Title: Vathek

Title: Vathek Title Record # 2892553
Author: William Beckford
Date: 1786-00-00
Type: NOVEL
Series: Vathek
Series Number: 1
Language: French

Note: Originally composed and intended to be published in French. However, the novel was first published in an English translation in 1786. The two French editions of 1787 were translations of the the 1786 English translation. Beckford's original French manuscript was not published until 1815.

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Other Titles

Variant Titles

Translations

Year	Title
1787^ⓘTranslated by unknown hands from the first English translation of the original unpublished manuscript.	Vathek [as by uncredited]
1787^ⓘRevision of the Hignou edition. Translated by unknown hands	Vathek: Conte Arabe [as by uncredited]
1815	Vathek [as by uncredited]

Year	Language	Title
1786^ⓘTranslated by Samuel Henley Beckford arranged this English translation of the original French manuscript, but its publication in 1786, without any corrections by him and crediting no author, was unauthorized. The French manuscript was not published, and was lost. The first two French-language editions, both dated 1787, were re-translations from this one. Beckford revised the work in English at least twice, for 1816 and 1823 editions. --based on the Beckford biographical entry by John Clute [JC], Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), with undated Addenda (linked above), and the English Wikipedia novel article [EN] JC and EN do not make clear whether Beckford participated in a 1786/87 or any later French-language reconstruction. Nor whether this version has been the basis for any later translations. JC notes a new English translation in 1929.	English	An Arabian Tale, From an Unpublished Manuscript: With Notes Critical and Explanatory [as by uncredited]
1786^ⓘWritten in French (by an Englishman) circa 1782. Translated by Samuel Henley into English and published without authorship in 1786. The 1816 editions were the first authorized (although published anonymously), and includes many corrections and revisions to the 1786 translation. See also the 1786 variant, below. The 1929 edition is a 'new translation by Herbert B. Grimsditch, expanded with "Episodes of Vathek", as Vathek, with The Episodes of Vathek, 2 volumes'. --John Clute, undated "Addenda" to the Beckford biographical entry in SFE: Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)	English	Vathek
1816	English	Vathek [as by uncredited]
1834	English	Vathek: An Arabian Tale
1868	English	The History of the Caliph Vathek [as by William Beckford, Esq.]
1881	English	The History of the Caliph Vathek
1907^ⓘTranslated by Franz Blei	German	Vathek
1921^ⓘFeatures a 'free' translation. Translated by Karl Toth	German	Vathek
1924^ⓘTranslated by Hans Schiebelhuth	German	Vathek
1987^ⓘTranslated by Raluca Dana Cotruță	Romanian	Vathek
2013^ⓘ Translated by an unknown hand	English	Vathek: An Arabian Tale [as by William Beckford, Esq.]
2020	English	Vathek, an Arabian Tale

Publications

Displaying all variants and translations • Do not display translations • Do not display variants or translations

Title	Date	Author/Editor	Publisher/Pub. Series	ISBN/Catalog ID	Price	Pages	Format	Type	Cover Artist
An Arabian Tale, From an Unpublished Manuscript: With Notes Critical and Explanatory	1786-00-00	uncredited	J. Johnson			vii+ 334	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek: Conte Arabe	1787-00-00	uncredited	Poinçot			190	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek	1787-00-00	uncredited	Isaac Hignou			iv+ 204	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek	1815-00-00	uncredited	Clarke		10/6^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	218	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek	1816-00-00	uncredited	W. Clarke		10/6^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	284	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek	1816-00-00	uncredited	M. Carey			234	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek: An Arabian Tale	1834-00-00	William Beckford	Richard Bentley			150	unknown^?The publication record was created from a secondary source and the publication format is unknown.	novel
Vathek; The Catle of Otranto; The Bravo of Venice	1834-00-00	uncredited	Richard Bentley (Bentley Standard Novels #41)			364	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	omni
Vathek: An Arabian Tale; The Amber Witch	1852-00-00	uncredited	Henry G. Bohn				hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	omni
The History of the Caliph Vathek	1868-00-00	William Beckford, Esq.	Sampson Low, Son & Marston			x+ 189	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
The History of the Caliph Vathek	1881-00-00	William Beckford	Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington			189	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
The History of the Caliph Vathek; Also, Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia	1883-00-00	uncredited	J. C. Nimmo and Bain			xvii+ 405	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	omni
The History of the Caliph Vathek	1887-00-00	William Beckford	Cassell & Company (Cassell's National Library #96)		-/6^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	192	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek: An Arabian Tale	1905-00-00	William Beckford	Greening & Co.		1/6^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	280	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek	1907-00-00	William Beckford	Zeitler (Edition merkwürdiger und berühmter Romane der Weltliteratur #1)			iv+ 139	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel	Walter Tiemann
Vathek	1921-00-00	William Beckford	Amalthea	KAB1_5	M 18.00^?M: East German mark	143	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek	1924-00-00	William Beckford	Gurlitt		RM 50.00	99	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek	1928-00-00	William Beckford	John Day		$5.00^?$: US dollar	xx+ 229	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel	Mahlon Blaine
Vathek: An Arabian Tale	1929-00-00	William Beckford	Nonesuch Press		17/6^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	172	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Shorter Novels: Eighteenth Century	1930-00-00	Philip Henderson	J. M. Dent & Sons (Everyman's Library #856)		6/-^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	xii+ 306	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	omni
Three Eighteenth Century Romances	1931-00-00	Harrison R. Steeves	Charles Scribner's Sons (Modern Students Library)			xxiii+ 585	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	omni
Vathek: An Arabian Tale	1953-00-00	William Beckford	John Lane		12/6^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	125	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek: An Arabian Tale	1958-00-00	William Beckford	The Folio Society			128	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek	1964-00-00	William Beckford	Winkler		DM 6.80^?DM: German (Deutsche) mark	118	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Vathek: An Arabian Tale	1966-00-00	William Beckford	Four Square Books	1575	3/6^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	123	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Josh Kirby
Three Gothic Novels	1966-06-00	E. F. Bleiler	Dover Publications	21232-7	$2.00^?$: US dollar	xl+ 291	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni
Three Gothic Novels	1968-00-00	Peter Fairclough	Penguin Books (Penguin English Library)	EL36	8/-^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	505	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	omni	J. H. Fuseli
Three Eighteenth Century Romances	1971-07-00	Harrison R. Steeves	Charles Scribner's Sons (The Scribner Library Emblem Editions)	0-684-12479-3	$3.95^?$: US dollar	xxi+ 585	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni	Bill Greer (artist)
Three Gothic Novels	1979-00-00	Peter Fairclough	Penguin Books (Penguin English Library)	0-14-043036-9	£1.25^?£: UK pound	505	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	omni	J. H. Fuseli
Vathek	1983-00-00	William Beckford	Oxford University Press (The World's Classics)	0-19-281645-4	£1.75^?£: UK pound	xliii + 169	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	novel	George Miller (I)
Vathek	1983-10-00	William Beckford	Edition Weitbrecht (Die Bibliothek von Babel #3)	3-522-71030-4	DM 14.00^?DM: German (Deutsche) mark	158	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	novel
Three Gothic Novels	1986-00-00	Peter Fairclough	Penguin Books (Penguin Classics)	0-14-043036-9	$18.00^?$: US dollar	505	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni	Simon Marsden
Bătrînul baron englez / Vathek^?Batrinul baron englez / Vathek Batrinul baron englez / Vathek	1987-00-00	William Beckford, Clara Reeve	Editura Minerva ( Biblioteca pentru toți^?Biblioteca pentru totsi Biblioteca pentru toti #1275)		Lei 8^?Lei: Romanian leu	xli+ 293	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	omni	Done Stan
Four Gothic Novels	1994-07-00	uncredited	Oxford University Press	0-19-282331-0	£6.99^?£: UK pound	606	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni	Frank Moss
Vathek and Other Stories	1995-00-00	William Beckford	Penguin Books	0-14-043530-1	£5.99^?£: UK pound	xxxviii+ 314	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	coll	Elihu Vedder
The History of the Caliph Vathek	2000-02-01	William Beckford	Project Gutenberg	2060	$0.00^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	novel
Vathek	2000-03-00	William Beckford	Creation Press	1-84068-018-0	£7.95^?£: UK pound	123	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	novel	Odile Redon
Vathek and Other Stories	2001-12-10	William Beckford	Penguin Books	0-14-043961-7	£8.99^?£: UK pound	352	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	coll
The History of the Caliph Vathek	2002-05-01	William Beckford	Wildside Press	1-58715-693-8	$14.95^?$: US dollar	128	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	novel
Vathek	2007-04-00	William Beckford	Edition Büchergilde (Die Bibliothek von Babel #3)	978-3-940111-03-6	€17.90^?€: Euro	168	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel	Bernhard Jäger^?Bernhard Jaeger
The Castle of Otranto, Vathek & Nightmare Abbey	2009-08-05	William Beckford, Thomas Love Peacock, Horace Walpole	Wordsworth Editions (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural)	978-1-84022-184-8		xii+ 259	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni
The History of the Caliph Vathek	2010-10-04	William Beckford	LibriVox				digital audio download^?Digital recording in any format that is downloaded directly from the Internet. This category includes podcasts.	novel	Adolf Schreyer
Shorter Novels: Eighteenth Century	2010-12-27	Philip Henderson	Project Gutenberg	34766	$0.00^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	omni
Vathek	2013-02-21	William Beckford	Simon & Brown	978-1-61382-436-8	$9.99^?$: US dollar	114	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	novel
Vathek: An Arabian Tale	2013-03-24	William Beckford, Esq.	Project Gutenberg	42401	$0.00^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	novel
Vathek	2013-06-13	William Beckford	Oxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics)	978-0-19-164578-5	£7.99^?£: UK pound		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	novel	Tiepolo
Vathek	2013-06-13	William Beckford	Oxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics)	978-0-19-957695-1	£7.99^?£: UK pound	192	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	novel	Tiepolo
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & Other Gothic Classics	2013-08-22	William Beckford, Charles Maturin, John Polidori, Robert Louis Stevenson, Horace Walpole	Pearl Necklace Books	978-1-4922-2380-1	$10.99^?$: US dollar	312	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni
Vathek	2015-03-31	William Beckford	Open Road Integrated Media	978-1-5040-1072-6	$0.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	novel
Vathek	2015-09-15	William Beckford	Centipede Press	978-1-61347-102-9	$75.00^?$: US dollar	280	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
Between the Gothic and the Plague: Why We Can't Have Nice Things	2020-05-20	Jan Kostka	Zmok Books	978-1-950423-39-2	$8.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	omni	Francisco Goya
Vathek	2020-08-18	William Beckford	Poisoned Pen Press (The Haunted Library of Horror Classics #3)	978-1-4926-9974-3	$14.99^?$: US dollar	151	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	novel	Jeffrey Nguyen
Vathek	2020-08-18	William Beckford	Poisoned Pen Press (The Haunted Library of Horror Classics #3)	978-1-4926-9975-0	$9.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	novel	Jeffrey Nguyen
Between the Gothic and the Plague: Why We Can't Have Nice Things	2020-10-13	Jan Kostka	Zmok Books	978-1-950423-38-5	$21.00^?$: US dollar	528	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni	Francisco Goya
Three Gothic Novels	date unknown	E. F. Bleiler	Dover Publications	0-486-21232-7	$7.95^?$: US dollar	xl+ 291	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni

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Reviews

Review [English] by Joseph H. Crawford, Jr. and James J. Donahue and Donald M. Grant (1953) in '333': A Bibliography of the Science-Fantasy Novel , reprinted in:
[English] '333': A Bibliography of the Science-Fantasy Novel (1953)
Review [English] by Everett F. Bleiler (1983) in The Guide to Supernatural Fiction
Review [English] by James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock (1988) in Fantasy: The 100 Best Books , reprinted in:
[English] Fantasy: The 100 Best Books (1988)
[English] Fantasy: The 100 Best Books (1988)
[English] Fantasy: The 100 Best Books (1991)
Review [German] by Simon Weinert (2007) in Pandora, Fall 2007

Title: Vathek

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