| Details | | Publication Date: | 2001-10-01 | | Editor: | Derek E. Ostergard, Philip Hewat-Jaboor | | Edition Description: | Illustrated |
| Size | | Length: | 496 pages | | Height: | 12.5 in | | Width: | 10.0 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 95.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
The British collector William Beckford helped to define many of the most significant parameters of nineteenth-century collecting, as he was unbound by conventional intellectual or aesthetic prejudice. He was among the first of the great connoisseurs to collect Asian and Islamic art while breaking with the taste of his contemporaries. He assembled an eclectic and luxurious collection that included ancient, medieval, and Renaissance art, as well as seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and early nineteenth-century objects. His active participation in the design of various objects reveals a discriminating aesthetic sensibility that set him apart from his contemporaries. His influence also extended beyond his day; generations of renowned private collectors in Great Britain, on the Continent, and in the United States have reflected his interest in the art of many cultures and periods.
This magnificent book describes Beckford’s flamboyant personality and unconventional life. Authorities tell us that at an early age, Beckford was known as "England’s wealthiest son," due to a prodigal income generated from Jamaican sugar plantations. As a youth, he traveled widely and made his mark as a novelist, composer of music, and impresario of design. His most ambitious project was his fantastic residence Fonthill Abbey; the construction and furnishing of this Gothic Revival edifice consumed nearly twenty-five years of Beckford’s life and vast amounts of his fortune, branding him with a reputation as a recluse and eccentric.
Apart from Beckford’s travels and great building projects, this book will also examine his participation in the turbulent art market that emerged in the aftermath of the French Revolution. As a highly visible buyer and seller of all sorts of works of art, Beckford commanded the attention of his generation and influenced many other collectors. This publication will discuss 175 of the finest paintings, drawings, engravings, lithographs, and wealth of decorative arts that once were part of Beckford’s legendary collections. Numerous scholars from various disciplines have participated in the authorship of this major publication.
Industry Reviews
"With an international team of fifty contributors--to say nothing of several hundred expert advisors--this volume is a massive cooperative enterprise."
Times Literary Supplement - J. Mordaunt Crook (03/15/2002)
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