A PLAIN AND LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS’ ENTERTAINMENTS, NOW ENTITULED [sic] THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT. Together with 7 volumes complete of. With Notes Anthropological and Explanatory. Printed by the Burton Club for Private Subscribers only. Strictly limited to 1000 sets only’. Large octavo 9.7″ x 6.5″ : 24 x 16 cm. Pages approximately 370 per volume. Weight for posting approximately 18 kilos. Bears the labels for Henry Southeran, Booksellers to the King, The Strand. Bound in brown cloth with gilt titles and gilt decoration (black / silver for the 7 Supplementary’Nights’). Owner’s bookplate for Alexander Tulloch of Shetland. Complete with illustrations after Letchford, Lalauze, Batten et al. The condition is generally good with firm bindings and just a few edge nibbles at the hinges and spine ends. Two or three small repairs to the spines (see last 3 photos) but not too bad. A little foxing on the backs of the boards but the text and Plates are clear. Top edges are gilded, forward and bottom edges are rough cut. Note that Volume 2 has black boards and a printed spine which matches the other volumes see centre vol. It is virtually identical and is also 1 of only a 1000 sets produced. This anomaly is reflected in the price. All inside pages and Plates are in very good condition. A very nice set at a good price in view of the weaknesses described. Collection welcome in view of the weight. The Alf Layla wa-Layla (“One Thousand Nights and a Night”) have enchanted readers for centuries with shimmering visions of “a land of fable environment whose deserts and oases, bazaars and slums, jewelled caverns and minaret-topped edifices are immediately recognizable” (Clute & Grant, 51). Esteemed explorer and scholar Burton translated and annotated the Arabian Nights, intending to create a legacy to his countrymen, of whose imperial mission he was ever mindful, and to perpetuate the fruit of his own oriental experience. His edition of The Nights was distinguished by his retention of the sexual content of the original Arabic versions, while his extensive footnotes draw on a lifetime of travel and research. It is now regarded as the pre-eminent English translation of the Middle Eastern classic.
