Editing Vathek (section)

== Literary significance and criticism ==
[[Lord Byron]] cited ''Vathek'' as a source for his poem ''[[The Giaour]]''. In ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'', Byron also calls Vathek "England's wealthiest son". Other [[Romantic poetry|Romantic poets]] wrote works with a Middle Eastern setting inspired by ''Vathek'', including [[Robert Southey]]'s ''[[Thalaba the Destroyer]]'' (1801) and [[Thomas Moore]]'s ''[[Lalla-Rookh]]'' (1817).<ref>Robert J. Gemmett, ''William Beckford''. Twayne Publishers, 1977, (137).</ref> [[John Keats]]'s vision of the [[Underworld]] in ''[[Endymion (poem)|Endymion]]'' (1818) is indebted to the novel.<ref>Barnard, John. ''John Keats : The Complete Poems'' p. 595 {{ISBN|978-0-14-042210-8}}</ref>

[[Edgar Allan Poe]] mentions the infernal terrace seen by Vathek in "Landor's Cottage". [[Stéphane Mallarmé]], who translated Poe's poems into French, inspired by this reference in "Landor's Cottage," had ''Vathek'' reprinted in its original French, for which edition he also supplied a preface.<ref>Stéphane Mallarmé, "Préface à «Vathek»", in Stéphane Mallarmé, ''Œuvres complètes'', ed. Henri Mondor and G. Jean-Aubrey. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Paris, 1945. (pp. 547-565)</ref> In his book ''English Prose Style'', [[Herbert Read]] cited ''Vathek'' as "one of the best fantasies in the language".<ref>Herbert Read, ''English Prose Style''. G. Bell and Sons, London, 1928. (p. 147)</ref>

[[H. P. Lovecraft]] also cited ''Vathek'' as the inspiration for his unfinished novel ''[[Azathoth (short story)|Azathoth]]''.<ref>[[Robert M. Price]], ''The Azathoth Cycle'', pp. vi–ix.</ref> ''Vathek'' is also believed to have been a model for Lovecraft's completed novel ''[[The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath]]''.<ref>[[S. T. Joshi]] and David E. Schultz, "Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The", ''An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia'', (p.  74). Hippocampus Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-9748789-1-X}}.</ref>

American fantasy author [[Clark Ashton Smith]] greatly admired ''Vathek''. Smith later wrote "The Third Episode of Vathek", the completion of a fragment by Beckford that was entitled "The Story of the Princess Zulkaïs and the Prince Kalilah". "The Third Episode of Vathek" was published in [[R. H. Barlow]]'s fanzine ''Leaves'' in 1937, and later in Smith's 1960 collection ''[[The Abominations of Yondo]]''.<ref>Clark Ashton Smith, ''The Maze of the Enchanter'', edited by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger. Night Shade Books, 2009. (pp. 303–306) {{ISBN|978-1-59780-031-0}}</ref>

''Vathek'' has been well received by historians of the [[fantasy]] genre; [[Les Daniels]] stated ''Vathek'' was "a unique and delightful book". Daniels argued ''Vathek'' had little in common with the other "Gothic" novels; "Beckford's luxuriant imagery and sly humour create a mood totally antithetical to that suggested by the grey castles and black deeds of medieval Europe".<ref>Les Daniels (1975). ''Living in Fear: A History of Horror in the Mass Media.'' Da Capo Press, (p. 17). {{ISBN|0306801930}} .</ref> [[Franz Rottensteiner]] calls the novel "a marvellous story, the creation of an erratic but powerful imagination, which brilliantly evokes the mystery and wonder associated with the Orient"<ref>Franz Rottensteiner, ''The Fantasy Book: An Illustrated History from Dracula to Tolkien''. Collier Books, 1978, (p. 21). {{ISBN|0-02-053560-0}}</ref> and [[Brian Stableford]] has praised the work as the "classic novel ''Vathek''—a feverish and gleefully perverse [[Decadent movement|decadent]]/[[Arabian fantasy]]".<ref>Brian Stableford,"Beckford, William", in ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature''. Scarecrow Press, 2005, (p. 40). {{ISBN|0-8108-6829-6}}</ref>