William Beckford’s
Vathek
is a touchstone of eighteenth-century Orientalism and of the Gothic novel. Beckford’s later work,
The Episodes of Vathek
, shares
’s irreverent and decadent style, and an edition that unites the two has long been overdue. The Broadview edition includes a newly discovered early version of the first episode, never before in print, that centres on male-male love, as well as the previously published version that was re-written by Beckford as a heterosexual narrative. Based on the 1823 edition—the last one edited by the author himself—the Broadview Edition also introduces
The Episodes
in the order Beckford planned, and incorporates his final corrections.