Beckford has been the subject of many biographies. It is the intention of the Keeper of this site to present as many of these as possible on the website over the course of the next few years. Copyright will limit the number of possible candidates - but there are enough biographies out there that are currently out of copyright.

While Cyrus Redding's biography from 1859 is the first major work, other shorter biographical sketches exist prior to this. Beckfordiana will attempt to add these shorter items to the online collection as well.


1823: The very first, stand-alone biography of Beckford, included in the series Portraits and Biography of Public Characters – The Unique (1823), is found here.

1823: "Anecdotes of Mr. Beckford", from the Morning Post, 1823, may be found here.

1844: An obituary from the Bath and Cheltenham Gazette, May 8, 1844 is found here.

1850: William Haig Miller's biographical essay on Beckford (with a strong hint of religious condemnation), "The Man of Wealth", from The Mirage of Life (1850) with an illustration by John Tenniel (1867) is found here.

[n.d.]: A biographical introduction to an edition of Vathek by Henry Morley is found here.

1887: A chapter from W. P. Frith, My Autobiography and Remininiscences, London, 1887, "The Fonthill Story" - outlining a bizarre visit to Fonthill - is found here.

1893: An online edition of Henry Venn Lansdown's Recollections of William Beckford (1893) is found here.

1893: Jerome Murch's two chapters on Beckford from Biographical Sketches of Bath Celebrities (1893) are found here.

1911: Lewis Melville's essay on Beckford from Some Eccentrics & a Woman (1911) is found here.

1948: Alfred Dunning's childrens' book biography of Beckford, "The Fantastic Builder", from Some Curious Characters [1948] is found here.

EB: Two varying biographical accounts from the Encyclopedia Britannica (1911 and the present day edition) may be found here.