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Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents: In a Series of Letters from Various Parts of Europe
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Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents: In a Series of Letters from Various Parts of Europe
Unavailable
Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents: In a Series of Letters from Various Parts of Europe
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Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents: In a Series of Letters from Various Parts of Europe

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William Thomas Beckford (1 October 1760 – 2 May 1844), usually known as William Beckford, was an English novelist, a profligate and consummately knowledgeable 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. His parents were William Beckford and Maria Hamilton, daughter of the Hon. George Hamilton. 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 author of the Gothic novel "Vathek", the builder of the remarkable lost Fonthill Abbey and Lansdown Tower ("Beckford's Tower"), Bath, and especially for his art collection.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 8, 2015
ISBN9781633554849
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Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents: In a Series of Letters from Various Parts of Europe
Author

William Beckford

William Beckford (1760-1844) was an English novelist, art collector, slaveowner, and politician. Born in London, he inherited a massive fortune from his father, a former Lord Mayor of London, as well as an estate in Wiltshire and sugar plantations in Jamaica with around 3,000 African slaves. He lived in ease and luxury, studying music with Mozart and drawing with Alexander Cozens while leading a semi-open bisexual lifestyle. Inspired by a Grand Tour of Europe, Beckford published a travel narrative, Dreams, Waking Thoughts and Incidents (1783). Several years later, he wrote Vathek (1786), a popular Gothic novel originally drafted in French. He earned a reputation as an obsessive art collector and eccentric builder, burning through his fortune at an alarming rate. Throughout his life, he owned and sold original works by Turner, Blake, Velázquez, Lippi, and the Bellini family.

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