Vathek and Other Stories

by William Beckford

  VATHEK AND OTHER STORIES

  WILLIAM BECKFORD was born in 1760, the son of the famous Lord Mayor of London and the granddaughter of the Earl of Abercorn. Brought up at his father’s country seat at Fonthill in Wiltshire, he received his education at home, where he was often alone and free to indulge his vivid imagination. In 1777 he travelled abroad for the first time, visiting first Switzerland and then Italy, where he stayed with Sir William and Lady Catherine Hamilton, who became a trusted friend and adviser. Returning to London, he became romantically involved with Louisa Beckford, the wife of his cousin, and also befriended William Courtenay, a thirteen-year-old boy, whom he had met some years earlier. During this turbulent time he wrote Vathek, his great Arabian tale. To avert a scandal, Beckford’s family sent him abroad, and he travelled through Holland, Germany, Belgium and France to Italy to stay once more with the Hamiltons. While he was there Catherine Hamilton died and, terribly dejected by her death, Beckford returned England, where he wrote Dreams.

  In 1783 he married Lady Margaret Gordon and a year later entered Parliament as Member for Wells. At last life seemed settled for Beckford until the ‘Powderham Scandal’ broke, which effectively forced him out of office and out of the country, this time to Switzerland, taking his wife and infant daughter with him. After the birth of his second daughter and the death of his wife a couple of weeks later, Beckford kept away from England and the curse that seemed to hang over him there. He travelled extensively in Europe for the next twelve years, collecting rare books, curiosities and paintings, which later embellished his Gothic residence, Fonthill Abbey, which he had had especially built. He lived there in seclusion until 1822, when financial circumstances forced him to sell the property and part of his amazing collection. He died in Bath in 1844.

  MALCOLM JACK is a specialist in eighteenth-century English and French literature and wrote his doctoral thesis on Mandeville. He is a reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, the British Journal of Eighteenth-century Studies and several learned journals in the USA. He has published numerous articles on Enlightenment themes and on aspects of Beckford’s life and literary work. His books include Corruption and Progress: The Eighteenth-century Debate and William Beckford: An English Fidalgo.

  WILLIAM BECKFORD

  VATHEK AND OTHER STORIES

  A WILLIAM BECKFORD READER

  EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION

  BY MALCOLM JACK

  PENGUIN BOOKS

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  First published by Pickering & Chatto Limited 1993

  Published in Penguin Books 1995

  Introduction and notes copyright © Malcolm Jack, 1993

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the editor has been asserted

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  ISBN: 9781101492772

  CONTENTS

  Preface

  Introduction

  A Note on Editorial Policy

  Abbreviations

  Chronology of William Beckford

  Oriental Tales

  The Long Story (known as The Vision

  Vathek, An Arabian Tale

  Satires

  Biographical Memoirs of Extraordinary Painters

  Modern Novel Writing or the Elegant Enthusiast

  Azemia, A Descriptive or Sentimental Novel

  Travel Diaries

  Dreams, Waking Thoughts and Incidents

  The Journal of William Beckford in Portugal and Spain 1787–88

  Italy, with Sketches of Spain and Portugal

  Recollections of an Excursion to the Monasteries of Alcobaça and Batalha

  Select Bibliography

  Index

  PREFACE

  To collect an anthology of a notable prose writer is not an easy task but, in the case of William Beckford, it is certainly a pleasurable one. He wrote widely and well; there is an excellence of language and a high-spiritedness of style which continue to make his work worth reading. Convinced of Beckford’s literary quality, my selection has aimed to represent some of Beckford’s finest writing and to introduce readers to characteristically Beckfordian moods and flourishes.

  Beckford has always had his admirers. Critics of considerable discernment, such as Sacheverell Sitwell and Rose Macaulay, long ago recognised the stylishness of his prose. Fittingly for a writer who produced fine work in English and in French (and displayed considerable ability in a number of other languages), recognition of his genius has been evident across the channel as well: Mallarmé’s suave introduction to Vathek is a powerful tour de force. In this century, the French scholar André Parreaux made significant contributions to Beckford studies. A host of English and North American scholars and critics – especially Guy Chapman and Boyd Alexander but also Brian Fothergill, Roger Lonsdale, Robert Gemmett and Kenneth Graham – have added to our appreciation of Beckford as an intriguing man and as a great man of letters. Beckford’s papers have now been admirably arranged and catalogued by T. D. Rogers at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

  I acknowledge my debt to all these Beckfordians but I should particularly thank Professor Kenneth Graham whose kindness, help and encouragement before and during the preparation of this reader have been invaluable. Many other people have helped me in different ways. I should like to record my gratitude to Professor João Flor for his scholarly advice on detailed aspects of Portuguese literature, to Dr Roland Meyer for expert translation of Latin passages, to John Wright for ensuring my reading of Italian was not too fanciful and to fellow Beckfordians, including Sidney Blackmore and Jon and Pat Millington for their kindness. Other friends who helped me, sometimes merely by calm audience, were Robert Borsje, Laurent Chatel and Andrew Lister.

  Finally I should express the gratitude of all Beckfordians to the publishers, Pickering and Chatto, for relaunching Beckford to a new generation of readers. To those, I hope, vast throngs this book is dedicated.

  M.J.

  INTRODUCTION

  1. LIFE OF WILLIAM BECKFORD

  (1760–1844)

  William Beckford’s social pedigree was not nearly as pure as he would have liked the world to believe nor in his paternal heredity can we obviously trace the qualities of the artist or writer. The Beckfords, who came from Jamaica, were men of act
ion: they planted estates, ruled over native people and played a prominent part in the public life of the colony. The family’s substantial wealth arose from its ownership of sugar plantations and slaves.1 Deriving riches from one area could have its inconveniences as Beckford himself was to discover later in life. Among his colonial ancestors were governors and speakers of the Assembly at Kingston who, over many generations, had been involved in the sometimes rumbustious politics of the island.

  Beckford’s father, always known as the Alderman, had been sent to England for his education. He entered political life through City interests, being elected several times Lord Mayor of London. The Alderman, a wealthy Whig merchant allied to Wilkes and the radicals, enjoyed a stormy and colourful career in the House of Commons where he presented the ear of Captain Jenkins to a bemused House. He was also a great populist and his radical politics reached its apogee when, as ‘Grand Remonstrancer’, he presented a petition to the King complaining of corruption in Parliament. Although a somewhat intimidating figure, involved in the fracas of radical politics, the Alderman greatly influenced Beckford and appears as a character in at least one of his literary fragments.2

  William’s mother was Maria Hamilton, granddaughter of the Earl of Abercorn whose ancestry was undoubtedly more illustrious than the parvenu Beckfords. Through his mother’s family, Beckford traced connections with the royal houses of both England and Scotland. While he undoubtedly inherited something of his mother’s snobbishness about social status, other more important characteristics may have been transmitted through his maternal genes, for despite their aristocratic connections, the Hamiltons boasted artists and writers among their ranks. In the seventeenth century one such Hamilton, Anthony, known as the Count, had spent much time in France where he perfected his command of the language to such a degree that he wrote several literary works in French. His elegant and polished books were in the family library; they certainly influenced Beckford in the composition of Vathek, his great Arabian tale.1 Another Hamilton who made an impression on William was Charles, his uncle, who had cultivated a ‘Claudian’ landscaped garden at Painshill in Surrey.2 In later years at Monserrate in Portugal and at Fonthill itself, Beckford followed his uncle by making important contributions to the development of the picturesque in landscape gardening.

  While artistic currents of this sort were yet to stir in the young heir of Fonthill, a more traditional career was being planned for him. The Alderman’s political connections, which stretched to the mighty Chatham, together with the immense family wealth, held out the prospect of a glittering career in politics for his son. In preparation for this future, William was brought up at the Alderman’s country seat, a grand neo-classical mansion, ostentatiously called Splendens, at Fonthill in Wiltshire. Splendens was meant as the model of an important gentleman’s country seat. It contained a fine collection of paintings, a well-stocked library and interesting, exotic salons in the oriental style. All of these amenities appealed to William and influenced his taste considerably.

  Beckford’s early education was conventional enough. He was put into the hands of a dour Scots tutor, Robert Drysdale from whom he learnt basic Greek and Latin. To this was added some philosophy, smatterings of history and such literature as it was thought a gentleman should know. For social accomplishment, he was taught music and drawing. His tutor soon found that his pupil was well above average in intelligence and had a precocious talent for subjects that might have been thought periphery, such as languages, music and art. Before long Beckford’s interests ventured into even more exotic areas – he became fascinated by eastern fables and stories after finding a copy of Arabian Nights in the Alderman’s library.3

  This interest may have puzzled Drysdale and would have displeased Beck-ford’s parents but it was very much encouraged by someone else who came to teach the young heir drawing, namely Alexander Cozens, himself an artist of considerable talent.4 Cozens’ influence on Beckford was immense and it arose from a combination of his strong personality and dashing background. Cozens had had a colourful upbringing. His father had been shipbuilder to the Czar of Russia, and on that account, in a much favoured position at the imperial court. Alexander, named after an admiral of the Russian fleet, was brought up in the glittering and exotic surroundings of the court at St Petersburg. He made much of this background and it proved highly glamorous to his young ward.

  Cozens was a man of wide culture as well as being an artist of distinction. Not only did he teach Beckford to draw, but he cultivated his student’s nascent artistic sensibility, encouraging him in the very subjects which others wanted to prevent him from exploring any further. Cozens instilled in Beckford a lifelong love of painting and visual objects; he also pointed his protégé in the direction of Eastern culture and religion, subjects with which he himself had first become acquainted in Russia. Under the influence of the Persian (for so Beckford nicknamed his master) adolescent William began to study Arabic and Persian so that he could delve more deeply into Eastern religions and mythologies. Under Cozens’ tutelage, he also began to develop an interest in more sinister subjects such as satanism and the occult. There is a suggestion that his relationship with Cozens may have been homosexual, although there is no direct evidence to prove it.1

  Cozens’ influence on Beckford was no doubt stronger than it might have been because, from the age of ten, Beckford had become fatherless. Although the Alderman must always have seemed a slightly distant figure, rushing to and fro from London to Wiltshire, his sudden death, in 1770, was an immense blow to the sensitive boy. Thereafter Beckford was left in the hands of his mother, the ‘Begum’ (a Persian lady of high rank), as he called her, and his guardians, mostly political associates of his father including Chatham2 and Lord Thurlow, the Lord Chancellor.3The Begum comes over as a severe, Calvinistic woman whose evangelicalism mixed oddly with her snobbish awareness of the Hamiltons’ illustrious ancestry. While ties between mother and son were to prove strong and enduring, to the young, high-spirited William she seemed a formidable figure of authority against whom he felt the urge to rebel.

  The Begum and Beckford’s guardians took one decision of considerable significance when they decided not to send him to school. Instead of being thrown into the rough and tumble of an English public school such as Westminster, where his father had been sent, Beckford remained in solitude at Fonthill with only the company of tutors and servants instead of boys of his own age.4 In this isolated and rather grand setting, he began to indulge his innate proclivity to day dream and fantasize. His surroundings – whether the exotic, oriental chambers of Splendens or the shady, idyllic glades of Fonthill – provided just the surroundings needed to feed his imagination. Soon he was pouring out his ideas on paper, sometimes, as in the case of his Long Story (The Vision) his tales were redolent of mystery and fantasy; at other times, as

  in the case of Biographical Memoirs, they were more light-hearted and fun-poking.

  In 1777, at the age of sixteen, Beckford had his first experience of foreign travel, something that was to be a regular and important part of his life until middle-age. He went to Geneva, accompanied by John Lettice, the Cambridge tutor who had replaced the less polished Robert Drysdale. In that city, of which the Begum may have approved because of its connections with Calvin, he was lodged with some Hamilton cousins who turned out to be well connected to the prominent artistic and intellectual community. Beckford met Jean Huber a polymath and dilettante who dabbled in many arts and sciences. Through him an audience was arranged with the ageing Voltaire, an admirer of the Alderman for his radical reputation and ‘Count’ Hamilton for his literary style. The young traveller wrote enthusiastically to Cozens about his new social life which included mixing with the Necker family, whose daughter later became the celebrated writer, Madame de Stael.1 He also visited the monastery at the Grande Chartreuse, and, following in the footsteps of Horace Walpole and the poet Thomas Gray, fell into a frenzy of passion for the old, cloistered building and the wild, mountainous settin
g in which it was placed.

  From Switzerland the party made for Italy, a country that had seized hold of Beckford’s imagination ever since his early reading of the classics; Cozens too had added to his enthusiasm for ancient art and architecture. In Naples he stayed with one of the greatest contemporary collectors and connoisseurs of classical culture, his cousin Sir William Hamilton, the British envoy.2 At the Hamilton villa Beckford not only enjoyed Sir William’s rare collection but also formed a close friendship with Lady [Catherine] Hamilton, his wife, who was a warmer and more approachable character than the remote Begum. The two spent much time alone while Sir William rode to hounds with his grand, courtly friends. Lady Hamilton counselled Beckford against indulging in homosexual relationships as it seemed he had done in Venice, prescient in sensing that this aspect of his character might ruin him socially.

  Back in London and away from her moderating influence, Beckford plunged madly into an amorous tangle which involved an affair with Louisa Beckford, wife of his cousin Peter, and an infatuated liaison with William Courtenay, an aristocratic youth of thirteen whom he had met through family connections some years earlier.3. At the end of the year, now in his majority, Beckford staged a spectacular party in the old Egyptian Hall at Splendens in which leading castrati were invited to sing and for which Philippe de Loutherbourg designed unusual scenery with bizarre, ‘necromantic’ lighting effects.4 This party was to have a dramatic effect on Beckford’s literary career for he claimed many years later that it inspired him to write his Arabian tale, Vathek, which he began in the new year of 1782.1

  To break him out of what they regarded as a highly undesirable cycle, the Begum and his guardians decided to send Beckford abroad once more. In the company of the loyal Lettice, he once again traced a route through the Low Countries to Italy, arriving at the Hamiltons’ in summer. The visit was not to be a happy one. While Beckford was staying with his cousin, Lady Hamilton died leaving him bereft of one of his best friends and probably his wisest counsellor. In a dejected state he returned to England where he sublimated some of his anguish in the writing of Dreams, an intimate account of his journeys on the Continent. His family were not impressed by its lackadaisical tone and on their advice, he suppressed the small edition that had already been printed by the publisher, J. Johnson.2 Nevertheless the book was an impressive first effort in a genre that he never abandoned for the rest of his writing life.