The History of Caliph Vathek

Vathek (alternatively titled Vathek, an Arabian Tale or The History of the Caliph Vathek) is a Gothic novel written by William Beckford. It was composed in French beginning in 1782, and then translated into English by Reverend Samuel Henley[1] in which form it was first published in 1786 without Beckford's name as An Arabian Tale, From an Unpublished Manuscript, claiming to be translated directly from Arabic. The first French edition was published in 1787.[2] A modern edition was issued in paperback by Ballantine Books as the thirty-first volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in June, 1971. This edition, edited by Lin Carter, was the first to incorporate into the main text The Episodes of Vathek, three related tales intended by Beckford to be so incorporated, but omitted from the original edition and published separately long after his death.