William Beckford: A Bibliography

Citation

Baker, W. (2010), "William Beckford: A Bibliography", Library Review, Vol. 59 No. 1, pp. 65-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531011014691

This delightfully produced, printed and bound volume reflects well on its publishers the Beckford Society and its author. The Beckford Society was created in 1995 in order to promote interest in the accomplishments of William Beckford (1760‐1844), the author noted for his authorship of Vathek. Since its publication in 1786 the novel has appeared in 165 editions and in 20 different languages. Beckford also created one of the most important architectural monuments of the Gothic Revival, Fonthill Abbey. John Piper's lithography of the Abbey is used as the dustjacket illustration for the present volume. Beckford collected books and works of art, he travelled, he built, wrote and was a landscape gardener.

Jon Millington founded The Beckford Journal. His William Beckford: A Bibliography reflects his immense knowledge of the subject to which he has devoted more than 40 years of his life, and his enthusiasm and good judgment is reflected in the “List of Subscribers” found at the end of the bibliography (pp. 412‐13). Millington's clearly written, succinct “Introduction” (pp. 11‐16) describes the parameters of his work. It is followed by a Beckford “Chronology” (pp. 15‐17) and a family tree (pp. 18‐19), which reveals that there are Beckford descendants alive as late as the middle years of the twentieth century.

The Bibliography is divided into two parts: the first to Beckford's Life and the second to literature. The first part has nine sections: “Accounts of Beckford's Life” (pp. 23‐43), “Aspects of Beckford” (pp. 44‐66) including “Character,” “Politics,” “Religion,” “Sexuality” – interesting books and articles on homosexuality, sexual ambiguity and bisexuality are listed here (pp. 57‐60) – “Slavery,” “Wealth” and so on. These are followed by material on the Beckford “Family” (pp. 67‐78). There are books and articles listed on “Contemporaries” (pp. 79‐97), beginning with Jane Austen and concluding with James Wyatt. There are in addition listings on “Fonthill” (pp. 98‐160) including “Other Fonthills” extending from Ireland to the USA, Tasmania and Lisbon (pp. 159‐60), “Beckford's Tower and Bath” (pp. 161‐96) now restored and maintained by a preservation trust, “Landscape Gardening” (pp. 197‐203), Beckford's “The Collection” (pp. 204‐34) encompassing his Library, ceramics, furniture, gold and silver, paintings and drawings, sculpture, stained glass, works of art and sales. The ninth section is devoted to “Exhibitions” (pp. 235‐47).

The second part has eight sections. The first “Beckford's Works: First Editions” notes that “Most of these entries also appear, together with later editions and related articles in the succeeding section” (pp. 251‐6). A separate section, 11 (the fourth of the second part), is devoted to “Vathek and The Episodes: Editions” (pp. 257‐74). This encompasses versions in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and “Other Languages” beginning with Catalan and concluding with Turkish (interestingly nothing in Arabic, Hebrew or Yiddish). The section concludes with “Abridgements” and “Extracts from Vathek” (pp. 272‐4).

The 12th section lists “Vathek and The Episodes: Criticism” (pp. 275‐306). By far the most extensive section contains “Books” (pp. 279‐96) and also alphabetically arranged by author “Articles” (pp. 297‐306). The next section, 13, itemizes “Travel” (pp. 307‐29). This is followed by items about “Beckford's Other Works” (pp. 330‐44), and then “Literary Studies” (pp. 345‐51). Section 16 lists with all too brief annotations “Works Influenced by Beckford” (pp. 352‐66). Amongst the “Principal Novels” noted are Susan Sontag's The Volcano Lover: A Romance (p. 353). Authors included in “Other Fiction, Poems and Sketches” (pp. 353‐66) extend from Benjamin Disraeli (Contarini Fleming), Thomas Hardy (Jude the Obscure) and Herman Melville (White Jacket).

The final section, 17, lists “Bibliographies” (pp. 367‐73). An extensive “Index” (pp. 374‐410) and an “Index to Beckford's Writings” (p. 411) follows. References are to pages. Curiously, Millington's William Beckford: A Bibliography lacks enumeration. The arrangement is on occasion repetitious, annotation is inconsistent and mostly perfunctory. As Millington notes in his “Introduction,” his “bibliography covers works published up to the end of 2005 and concentrates on those printed in English and other European languages.” The author should be commended for his common sense represented for instance by his comment “Actual website addresses are not given in this work because they change or go out of date so rapidly” (p. 12).

Typeset in Sabo, designed by Humphrey Stone and superbly printed and bound by Biddles Ltd., of King's Lynn, Norfolk. William Beckford: A Bibliography is clearly a labour of love. It should be purchased by all libraries and collections with material on English culture and society.