Arabian Nights Burton, Richard F (4 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Reprint. 16 volumes complete. A fair reading set in the original black boards stamped in gilt and silver (early volumes have some ink and highlighter marking, folded page corners, reading wear). Later American edition (date is conjectural; not dated in any volume); translated, with notes, commentaries, etc., by Richard F. Burton. 16 volumes complete (includes 10 text volumes and 6 supplementary volumes). 16 b/w & duotone Illustrations.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Thus. 16 volumes, complete as issued. Copy #145 of 950 sets of the Baroda edition. Beautifully bound in heavy green 3/4 morocco over green cloth boards by Stikeman & Co., spines with raised bands and elaborate gilt decoration including four Crescent & Star designs with complex geometric surrounds, covers bordered with a single gilt fillet, top edges gilt, marbled endpapers (spines uniformly faded to a lustrous brown, light rubbing, 4 volumes have nicking to spine tips; Volume I has crack to rear hinge with repair; Volume XVI has a tear to leaf at end (in 'Press Notices'). Still a stunning set with great shelf presence. The 'Baroda Ediition' is an early but undated American issue (date is sometimes given as 1901-02, or 1903); translated, with notes, commentaries, etc., by Richard F. Burton. 16 volumes complete (includes 10 text volumes and 6 supplementary volumes); title on spines: Alf Laylah wa Laylah. Includes b/w & duotone Illustrations (the frontispiece portrait of Burton in Volume I repeats in a hand-colored version). NOTE: the 6th volume of the Supplemental Nights ends with 'Press Notices' so this edition is complete in 16 volumes.

Later reprint of The Burton Club edition of The Arabian Nights and Supplemental Nights, printed in the USA Illustrated with frontispieces to each volume. 8vo., 16 volumes in original cloth, decorated in gilt on the first ten volumes, and in silver on the last 6 volumes. A little tape residue spotting to a few endpapers, otherwise a very good cset.

First and limited US edition of Burton's translation, number 989 of 1,000 sets, "the first and by far the best reprint of the original unexpurgated edition of the Nights" (Penzer); each page of the original edition of 1885-88 was photographed "from the negatives of which zincos [zincograph plates] were prepared, and electros [electrograph plates] from these latter were used for the printing" (ibid.). The first edition was unillustrated and Wood's illustrations first appeared in 1890, in an edition of Jonathan Scott's translation, entitled Arabian Nights' Entertainments. The Burton Society of Denver numbered 200 members, including the actress and suffragiste Julia Marlowe Taber and the theatrical manager Augustin Daly, and the set was offered to subscribers at $100. "The Arabian Nights had been an important part of Burton's life for decades. In 1882 he began translating it in earnest. Although there were other translations of the Nights in English, Burton's was distinguished by his retention of the sexual content of the original Arabic versions, while his extensive footnotes drew on a lifetime of travel and research. Unable to get an acceptable offer from a publisher, he decided to print it himself, a venture that must have seemed more speculative than any of his searches for gold. He and Isabel announced a limited subscription of 1000 copies, hoping for 500 responses; to their surprise, they received 2000, but kept their word and accepted only 1000. At last Burton's literary efforts were rewarded with financial success, as he got 16,000 guineas from an outlay of 6000. Despite its deliberately archaic style, The book of the thousand nights and a night. has become the pre-eminent English translation of the Middle Eastern classic. It is the keystone of Burton's literary reputation" (ODNB). Penzer, pp. 125-6. 16 vols, octavo (240 x 150 mm). 100 monochrome illustrations on vellum paper by Stanley L. Wood (captioned tissue-guards printed in red). Attractively bound in recent dark blue full morocco, titles and decoration to spines, raised bands, gilt foliate roll tool border to sides, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. A handsomely bound set.