Beckford, William

Japanese: ベックフォード（英語表記）Beckford， William

Born: October 1, 1760, Fonthill Gifford, Wiltshire
Died May 2, 1844, Bath. British man of letters. Born into a wealthy family, he received piano lessons from Mozart at the age of five, and studied architecture under W. Chambers when he grew up. He became a member of Parliament, but from 1796 onwards he devoted himself to the construction of a magnificent Gothic-style mansion, where he lived a life of pleasure, secluded from the world, surrounded by art and antiques and rare books. His only important work, Vathek, an Arabian Tale, was written in French in 1782 and translated into English anonymously and published in 1786. It is a fantasy tale in the style of the Arabian Nights, giving literary expression to the orientalism he would pursue in real life, and is renowned as a strange book.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

[生]1760.10.1. ウィルトシャー，フォントヒルギフォード
[没]1844.5.2. バース
イギリスの文人。富豪の家に生れ，5歳でモーツァルトのピアノ・レッスンを受け，長じては W.チェンバーズから建築を学んだ。国会議員となったが，1796年以後は壮大なゴシック風の館の建築に没頭，そこで美術骨董品や希書に囲まれ，世間とは没交渉に享楽生活をおくった。唯一の重要な作品『バテック』 Vathek，an Arabian Taleは，82年にフランス語で書かれ 86年に匿名で英訳出版された。実生活において追求することになる東洋趣味に文学的表現を与えたアラビアン・ナイト風の幻想譚で，奇書の名が高い。

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