Vathek

The fantastical novella "Vathek," written in the "Gothic" style, was first published in 1786. Its author, the Englishman William Beckford (1760–1844), composed an original variation on Goethe's theme of "Faust," presenting it as an Arabic tale. The text is given in the translation of one of the last major representatives of the Silver Age — Boris Konstantinovich Zaicev (1881–1972). The book is adorned with stylish illustrations by American artist Malone Blaine (1894–1969), which stylistically somewhat resemble the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley.
The novel "Vathek" is the most famous work of the English literator, collector, aesthete, and one of the wealthiest people of his time, William Beckford (1760–1844). At the age of ten, he lost his father, inheriting a million pounds sterling. William was talented. He played music in his childhood with the young Mozart, received an excellent education, spoke French fluently, and, paying tribute to the fashionable tradition of his time, wrote his "Vathek" in French (for the first publication, William's acquaintance — Samuel Henley — had to translate the novel into English). This magical tale was composed by Beckford in the spirit of "terrifying Eastern stories" and significantly influenced the development of the "Gothic" style in English literature. Jorge Luis Borges, in an essay dedicated to "Vathek," wrote that this novel in some degree anticipated the "demonic grandeur" of Thomas De Quincey, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire, and Joris-Karl Huysmans. Undoubtedly, the descending protagonist of Beckford, as well as the entire style of his novel, influenced both "The Manuscript Found in Saragossa" by Jan Potocki and Lord Byron's "The Giaour," as well as Lermontov's "The Demon." Although the first translation of "Vathek" into Russian was published in St. Petersburg back in 1792, the wide acquaintance of domestic readers with this novel occurred later due to the translation of the representative of the Silver Age — Boris Konstantinovich Zaicev (1881–1972). The book is adorned with stylish illustrations by American artist Malone Blaine (1894–1969). In terms of technique, they somewhat resemble the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley. Throughout his life, Blaine managed to design numerous books. He illustrated "Salammbô" and "The Temptation of Saint Anthony" by Gustave Flaubert, "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck, "Candide" by Voltaire, "Memoirs of a Licker" by John Cleland, the tales of "One Thousand and One Nights," and dozens of other books. Meanwhile, not much is known about the artist himself. Perhaps this is connected to the fact that Blaine viewed his biography as a true artist and every time told journalists a new story about his life. Blaine was a rebel, poorly fitting into the conservative framework of American society. In 1922, along with artists from Los Angeles, he founded a group of independent painters, gaining scandalous fame for his drawings on erotic themes, which, however, did not prevent him from working for several years in Hollywood. Blaine was drawn to mysticism, the whimsical and sometimes eerie world of fantasies, so he approached the illustrations for "Vathek" with immense enthusiasm, later receiving an artistic award for them.