The Journal of William Beckford in Portugal and Spain, 1787-1788
London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1954. Presumed First U.K. Edition. Hardcover. 340 pages. Footnotes. Index. Some discoloration to DJ. DJ is in a plastic sleeve. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Boyd Alexander. Includes Introduction; Note on the Manuscript; Acknowledgments; Glossary, Abbreviations, &c; Portuguese Journal 1787; Spanish Journal 1787-8; Appendix I: Marialva's Villa and Seteais; Appendix II: Genealogical Tables of the Connections of the Marialvas. Includes full page black and white drawing of William Beckford, aged 21, by Romney on the frontispiece. Also includes three full page black and white illustrations on pages 37-39; two pages of Beckford's Manuscript facing pages 36 and 140; and Illustrations of Henriqueta, Duchess of Lafoes, Mafra, a Map of Lisbon (fold-out), and a map of the Environs of Lisbon (fold-out). William Thomas Beckford (1 October 1760 – 2 May 1844) was an English novelist; an art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer, and sometime politician, reputed at one stage in his life to be the richest commoner in England. He was Member of Parliament for Wells from 1784 to 1790, for Hindon from 1790 to 1795 and 1806 to 1820. He is remembered as the builder of the remarkable lost Fonthill Abbey and Lansdown Tower ("Beckford's Tower"), Bath, and especially for his art collection. His other principal writings were Memoirs of Extraordinary Painters (1780), a satirical work; and Letters from Italy with Sketches of Spain and Portugal (1834), full of brilliant descriptions of scenes and manners. Boyd Alexander has edited the diaries, and provided an introduction and a large number of notes. In 1834, William Beckford of Fonthill, the author of Vathek, published an enchanting and highly polished work on which one volume described his travels as a young man in Spain and Portugal. The original journal is now for the first time printed. It covers a great part of his sojourn in Lisbon, Cintra, and Madrid between May 1787 and January 1788. In Lisbon, Beckford was ignored by most of the English colony, but being an accomplished and very wealthy man of 27, he captivated Portuguese high society.
Known as the "Fool of Fonthill" for his eccentricity, William Beckford was ostracized by polite society after being accused of having an improper relationship with a young boy, and soon after was forced to flee England. In early 1787 he arrived in Lisbon, the first stop on a journey to his plantations in Jamaica, but due to terrible sea-sickness, he decided to stay. However, despite his popularity with the Portuguese nobility, the scandal that had forced him to leave England again forced him to move on to Spain in November 1787. Here, in true Beckford style, he became entangled with an older married woman, a young married girl, and a twelve-year-old boy all at the same time. The account of his Iberian sojourn is at times scathing but often witty, as Beckford in turns bemoans his lot and then rhapsodizes about a new love affair. The Journal of William Beckford provides a fascinating and entertaining account of Beckford's time in Portugal and Spain, while offering a tantalizing glimpse into the life of someone famous for his hedonistic and unconventional behavior. Condition: Good / Good.
Keywords: Travel, Spain, Portugal, Diarists, William Beckford, Belem Monastry, Marialva Palace, Lafoes, Mafra, Lisbon, Bauffremont, Balsemao, Bezerra, Gregorio Franchi, Thomas Horne, Noronha e Menezes, Polycarpo da Silva, Robert Walpole, Abbade Xavier, Verdeil
[Book #80092]
Price: $75.00