beckford started on his tour. he
almded to the disorder pointedly at the conclusion
of his second letter but the whole passage was
erased from the subsequent editions, and there
were left only some more cautious hints OF the
matter which the hasty reader might take ior
general censure of London as noisy
tuInultuous town The same caution was shown IN
many other places. 1t is fortunate thing that
specimens of the original edition we're preserved,
for IL happened that Beckford's journey was taken
at the last moment when it was possible 10 sec
the Europe of the eighteenth century before IL
was overwhelmed by the revolution which ushered
in the present age. As ne was a witness OF the
(tordon riots in London so he wrote III a time
when men were familiar with the piombi and sub
marine dungeons of Venice, the l}astlie OF FRANCE
and the horrors Of the lnquisition IN Spain. lie
is of the few links between the present gIo"
ing order Of things and past which, understooa
in all it's scandal and cruelty, seems almost i'm
possible.
Mr.. Bettanys work would have been more val
BILE If he had carefully collated the edition OF
1888 with that of 1884 He would have found
that his author had not only erased passages FROM
the ca rer book but that he had here and there
inserted something new. For example, in the ear
| er edition he finished a rather enthusiastic
| description Of Augsburg by scolding over an eX-
ecrabe supper In s34 he still remembered that
supper, though half century had elapsed, and
| emphasized his disgust by calling it an "eXecra-
| bic, sourcroutsh supper" Nothing could indl-
cate more sententiously the self-indulgent char
| acter Of the man.
The present edition is illustrated possibly with
| copies of pictures in the suppressed edition,
| though no Indication Of the source whence they
are derived is given. The title Of the original
volume" Dreams, Waking Thoughts and Incl
dents in Series Of Letters from Various Parts Of
| Europe"-is used in this reprint as a subtitle.
| One letter--a long one on the political contrasts
between England and the Continent-has been
omitted.