The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night
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''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night'' (1888), subtitled ''A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments'', is the only complete English language translation of '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (the ''Arabian Nights'') to date – a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the
Islamic Golden Age The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...
(8th−13th centuries) – by the British explorer and Arabist
Richard Francis Burton Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...
(1821–1890). It stands as the only complete translation of the Macnaghten or Calcutta II edition (Egyptian recension) of the "Arabian Nights". Burton's translation was one of two unabridged and unexpurgated English translations done in the 1880s; the first was by John Payne, under the title ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night'' (1882–1884, nine volumes). Burton's ten volume version was published almost immediately afterward with a slightly different title. This, along with the fact that Burton closely advised Payne and partially based his books on Payne's, led later to charges of plagiarism.Marzolph, Ulrich and Richard van Leeuwen. 2004. ''The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia'', Volume 1, pp 506–508. Owing to the
sexual Sex is the biological distinction of an organism between male and female. Sex or SEX may also refer to: Biology and behaviour *Animal sexual behaviour **Copulation (zoology) **Human sexual activity **Non-penetrative sex, or sexual outercourse ** ...
imagery in the source texts (which Burton made a special study of, adding extensive footnotes and appendices on Oriental sexual mores) and to the strict Victorian laws on obscene material, both translations were printed as private editions for subscribers only, rather than being published in the usual manner. Burton's original ten volumes were followed by a further seven entitled ''The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night'' (1886–1888). Burton's 17 volumes, while boasting many prominent admirers, have been criticised for their "archaic language and extravagant idiom" and "obsessive focus on sexuality"; they have even been called an "eccentric ego-trip" and a "highly personal reworking of the text". His voluminous and obscurely detailed notes and appendices have been characterised as “obtrusive, kinky and highly personal”. In 1982, the
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
(IAU) began naming features on Saturn's moon
Enceladus Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn (19th largest in the Solar System). It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Enceladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most refle ...
after characters and places in Burton's translationBlue, J.; (2006
''Categories for Naming Planetary Features''
Retrieved 16 November 2006.
because “its surface is so strange and mysterious that it was given the ''Arabian Nights'' as a name bank, linking fantasy landscape with a literary fantasy”. (See
List of geological features on Enceladus This is a list of named geological features on Enceladus. Geological features on Enceladus (moon), Enceladus are named after people and places from Richard Francis Burton, Burton's translation of ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night'', al ...
.)


Background

Burton – an accomplished
geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...
, explorer, orientalist,
ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...
, diplomat, polylinguist and author – was best known in his lifetime for travelling in disguise to
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
(1853) and for journeying (with
John Hanning Speke Captain John Hanning Speke (4 May 1827 – 15 September 1864) was an English explorer and officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nil ...
) as the first European to visit the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...
of Africa in search of the source of the
Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...
(1857–58). One of the great Arabists of his day, he had long wanted to publish an unexpurgated version of the ''Arabian Nights'' stories. The first translations into English, notably that by Edward Lane (1840, 1859), were highly abridged and heavily
bowdlerised Expurgation, also known as bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is a pejorative term for the practi ...
, which irritated Burton. In 1863 Burton co-founded the
Anthropological Society of London The Anthropological Society of London (ASL) was a short-lived organisation of the 1860s whose founders aimed to furnish scientific evidence for white supremacy which they construed in terms of polygenism. It was founded in 1863 by Richard Francis ...
with Dr.
James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...
. In Burton's own words, the main aim of the society (through the publication of the periodical ''Anthropologia'') was "to supply travelers with an organ that would rescue their observations from the outer darkness of manuscript and print their curious information on social and sexual matters". Burton had written numerous travel books which invariably included sexual curiosa in extensive footnotes and appendices. His best-known contributions to literature were those considered risqué or even pornographic at the time and which were published under the auspices of the "Kama Shastra Society", a fictitious organisation created by Burton and
Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot (21 May 1833 – 25 May 1901) was a notable British Orientalist and translator. Biography Arbuthnot's early career was spent as a civil servant in India; his last post was as Collector for the Bombay government. ...
as a legal device to avoid the consequences of current obscenity laws. (Burton and Arbuthnot were the only members of the "Society".) These works included ''The
Kama Sutra The ''Kama Sutra'' (; sa, कामसूत्र, , ; ) is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kama Sutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly ...
of Vatsyayana'' (1883), published just before his ''Nights'', and '' The Perfumed Garden of the Shaykh Nefzawi'' (1886), published just after it.


Publication history

The volumes were printed by the Kama Shastra Society in a subscribers-only edition of one thousand with a guarantee that there would never be a larger printing of the books in this form. To confound possible litigation, the title pages claimed the printing had been done in "
Benares Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tra ...
", but this was a subterfuge. In reality, it was done by Miller & Richard (a Scottish firm) at Stoke Newington.


Contents


The stories


Sexology

The stories collected in the ''Nights'' are often sexual in content and were considered pornography at the time of Burton's publication. The ''Terminal Essay'' in volume 10 of Burton's ''Nights'' contains a 14,000-word section entitled "Pederasty" (Volume 10, section IV, D). Here Burton postulated that male homosexuality was prevalent in an area of the southern latitudes named by him the " Sotadic zone". (Rumors about Burton's own sexuality and experiences were already circulating and were further incited by this work.)


Plagiarism controversy

John Payne and Burton collaborated on their respective translations of the ''Nights'' for more than half a decade, and each respected the other's scholarship, but Payne believed that Burton had plagiarised his manuscripts when he sent them to Trieste to be checked. In 1906, a biographer of Burton, Thomas Wright, made the claim that Burton had plagiarised most of his translation from Payne. Burton's most recent biographer summarises the situation as follows.
He
right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...
made a comparison of the respective versions of the ''Nights'' by Burton and Payne. We know, not only from Richard's and Isabel's writings but from the statements of people who met him through the years, that Burton had been collecting manuscripts of the ''Nights'' stories and translating them, on and off, for over twenty-five years before he met Payne. So Wright's claim that Burton had not done his own translation, but had "taken from Payne at least three-quarters of his entire work", is extraordinary.
Norman Mosley Penzer Norman Mosley Penzer (30 September 1892 – 27 November 1960) — known as N. M. Penzer — was a British independent scholar and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society who specialised in Oriental studies. He translated the tale o ...
, in his 1923 ''Annotated Bibliography'' of Burton's works, takes great umbrage at "Wright's futile efforts to glorify Payne and scoff at Burton", contradicting several of his examples point by point. In Burton's defence, Penzer asserts that it is usual for translators to study and follow in the footsteps of earlier translators and cites examples of similarities in the stories Payne translated Burton had published his version. The "plagiarism" allegation is also examined in detail in an appendix to
Fawn Brodie Fawn McKay Brodie (September 15, 1915 – January 10, 1981) was an American biographer and one of the first female professors of history at UCLA, who is best known for ''Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History'' (1974), a work of psychobiography, ...
’s 1967 biography of Burton, ''The Devil Drives''.


Style

In translating the ''Nights'', Burton attempted to invent an English equivalent of medieval Arabic. In doing so, he drew upon Chaucerian English, Elizabethan English, and the 1653 English translation by Sir
Thomas Urquhart Sir Thomas Urquhart (1611–1660) was a Scottish aristocrat, writer, and translator. He is best known for his translation of the works of French Renaissance writer François Rabelais to English. Biography Urquhart was born to Thomas Urquhart ...
of the first three books of Rabelais's ''
Gargantua and Pantagruel ''The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel'' (french: La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel) is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais, telling the adventures of two giants, Gargantua ( , ) and his son Pantagruel ...
'' (1532-1546). According to British historian and Arabist Robert Irwin:
Burton shared
ohn Ohn is a Burmese name, used by people from Myanmar. Notable people with the name include: * Daw Ohn (1913–2003), Burmese professor in Pali * Ohn Gyaw (born 1932), Burmese Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1998 * Ohn Kyaing (born 1944), Bur ...
Payne's enthusiasm for archaic and forgotten words. The style Burton achieved can be described as a sort of composite mock-Gothic, combining elements from
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
, the Authorized Version of the Bible and Jacobean drama. Most modern readers will also find Burton's Victorian vulgarisms jarring, for example ‘regular Joe Millers’, ‘ Charleys’, and ‘ red cent’. Burton's translation of the ''Nights'' can certainly be recommended to anyone wishing to increase their word-power: ‘ chevisance’, ‘
fortalice A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
’, ‘ kemperly’, ‘
cark Cark (sometimes Cark in Cartmel) is a village in Cumbria, England. It lies on the B5278 road to Haverthwaite (and to the A590 road) and is ½ mile north of Flookburgh, 2 miles southwest of Cartmel and 3 miles west of Grange-over-Sands. It is ...
’, ‘ foison’, ‘ soothfast’, ‘ perlection’, ‘ wittol’, ‘
parergon Parergon ( paˈrərˌgän, plural: parerga) is an ancient Greek philosophical concept defined as a supplementary issue. Parergon is also referred to as "embellishment" or extra. The literal meaning of the ancient Greek term is "beside, or addit ...
’, ‘ brewis’, ‘bles’, ‘ fadaise’, ‘ coelebs’, ‘ vivisepulture’, and so on. ‘ Whilome’ and ‘ anent’ are standard in Burton's vocabulary. The range of vocabulary is wider and stranger than Payne's, lurching between the erudite and the plain earthy, so that
Harun al-Rashid Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar , أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
and Sinbad walk and talk in a linguistic
Never Never Land Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live. Altho ...
.


Reception

Many early commentators on Burton's ''Nights'' criticised his eccentric "mixture of obsolete words, mediaeval phrases, modern slang, Americanisms, and foreign words and expressions".
Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...
, however, wrote a celebrated essay on “The Translators of ''The Thousand and One Nights''” in which – while he chastises Burton for his distortions and "indulgent loitering" — he allows that “the problems that Burton resolved are innumerable” and delights in his careful use of an extravagantly exotic vocabulary in which each word "is indubitably the '' mot juste''." In summarising his use of language, Borges concluded that “In some way, the almost inexhaustible process of English is adumbrated in Burton – John Donne’s hard obscenity, the gigantic vocabularies of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
and
Cyril Tourneur Cyril Tourneur (; died 28 February 1626) was an English soldier, diplomat and dramatist who wrote ''The Atheist's Tragedy'' (published 1611); another (and better-known) play, ''The Revenger's Tragedy'' (1607), formerly ascribed to him, is now more ...
, Swinburne’s affinity for the archaic, the crass erudition of the authors of 17th century chapbooks, the energy and imprecision, the love of tempests and magic.”


Editions


Original publication

* ''A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Now Entituled '' ic' The Book of The Thousand Nights and a Night; With Introduction Explanatory Notes on the Manners and Customs of Moslem Men and a Terminal Essay upon the History of the Nights by Richard F. Burton''; Benares: MDCCCLXXXV: Printed by the Kamashastra Society for Private Subscribers Only. ** First series of 1885 in ten volumes. With illustrations. ** Supplemental series of 1886–1888 in seven volumes. With illustrations. ;Works
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (01 of 17)
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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (02 of 17)
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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (03 of 17)
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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (05 of 17)
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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (07 of 17)
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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (09 of 17)
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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (12 of 17)
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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (13 of 17)
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Lady Burton's edition

* ''Lady Burton's Edition of Her Husband's Arabian Nights Translated Literally from the Arabic'' (1886-1887); Prepared for Household Reading by
Justin Huntly McCarthy Justin Huntly McCarthy (1859 – 20 March 1936) was an Irish author, historian, and nationalist politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1884 to 1892, taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was the son of ...
, M.P.; 6 vols.; London: Waterlow & Sons, Limited, London Wall. :This edition is ostensibly the “family” version of Burton's translation. (In her "Preface", Lady Burton guarantees that "no mother shall regret her girl's reading this Arabian Nights".) It is a much bowdlerized version of the original edition and was not a commercial success. It excises 215 of the original 3,215 pages, including Burton's defense of '' turpiloquium'' in his "Foreword", all sexually explicit commentary, and the two final essays on "Pornography" and "Pederasty." Lady Burton merely lent her name to this expurgated edition. As she stated before his death, "I have never read, nor do I intend to read, at his own request, and to be true to my promise to him, my husband's 'Arabian Nights' ".


Nichols/Smithers reprints

* 1894 H.S. Nichols & Co, London, edition by Leonard C. Smithers, 12 Volumes; this reprint "omits given passages in dreadful taste, whose elimination will be mourned by no one". * 1897 H.S. Nichols & Co, London, "Illustrated Library Edition", 12 Volumes (142 original illustrations, including a portrait of Burton, reproduced from the original pictures in oils specially painted by
Albert Letchford Albert Letchford (1866–1905) was an English artist who lived in Italy, best known for his portraits of Sir Richard Francis Burton and his illustrations for the 1897 edition of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. Life Albert Letchford ...
with one set of the original 71 illustrations presented as included by the publisher and another set individually hand-coloured.) :Nichols' second printing is a scarce and handsome edition, the first to include the illustrations by Letchford. In 1896, two years after their first edition of Burton's ''Nights'', the Nichols-Smithers duo commissioned Burton's close friend, Albert Letchford, to paint 65 illustrations for another edition as well as a portrait of Burton, and soon after commissioned for five more. Burton and Letchford had met several years before when the latter was 18 and in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
beginning his art education. They discussed the possibility of illustrating the ''Nights''. Burton's suggestion of illustrating the ''Nights'' had appealed greatly to Letchford on account of the unlimited scope such a subject would give to an artist who loved the East and had a boundless imagination. Letchford commenced study of Eastern images for his paintings, though only one of the illustrations was painted in Burton's lifetime.


American editions

“Burton Society” edition: * ''Alf Laylah Wa Laylah, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night'', by Richard F. Burton; Press of the Carson-Harper Company, Denver, Colo., 1900–01. “For private subscribers only.” Includes 100 illustrations by Stanley L. Wood. (This was the first reprint of the original unexpurgated edition and the best reprint for many decades. This edition is the one used by the
IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...
for naming features on
Enceladus Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn (19th largest in the Solar System). It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Enceladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most refle ...
. Only the last three volumes (4, 5, and 6 of the ''Supplemental Nights'') are dated 1901. The edition was a commercial failure.) “Burton Club” editions: :The electros from the "Burton Society" edition were acquired by the "Burton Club" — “the ''nom de plume'' of a certain Boston publisher”, according to N.C. Penzer. This very successful series of editions probably began in 1903 (none of the volumes bear dates) and continued for many decades. There are 114 illustrations by various (at least 13) English and French artists. Many of these are uncredited and many are from other (some pre-Burton) editions of the ''Nights'', some even having nothing to do with the ''Nights'' or even the Middle East. (All of Letchford's works from the Nichols/Smithers edition are there, except the portrait of Burton.).Penzer, ''Op. cit.'', pg 127–130. Penzer's bibliography lists nine different Burton Club editions; after about 1905 each was named after a city (Benares, Mecca, Medinah, Aden, Baghdad, Samara, Bassorah, Shammar, and Luristan), a new one appearing about every two years. Penzer called these the "Catch Word" editions and there are known to be at least 6 others (Teheran, Baroda, Bombay, etc). These editions were made semi-surreptitiously up through the 1920s and many may have been printed in the US, but bound in the UK. There exists no definitive list of all "Burton Club" editions or their sequence. According to Penzer, the "Illustrated Benares" edition was the first. :;Works :
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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 05 (Supplement)
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:
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 06 (Supplement)
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...


Later reprint editions

* In 1932, a Modern Library version edited by
Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...
reprinted selected portions of Smithers' bowdlerised version (claiming it to be an "unabridged" and "unexpurgated" edition). "Illustrations and decorations" by Steele Savage. Versions of this reprint with and without Savage's artwork have had a long and varied life: ** ''The ’'Arabian Nights’' Entertainments, Or The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night: A Selection of the Most Famous and Representative of These Tales from the Plain and Literal Translations by Richard F. Burton'' (1932), Modern Library #201; "The Stories Have Been Chosen and Arranged by Bennett A. Cerf and are Printed Complete and Unabridged with Many of Burton's Notes"; Introductory Essay by Ben Ray Redman. ** ''Selections From The Arabian Nights, Sir Richard Burton's famous translation of The Thousand Nights and a Night, with modernised…'' (1938), With new illustrations and decorations by Steele Savage; Garden City, NY: De Luxe Editions Club, 400 pages. ** ''The Arabian Nights: Unexpurgated Edition, A Complete and Unabridged Selection from the Literal Translation of...Burton''; Blue Ribbon Books (1941). ** ''Unexpurgated Selections from The Arabian Nights; Sir Richard Burton's Famous Translation ...'';
Halcyon House Halcyon House is a Federal-style home in Washington, D.C. Located in the heart of Georgetown, the house was built beginning in 1787 by the first Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert.Moeller, Gerard Martin and Weeks, Christopher. ''AIA Guid ...
(1948); Illustrations and decorations by Steele Savage ** ''Selections from the Arabian Nights Sir Richard Burton's Translation'' (1992); Univ Pub House; 390 pages ** ''The Arabian Nights, Tales from a Thousand and One Nights'' (2001), Translated, with a Preface and Notes, by Sir Richard F. Burton; Introduction by
A.S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy ( Drabble; born 24 August 1936), known professionally by her former marriage name as A. S. Byatt ( ), is an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been widely translated, into more than t ...
; New York:
The Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Modern Library became a ...
; 872 pp. (Paperback only; no illustrations; includes commentary by Burton, Lady Burton, John Addington Symonds, Algernon Charles Swinburne, and an anonymous reviewer for ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
''.) A 2004 reprint had 1049 pp. ** ''The Arabian Nights'', Barnes & Noble (2009); 744 pages. ** Other reprints of the Cerf/Savage edition by The Book League of America, Communication & Studies Inc. Georgia, etc * 1934
Limited Editions Club George Macy (1900–1956) was an American publisher. Career George Macy was born in New York City in 1900. In 1926, he founded Macy-Masius, which was sold to the Vanguard Press in 1928. In 1929, he founded the Limited Editions Club, publis ...
edition: ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night: The Complete Burton Translation with the Complete Burton Notes, the Terminal Index, and 1001 Decorations by
Valenti Angelo Valenti Angelo (1897-1982) (variant name Valenti Michael Angelo) was an Italian-American printmaker, illustrator and author, born June 23, 1897 in Massarosa, Italy. He immigrated to the United States, living first in New York City then sett ...
'', 6 Volumes in slipcase (reprinted in 3 double-sized volumes by The Heritage Press, 1962) * 1962: ''Arabian Miniatures: The Most Beautiful Nights'', Astra-Club; 12 mounted color plates (reprinted in France by Editions Du Sud, 1968) * 1954: ''Arabian Nights Entertainments'', 4 Volumes in 2 slipcases; 65 stories; 60 illustrations by Arthur Szyk; England: Limited Editions Club; Limited to 1,500 copies edition * 1991 A Signet Classic edition: Zipes, Jack, ''Arabian Nights, the Marvels and Wonders of the Thousand and One Nights, Adapted from Richard F. Burton's Unexpurgated Translation'',
Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.The Easton Press Easton Press, a division of MBI, Inc., based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a publisher specializing in premium leather-bound books. In addition to canonical classics, religion, poetry and art books, they publish a selection of science fiction ...
edition (Norwalk, Conn): ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night: With Introduction Explanatory Notes on the Manners and Customs of Moslem Men and a Terminal Essay Upon The History of the Nights''; 17 Volumes (Morocco leather binding, with elaborate gilt gold and silver tooling on the spine and on the front and back covers; Moiré silk used for the front and end pieces and satin for the sewn-in place-marker.) * 1996 Maxfield Parrish artists edition
The Easton Press Easton Press, a division of MBI, Inc., based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a publisher specializing in premium leather-bound books. In addition to canonical classics, religion, poetry and art books, they publish a selection of science fiction ...
Collectors Art edition (Norwalk, Conn): ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night Best Known Tales : Original text and artwork reissue of Wiggin, K. D. - The Arabian Nights, Scribner & Sons, 1909 edition (Leather bound, gold inlaid spine on front and back covers; Moiré silk front and end pieces and satin for the sewn-in place-marker.) Single Volume collecting 10 tales and 12 illustrations 344 pages.


References


External links

*
''The Thousand Nights and a Night'' in several classic translations
includin

and John Payne translation, with additional material.

* ttp://www.burtoniana.org/books/1885-Arabian%20Nights/index.htm#supp ''The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night'' (six volumes 1886 – 1888)
''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night'' (illustrated)

''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night''
at Project Gutenberg. {{DEFAULTSORT:Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night One Thousand and One Nights Arabian mythology Books by Richard Francis Burton 1885 short story collections Books involved in plagiarism controversies