The Thousand and One Nights/ Arabian Nights

Description: First Lane edition, in a most handsome contemporary binding in the Bedford style. Lane's rendition, one of the earliest in English, "reigned as the leading English translation of the Nights for decades, and its copious notes are stimulating micro-essays of enduring value" (ODNB). Lane (1801-1876) became fascinated with Egypt as a young man and made his first trip there aged 24 in 1825, "intending to earn his living as a lithographer and looking for picturesque material to reproduce" (Irwin, p. 23). He immersed himself fully in his adopted culture, learning Arabic, wearing local dress, and mixing primarily with the local people. Based in Cairo, he came to believe that the stories of the Arabian Nights "admirably reflected and illustrated a way of life that still continued in the city" (ibid.) and started work on his translation using the Bulaq edition (1835), the first printed in the Arab world, as his guide. "Because he aimed to produce an instructional work, his translation carries an enormous baggage of footnotes on cloves, graveyards, gypsum, chess, hippopotami, laws of inheritance, perspiration, polygamy, rubbish tips and much, much more" (ibid., p. 24). The illustrations, of which there are over 600, were provided by a team of engravers under the supervision of William Harvey (1796-1866). Wood-engraved title page in each vol., illustrated throughout with wood engravings designed by William Harvey. Some water damage on covers. Back cover of Volume I and front cover of Volume III have come apart from binding.

Price: 1300 USD

Location: Marshall, Illinois

End Time: 2024-12-22T00:56:14.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.38 USD