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From: wsh@mtung.UUCP (Willie Heck)
Newsgroups: net.books
Subject: Re: 1001 Arabian Nights
Message-ID: <636@mtung.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 26-Nov-85 12:13:47 EST
Article-I.D.: mtung.636
Posted: Tue Nov 26 12:13:47 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 27-Nov-85 06:10:52 EST
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Organization: AT&T ISL Holmdel NJ USA
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> 
> My favorite book when I was little was '1001 Arabin Nights'.  I read it
> so many times the front and  back covers came off, but that was ok.  
> Pretty soon the pages at the top and bottem started to fall off, but that
> was ok too, as I had the stories pretty much memorized anyhow, so I just
> made up for the missing pages myself.  But before long, the whole book
> fell apart and I finally gave up reading it.  Ever since then, I have
> been on the look out for another copy (in English, my first copy was in
> Chinese).  My first copy was about 300-400 pages and was in fine print.
> I have not seen another version which has the complete stories as I remembered.
> Does anyone out there know if a complete version is still in print?  Where
> can I find it?  How about the publisher and title?  If you know of different
> versions for adults and children(ie, more illustrations) I would like to know 
> both.  It's a wonderful gift for kids!  Send me mail or postnews and
> thanks (this will be much appreciated).
> 
> Shu-Ju {decvax, ihnp4, allegra, uw-beaver, ucbvax...}!tektronix!videovax!shuju
> 
> ps. I did look for the Chinese version, but was not successful.  If you
>     know of one, I would like to have the above information too.  Thanks.

Jonathan Clark, in a later posting, mentioned the translation by Sir
Richard F. Burton.  Burton was a 19th-century explorer and scholar;
he was the first European to follow the Nile to its source, and
supposedly the first European to make the pilgrimage to Mecca (fluent
in Arabic, he was able to disguise himself as an Arab; he recounts the
expedition in "An Account of a Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Mecca,"
reprinted by Dover and one of the greatest travel books ever written).
His translation of the Arabian Nights is massive and scholarly, while
at the same time preserving the, shall we say, earthy tone of the original;
it was offered by Publishers Central Bureau (the mail-order remainder
outfit) a few years ago in a 16-volume set for $60 (the frontispiece
says it is a private printing for the Burton Society).  It is definitely
NOT bowdlerized.

                                           willie heck
                                           mtung!wsh