The Book of The Thousand Nights and a Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments
New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1934. First Edition. Limited Edition of 1,500 numbered copies, of which this is number 86. Signed by the illustrator Valenti Angelo on the limitation page. Six octavo volumes, each in the publisher's original quarter leather binding with blind-stamped spine decoration over decorative boards, housed in the publisher's original slipcases, two volumes per slipcase. Some remnants of the original brittle glassine jackets are present inside the slipcases. The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night is a celebrated collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian folk tales, framed by the story of Scheherazade, whose nightly storytelling defers her death at the hands of a vengeful king. Sir Richard F. Burton’s famed 19th-century translation captures the vividness, sensuality, and cultural richness of the original tales, offering readers a sweeping panorama of adventure, romance, magic, and intrigue. In 1934, The Limited Editions Club issued a distinguished six-volume edition of Burton’s translation, printed at the Caslon Press in England. Designed with a focus on both scholarship and beauty, the set features decorative black-and-white illustrations by Valenti Angelo, and is bound in quarter leather over patterned cloth boards with blind-stamped spine decoration. Issued in an edition of 1,500 numbered copies signed by Angelo, this production is celebrated for its fine craftsmanship, elegant design, and faithful presentation of Burton’s vivid and unexpurgated text, and remains a prized early achievement of the Limited Editions Club. Some slight rubbing and wear, minor discoloration, else in very good + condition. Item #40
Price: $1,000.00