The History of Caliph Vathek by William Beckford

"The History of Caliph Vathek" by William Beckford is a Gothic novel composed in French beginning in 1782 and first published in English in 1786. The story follows Vathek, a depraved and tyrannical caliph with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, who encounters a mysterious stranger promising magical treasures and access to forbidden power. Seduced by promises of ultimate knowledge and the keys to the Palace of Underground Fire, Vathek makes a dark pact that demands terrible sacrifices and leads him down a path of increasingly heinous acts, rejecting salvation at every turn. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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About this eBook

Author Beckford, William, 1760-1844
Author of introduction, etc. Morley, Henry, 1822-1894
Title The History of Caliph Vathek
Note Translation of Vathek
Note Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vathek
Credits Transcribed from the 1887 Cassell & Company edition by David Price
Reading Level Reading ease score: 53.2 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read.
Language English
LoC Class PR: Language and Literatures: English literature
Subject English fiction
Subject Gothic fiction
Subject Arab countries -- Fiction
Category Text
EBook-No. 2060
Release Date
Most Recently Updated Jan 8, 2012
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
Downloads 593 downloads in the last 30 days.
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