Vathek by Beckford, William - 1923

London: Philip Allan, 1923. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine; Light rubbing to spine and bumping to corners. Black soiling to lower corner of text block. Foxing throughout. Name and address inscription to first free endpaper dated 1932. Winnie L. McKissack, 'Seaforth', Davison Avenue, Monkseaton.. Illustrated by Violet Dale. 4to 11" - 13" tall. Original publishers blue cloth with gilt titles and rose bush in pot to upper board and gilt titles to spine. 8 full page colour plates by English illustrator Violet Dale. With tissue guards. Introduction by John Gibson Lockhart, with notes by Samuel Henley, abbreviated from the first edition. A lovely twentieth century edition of Beckford's Arabian Gothic tale first published in 1786. Limited to 1000 copies. This being No. II. Vathek is an Oriental Fantasy that utilizes the settings made popular by the Arabian Nights and infuses them with the atmosphere of Gothic Fantasy, then gaining in popularity. It tells of an 8th century caliph who renounces Islam and partakes of vile and depraved practises in order to obtain supernatural talents. After years of corruption, during which he constructs a mighty pleasure tower, he descends into hell to inherit a knigdom. (The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, Clute & Grant). ; 212 pages; 1.