Vathek and the Episodes of Vathek

This is the long-wanted essential modern edition of William Beckford’s Vathek with the Episodes of Vathek. The text of this edition is a new translation by the leading Beckford specialist. It corrects many earlier errors and presentations of Beckford’s great novel. It translates into English the original French language texts of Vathek and Les Épisodes de Vathek, Professor Graham then interprets Beckford’s original edition of Vathek - the novel being first published in Lausanne in 1786 (although dated 1787) not in England. He also discursively discusses  and the earliest manuscripts of the Épisodes, now housed among the Beckford Papers in the Bodleian Library. As Professor Graham shows, previous translations originated from different eras and diverse translators, who were also mistaken in the manuscripts or editions they chose to translate. The only solution to faulty sources and faulty translations is to begin again with the most original documents. That is what this edition does.