{"product_id":"the-journal-of-william-beckford-in-portugal-and-spain-1787-1788-william-beckford","title":"The Journal of William Beckford in Portugal and Spain 1787-1788, William Beckford","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Journal of William Beckford in Portugal and Spain 1787-1788, William Beckford (Edited by Boyd Alexander) — First Edition \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublication\u003c\/strong\u003e: London, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1954\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormatting\u003c\/strong\u003e: 8vo, pp. 340.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition Report\u003c\/strong\u003e: Very Good. The original claret cloth binding remains exceptionally tight, square, and structurally sound, with the gilt-lettered blue spine label presenting brightly without rubbing or oxidation. The text block is solid, and the hinges are entirely secure. Internally, the pages exhibit only very mild, uniform toning commensurate with the paper stock of the period, remaining clean and entirely free of foxing, staining, or previous ownership inscriptions. The original, unclipped dust-wrapper (retaining the 18s. net price on the rear panel) shows moderate sun-fading and toning to the spine, alongside light shelf-wear to the extremities, including a few minor nicks and slight rubbing at the spine head. It presents very attractively overall.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCatalogue Note\u003c\/strong\u003e: This is the true first edition thus, representing the first unexpurgated publication of William Beckford's original travel journals from his Iberian sojourn. Edited directly from the Hamilton muniments by Boyd Alexander, this edition restores the diverting and flamboyant entries that Beckford originally heavily redacted for his formalised 1834 publication. The volume is illustrated with a frontispiece portrait and includes further plates.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs an unclipped first edition retaining its original 1954 dust-wrapper, this is an increasingly uncommon survival in such well-preserved condition. It is a highly sought-after volume for collectors of 18th-century travel literature, Romantic-era eccentricity, and Beckfordiana.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilliam Beckford, the famously eccentric and fabulously wealthy author of the Gothic novel \u003ci\u003eVathek\u003c\/i\u003e and builder of Fonthill Abbey, fled England under a cloud of scandal in 1785. During his subsequent travels through Portugal and Spain between 1787 and 1788, he kept a series of vivid, uninhibited journals. While Beckford published a highly polished and sanitised account of these travels in 1834, his original, far more entertaining manuscripts remained unpublished until Boyd Alexander edited this volume in 1954. Filled with sharp observations, witty architectural critiques, and flamboyant accounts of high society, this journal captures the unvarnished brilliance of one of England’s most fascinating dilettantes during his European exile.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadhursts Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54494420271443,"sku":"4905","price":42.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/1469\/6787\/files\/20260730_225647.jpg?v=1785928792","url":"https:\/\/broadhurstsbooks.com\/products\/the-journal-of-william-beckford-in-portugal-and-spain-1787-1788-william-beckford","provider":"Broadhursts Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}