New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-05
BECKFORD'S TATHEK.
DIR. GARNETT'S NEW EDITION.
yATHEK. AN ARABIAN TALE. BY William
Rockford. Edited by Richard Garnett Ill. ID.
With Notes by Samuel Henley. and Etchings
by Herbert Nye. London: Lawrence and Bul-
len. Now York: Macmillan & Co. 1899.

VATHEK: AN ARABIAN TALE. BY William
Beckford. Edited by Richard Garrett; ~. ID.
With Notes by Samuel Henley and Etchings
by Herbert Nye. London: Lawrence ana Bul-
len New-York: Macmillan & Co. 1893.
spontaneity and a kind Of wild. natural grace
make the surest test of improvisation; but a great
master of that will still further show his power
by rounding out his fugitive creations with
touch of constructive genius To have approved
himself such a master was until recently counted
the distinction Of William Beckford. But, as
Sante- Beuve says, the difficulty Of learning the
truth about men and things is as nothing TO the
difficulty Of conserving II when 1t has apparently
been grasped. The truth of yesterday becomes the
fiction of to-day and 1t is recorded that the
author of "Vathek' was never a more intrepid
fabuist than when he said OF his masterpieces Il
wrote it at one sitting. 1t cost me three days
and two nights OF hard labor. l never took my
clothes off the whole time. This severe applica-
ton made me YER. Ill.," For years this has been
believed as a fact. The Investigations made by the
editor of this latest and most beautiful edition of
"Vathek' indicate that Bedford must have been
occupied with its composition. intermIttentiy' ior
upward OF year. The new truth has come 10
light In some hitherto unedited correspondence OF
Bedford with his friend Henley. II will be re-
member ID that Henley translated "Vathek' from
the French in which 1t composed, and that
his edition, brought out against Beckfords WILL
was the first to issue from the press. He printed
II In 1876. with notes critical and explanatory
are though their laborious erudition Is sometimes
empty of real matter With superb efrontcry he
described the tale as a translation from the Ara
bic even going far as to remark In one note
that nothing can impress greater awe upon the
mind than does this passage In the original Upon
what an outrageously mendacious assumption this
statement was based Mr.. Garnetts Introduction
shows Henley was in continual correspondence
with Beckford when the latter was setting down
! his tale in French-and. more than that. was per-
haps actually responsible for the prosecution OF the
work. On January g. 1852, Beckford wrote to
him as follows: "You are answcrabe for having
sd me to work upon story horrd that I
tremble while relating 1t. and have not a nerve in
my frame but vibrates like an aspen. There will
he no proceeding In our work without many long
consultations"
"Vathek" Is not mentioned by name In this let
| ter but In view Of all Beckford's other writings
II could alone have been the subject of his re-
marks. In all probability he had talked Of the
scheme with Henley and the latter had urged
him to carry 1t to completion In April letter to
Henley states that my Arabian tales go pro-
| digiousy," and In the following month Beckford
writes that THE tale Of the Caliph Vathec goes
surprisingly" This is the tale that written
| Eat one sitting" What Is most likely Is that
Beckford sketched out the story In the time men
toned In his memoirs, and then spent months In
polishing. This hypothesis is the more tenabe. in
asmuch as no revision OF accepted traditions con.
nected with the origin of the book can weaken
Its enforced magic undermine the extraordinarily
realistic superna on which Beckford reared
the mysterious fabric OF his narrative. 1t still
possesses the fascination for which you may look In
vain elsewhere In the tales OF Schchcrezade
No has ever revived potently az has tn,
English recluse and collector the charm OF the
ARABIAN Nights" His Vathek. Carathis. Nouron
thar and Giaour are the only characters In mod
crn literature that can be named with the motley
company Galland made familiar to Western read
ers. RabclaisIan at time in the amplitude OF
his descriptive passages. In his banquets and fes