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Beckford, William (Thomas)

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Beckford, William (Thomas) (1759-1844)

English writer and eccentric. At 21 he inherited the family fortune. He wrote, originally in French, Vathek 1787, a fantastic Arabian Nights tale. Although frequently abroad (he wrote perceptively about his travels), he was several times elected to Parliament. In 1796 he had the family seat of Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire, rebuilt by James Wyatt as a Gothic fantasy, and lived there until retiring to Bath 1822.

His Letters from Portugal were published 1834, and in the same year his satirical Biographical Memoirs of Extraordinary Painters, originally written 1780, was reissued.



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