631 



EECENT WILTSHIRE BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, 

 ARTICLES, &c. 



[N.B. — This list does not claim to be in any way exhaustive. The Editor 

 appeals to all authors and publishers of pamphlets, books, or views in any 

 way connected with the county to send him copies of their works, and to 

 editors of papers and members of the Society generally to send him copies 

 of articles, views, or portraits, appearing in the newspapers.] 



The Life and Letters of William Beckford, of Font- 

 hill (author of " Vathek ") , by Lewis Melville. 



Illustrated. London : William Heinemann, 1910. 



Cloth, lOtin. x 7|in., pp. xv. (including titles) + 391. Price 15s. 

 net. Thirteen illustrations : — portraits of William Beckford (four after 

 Bomney, one after John Doyle) ; Alderman Beckford ; Hon. Mrs. 

 Peter Beckford ; Margaret and Susan Beckford ; Susan Euphemia, 

 Duchess of Hamilton ; Alexander, tenth Duke of Hamilton ; and views 

 of Font hill (W. and S. Fronts, and Interior of Great Hall) ; and 

 Lansdown Tower, Bath. 



The author begins his Introduction in these words : " It may be said 

 with truth that there were few famous men born in the eighteenth 

 century of whom less is known than of William Beckford, the author of 

 ' Vathek.' There is abundance of legend, as little trustworthy as most 

 legends, but of the man himself, as he was, few people have even a 

 remote conception. This may be, perhaps, because there has been no 

 biography of him worthy of the name, but it is more probably due to 

 the fact that he led a secluded life." 



He is justly severe on the ridiculous stories told in an article in 

 Literature, June 30th, 1900, on the strength of the recollections of an 

 elderly lady living in Bath. 



The family history begins with Bicbard Beckford, of Maidenhead, a 

 tailor, one of whose sons — Thomas — became Alderman and Sheriff of 

 London, and was knighted in 1677, and the other — Peter— went to 

 Jamaica, where his family already held property and position. Peter 

 (I.) became wealthy, and his eldest son, Col. Peter (II.) became Com- 

 mander-in-Chief and President of the Council in Jamaica, and finally 

 Governor, dying in 1710. His eldest son, the Hon. Peter (III.), inherited 

 his property, became Speaker of the House of Assembly, and died 1735, 

 leaving £300,000. His son, Peter (IV.), died unmarried in 1737 and 

 left his property to his brother, William, b. in Jamaica, 1709, who 

 bought Fonthill, was M.P. for Shaftesbury 1747, Petersfield, 1754, and 

 the City of London in the same year. Master of the Ironmongers' 

 Company, Alderman, and twice Lord Mayor of London. He died 1770. 

 His son, William Beckford, was born at Fonthill Giffard, Oct. 1., 1760. 



The great mass of this book consists of Beckford's own letters to all 



