One of my favourite authors is Bill Bryson. While I was reading his book ‘At Home’ describing how wealthy men in 18th century England were building themselves great mansion houses, I came across a certain William Beckford, who at the age of 21 inherited a vast fortune and many years later proceeded to rebuild the family home Fonthill Splendens to make it simply the biggest house in the country since Blenheim Palace. Needless to say it was a folly, everything was built on a gigantic scale. My interest in Beckford however was that soon after he came into his inheritance, he was involved in a scandal which compelled him to escape to Paris. There he wrote in French a Gothic novel called Vathek, an Arabian tale. That intrigued me and I got myself a copy of Vathek.
The story turned out to be based around Vathek the 9th Abbasid caliph of Baghdad! The novel describes Vathek’s journey to damnation among the subterranean treasures of Iblis (Satan). Very strange story indeed and very curious how Beckford made the connection with Vathek. But I guess in 18th century Europe there was a great fascination with the Orient. The novel might have been admired at the time, but I can say it is hard reading now.