Title: An Arabian tale
Subtitle: from an unpublished manuscript: with notes critical and explanatory.
First published: 1836
Description: 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.
Subjects: Fiction, general, French literature, translations into english, Description and travel, Fiction, Inheritance and succession, Classic Literature, Thirty years' war, 1618-1648, Civilization, French literature, Translations into English, English literature, Translations, Fiction, gothic, Long Now Manual for Civilization, Caliphs, French fiction, Databases
Places: Arab countries, Venice (Italy), Europe, Middle East
People: Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Samuel Henley (1740-1815)
Time periods: 18th century