The Arabian Nights: The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night (Collector's Library)

Full of mischief, valour, ribaldry, and romance, "The Arabian Nights" has enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved Shahrazad whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Shahrazad always withheld the ending - a thousand and one nights later, her life was spared forever. This volume contains the most famous stories from Sir Richard F. Burton's multi-volume translation, and unlike many editions, the more adult narratives are completely unexpurgated. These tales, including "Aladdin", "Sinbad the Sailor" and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" have entered into the popular imagination throughout the world. William Harvey, Thomas Bewick's most famous pupil, illustrated "The Arabian Nights" with his delightful back and white woodcuts from which these images are taken.