The Beckford Society
Society Publications
William Beckford: A Bibliography
An annotated listing of all known publications of his works, with many contemporary reviews. Beckford's novel Vathek has been published in some 165 editions in twenty languages since the first unauthorised edition of 1786.
The bibliography encompasses printed works about Beckford's life and accomplishments, scholarly research, and his appearances in periodicals. It contains some 6,000 references to material published before 2006 and serves as a comprehensive reference for interdisciplinary Beckford scholarship.
Compiled by Jon Millington, founding editor of The Beckford Journal, after four decades of research. He wrote the guide to Beckford's Tower, participated in the 1976 William Beckford Exhibition, curated Souvenirs of Fonthill Abbey (1994), and prepared William Beckford and his Circle in the Gentleman's Magazine (2001).
Publisher: The Beckford Society 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9537836-3-2
Price: £50
US distribution: Oak Knoll Press
Beckford Lectures
Four published collections of the Society's annual lectures are available. They may be obtained from the Society's Secretary, or by ordering in the UK at your usual bookshop. Lectures from 2011 have been published annually in The Beckford Journal.
Beckford Lectures 1996–1999
80 pp · ISBN 0-9537836-0-X
- John Wilton-Ely — Beckford's Fonthill Abbey: A Theatre of the Arts
- João de Almeida Flor — Portuguese Tears and Treasures: On Beckford's Literary Fortune
- William Hauptman — William Beckford as Connoisseur and Collector
- Michel Baridon — From Beckford to Mallarmé: The tradition of L'Art pour l'Art
Beckford Lectures 2000–2003
88 pp · ISBN 0-9537836-2-6
- Kevin L. Cope — How Beckford Keeps Making Himself Relevant
- Edward Chaney — Gibbon, Beckford and the Interpretations of Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents
- Kenneth W. Graham — Between Restriction and Ostracism: William Beckford's Rebellious Episodes of Vathek
- Mirella Billi — The Impact of Italy on Beckford's Taste, Aesthetics and Literary Style
Beckford Lectures 2004–2006
72 pp · ISBN 978-0-9537836-4-9
- David Watkin — Thomas Hope, Designer, Collector, Patron
- Kim Sloan — 'Amusements of solitude' and 'talismans of transport'
- Rictor Norton — Oddities, Obituaries and Obsessions
Beckford Lectures 2007–2010
96 pp · ISBN 978-0-9537836-5-6
- Bet McLeod — Family Connections: from Fonthill Abbey and Bath to Hamilton Palace
- Daniele Niedda — Vathek's footprints; Beckford's Entry into the Italian Literary Canon
- Perry Gauci — William Beckford and the City of London
- Peter Sabor — Modern Novel Writing and Azemia
Conversations with Beckford
Shortly after William Beckford's death in May 1844, the New Monthly Magazine published a series of recollections by Cyrus Redding and others. This volume is a facsimile of these articles with an introduction and index by Jon Millington. ISBN 978-0-9537836-6-3. £6.
Fonthill Fever
Fonthill Fever: The Fonthill Sales 1822 & 1823
Sidney Blackmore, 2022 (reprinted 2023)
Published in conjunction with the Fonthill Fever exhibition at the Gold Hill Museum, Shaftesbury, this booklet presents two essays on the great Fonthill sales of 1822 and 1823 — amongst the most celebrated dispersals of art in Regency England.
- Robert J. Gemmett — Thus Passes the Glory of Fonthill
- Jon Millington — Tickets, Catalogues & Guidebooks: A Checklist
The Beckford Journal & Newsletters
The Beckford Journal has been published since 1995 to fulfil the Society's aim of supporting Beckford studies and scholarship. Available volumes may be downloaded free of charge.