1849 Antique 1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS Persian EGYPT Egyptian Arab PERSIA ISLAM MUSLIM

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THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, COMMONLY CALLED, IN ENGLAND, THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENT. By Edward William Lane 1840,1841 THREE VOLUMESLo ndon: Charles Knight & Co. These three volumes contain the famous collection of ancient Persian, Indian, and Arabian folktales, written in Arabic, and arranged in present form in the early 16th century. The stories, which include the tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad the Sailor , are linked by a framing story about Scheherazade. She marries a king who executes his wives on the second day of their marriage. Each night, she tells him part of a story but leaves the ending for the next night. The king must spare her another day if he is to learn the ending. by the 1,001 night , the king has learned to love his wife, and Scheherazade is spared. The author, Edward William Lane (1801 - 1876) arrived in Egypt at the age of 24. He was intent on studying not only the language, but the people. He engaged two professors to instruct him in the Arabic tongue and the Muslim faith. He adopted the native costume and blended in easily, generally being taken for a Turk. He lived among the people as one of them, adopting their manners, customs and beliefs. Lane had long been interested in The Arabian Nights because he thought it presented a "most admirable picture of the manners an customs of the Arabs, and particularly those of the Egyptians." That such fanciful tales should be taken as a reliable guide to Arab and Egyptian society might seem strange at first, but while Lane knew that a jinn might not really be held captive in a bottle for centuries, the descriptions of that bottle - its shape, design, stopper- might all be drawn accurately from real life. So, to, with the manners, political organization, religious practices and material culture. His translation with its copious notes was (and still is consid ered by many) the most complete manual on Eastern manners ever published. He perfected many of the tales which had either been garbled or abridged by former attempts at translation, and his notes throw more light on the mystery of Arab life than any other work before or since. His notes alone were afterwards published as a separate work entitled The Arabian Society in the Middle Ages. ***************************************************************** CONDITION: At 171 years old! this set is in overall Very Good antique condition. All pages tightly bound, binding and boards secure. 3/4 leather over marbled boards with matching marbling to page edges and endpapers. All endpapers intact with no splitting to seam. 5 raised bands on spine with elaborate stamped design and gilt accent. The books show their age in rubbing to leather along edges of spine and along board edges. Marbled boards rubbed/faded, wear to design and lettering on spine as pictured above and below. Inside all three volumes are very nice. Pages clean, still bright with foxing very, very minimal. The biggest mar is that in Volume I a former owner glued some clippings relating to the author and the book (pictured below) to the front pastedown. He also glued clippings to the blank front and rear flyleaves - other clippings tucked in. Rear endpapers were not touched. Volume II is dated 1840, Volumes I and III 1841. The volumes measure 9 1/2" x 6" and have 618, 643 and 763 pages respectively. The volumes are illustrated with hundreds of engravings in the form of illustrated titles, engraved head and tale pieces, and within text engravings, from designs by William Harvey. MORE PICTURES OF THE SET PLUS SAMPLES OF TEXT AND ENGRAVINGS BELOW. OFFERS WE LCOME! The Shiproom follows a policy of accurate descriptions, communication, careful packaging and fast shipping. All returns accepted here.(***Shipping combined on multiple wins and purchases) Thank-you for your interest in our listing! read more

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