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(ARABIAN NIGHTS) BURTON, Richard F.

A plain and literal translation of the Arabian Nights’ entertainments,

now entituled 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.

First Edition, the authentic Benares edition, issued in a limited subscription of 1,000 copies. Richard Burton’s celebrated translation “has become the pre-eminent English translation of the Middle Eastern classic. It is the keystone of Burton's literary reputation” (ODNB). The original edition comprises 10 volumes of Arabian Nights and 6 Supplemental Nights. The edition is not illustrated, unlike most of the facsimile reprints that followed. The book was not of course published in Benares, and the Kamashashtra Society was a grand-sounding cover for Burton and his friend Foster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot.

16 volumes, octavo. Finely bound by The Chelsea Bindery in full green morocco, titles and decoration to spines gilt, raised bands, inset burgundy morocco panels to boards blocked gilt, inner dentelles gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. A fine copy.