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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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William Beckford
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(1759–1844)
Eccentric of immense wealth who was a significant figure in early romanticism, both as the author of Vathek and as the builder of Fonthill Abbey. Vathek, written in French in a single trance-like spell of three days in 1781, indulges the contemporary fashion for orientalism; it is a Faust-like tale of a cruel eastern potentate who becomes a servant of the devil in his quest for the extremes of power and passion.
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An unproven homosexual scandal in 1794 caused Beckford to travel abroad for a period, during which he formed a great collection of pictures and books. On his return in 1796 he commissioned James *Wyatt to rebuild his family home, Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire, as a suitable setting for himself and his objets d'art. The new Fonthill, in which he lived as a recluse, became one of the famous follies of the age. Its 85m/278ft tower collapsed three months after completion, was rebuilt and collapsed again in 1825. Meanwhile Beckford had sold the house and had moved to Bath, where he built himself on Lansdown Hill a study with a tower of only 46m/150ft (Beckford's Tower, still standing). Of his vast fortune, from sugar plantations in the West Indies, only a fraction remained when he died.
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