No. II.
The Student of Arabic who reads "THE NIGHTS" with this version, will not only
be competent to join in any conversation, to peruse the popular books and
newspapers, and to write letters to his friends, he will also find in the
notes a repertoire of those Arabian Manners and Customs, Beliefs and
Practices, which are not discussed in popular works.
The 10 volumes will be handsomely bound in black and gold.
No subscriptions will be until the work is done, and then at Coutts' Bank,
Strand London.
Subscribers who apply directly are preferred.
The author will pay carriage of volumes all over the United Kingdom. A London
address is requested.
And, lastly, after some delay, came the subjoined cutting from the Daily
Tribune, New York.
No. III.
"It has already been announced that the first instalment of Captain Burton's
new translation of the Arabian Nights may be expected this autumn. I am
indebted to a friend of his for some details which have not yet, I think, been
made public. There is still room for a translation of the Arabian Nights. All
or nearly all the popular editions of which there are hundreds, are but
renderings, more or less imperfect, from Professor Galland's French version,
which is itself an abridgment from the original, and turns a most valuable
ethnographical work into a mere collection of fairy tales. Moreover, these
English translations abound in Gallicisms, and their style offers but a
painful contrast to the French of the seventeenth century. Some years since a
Mr. Torrens undertook a complete translation from the original, but his work
did not go beyond a single volume, or fifty tales out of the 1,001. Then came
Mr. Lane in 1839, whose success was but moderate In his three large and (in
the 1839 edition) beautifully illustrated volumes, he has given not more than
half the tales. He used the Cairo Arabic edition, which is itself an
abridgment, and took all kinds of liberties with the text, translating verse
into prose, and excising everything that was not 'strictly proper.'
"Lastly, there is Mr. John Payne's excellent translation, which has occupied
him during seven years and is just brought to a conclusion. Mr. Payne bound
himself to print not more than 500 copies, and his nine volumes, not published
but printed, nominally for the Villon Society, are unprocurable except at a
price which to the general public is prohibitive.
"Captain Burton began his work on this extraordinary monument of Oriental
literature in 1852, at Aden, with some help from his friend Dr. Steinhaeuser,
of the Bombay Army. He has gone on with it as opportunity offered, and as
other literary and official labours and his many journeys in savage lands
permitted. The text and the subject offer many difficulties, and it is to
these difficulties that he has devoted especial attention. His object is to
reproduce the book in a form as entirely Arabian as possible, preserving the
strict division of the nights, and keeping (a more questionable matter) to the
long unbroken sentences in which the composer indulged, imitating also the
rhythmic prose which is a characteristic of the Arabic. The effect in English
remains to be seen, but of the value of Captain Burton's method as an
experiment in literature there can be no doubt, or of its great interest to
everybody who cares for Oriental habits of thought and language. He will not
shirk any of the passages which do not suit the taste of the day, but these,
Captain Burton thinks, will not commonly be found more objectionable than some
which are in Shakespeare and in Shakespeare's contemporaries. At the same time
it will be understood that the book is intended for men only and for the
study;--not for women or children, nor for the drawing-room table or dentist's
waiting-room. It will be printed by subscription and not published.
"Few are the Oriental scholars in England who could do justice to this picture
of the mediaeval Arab. Captain Burton is perhaps the only one who joins to the
necessary linguistic knowledge that varied practical experience of Eastern
life which alone in many cases can supply the true meaning of a troublesome
passage or an accurate comment upon it. His aim is to make the book in its
English dress not only absolutely literal in text but Oriental in tone and
colour. He knows the tales almost by heart, and used to keep the Bedouin
tribes in roars of laughter in camp during the long summer nights by reciting
them. Sheiks to whom a preternatural solemnity of demeanour is usual were to
be seen rolling on the ground in paroxysms of uncontrollable mirth. It was
also Burckhardt's custom to read the stories aloud, but the Arabs would snatch
the book from his hand because his pronunciation was so bad. Captain Burton is
said to have an Arab accent not easily distinguishable from the native. When
he contents himself with the English tongue here in England, he is one of the
most picturesque talkers to be met with. I can remember a certain
dinner-party, now many years ago, where the great traveller kept us all
listening till long past day-break; narrating, as he did, the most singular
adventures with the most vivid fidelity to facts. That, however, is a
digression. I have only to add that Captain Burton has the names of many
subscribers and will doubtless be glad to receive others which may, I suppose,
be sent to him at Trieste. His present hope is to be ready to go to press next
February and to bring out the whole of the volumes in 1885."
(Signed) G. W. S.
Concerning this "American" communication and its author I shall have more to
say in a future page.
Some 24,000 to 30,000 circulars were posted at an expense of 126 pounds and
they produced about 800 favourable replies which, after my return to England
(May '85), rose to 1,500 and to 2,000 as my unprofessional friend, and he
only, had anticipated. Meanwhile occurred an incident characteristic of such
appeals by the inexperienced to the public. A case containing 1,100 circulars
had been sent to my agent for mailing in London, and my secretary had
unfortunately gummed their envelopes. Hereupon I should have been subjected by
the Post Office to the pains and penalties of the law, perhaps to a fine of
£200 pounds. But when the affair was reported, with due explanations, to the
late lamented Postmaster-General Henry Fawcett--a man in a million, and an
official in ten millions-- he had the justice and generosity to look upon the
offence as the result of pure ignorance, and I received a caution "not to do
it again."
Needless to say that I lost no time about advertising my mistake in the
dailies, giving the name of my agent and in offering to refund the money. Some
of the sealed and unpaid envelopes had, however, been forwarded prematurely
and the consequence was a comical display of wrath in quarters where it was
hardly to be expected. By way of stemming the unpleasant tide of abuse I
forwarded the following communiqué; to The Academy.
"TUPPENCE AS A TOUCHSTONE."
Trieste, Nov. 2, 85.
"Can you kindly find space for a few lines on a purely personal matter which
is causing me abundant trouble? A box of circulars giving details concerning
my forthcoming version of the Arabian Nights was sent to London with
directions to stamp and post the contents. The envelopes having been
inadvertently gummed down, the case was stopped by the Custom-house, and was
transmitted to the Post Office where it was found to contain circulars not
letters, and of these sundry were forwarded without prepayment. The pleasant
result was that one out-spoken gentleman writes upon the circular, which he
returns,--When you send your trash again, put postage-stamps on. A second is
peremptorily polite, Please forward four stamps to the Adjutant of the --th
Regiment. The 'Chaplain of the Forces at ----,' at once ironical and severe,
ventures to suggest to Captain Burton that it is advisable, if he thinks his
book worth selling, to put the postage on future advertisements. A fourth who,
I regret to say, signs himself Lieutenant Colonel, gives me advice about
pre-payment written in an orderly's hand upon a torn envelope (gratuitously
insulting!); encloses the 2d. stamp and sends the missive under official cover
'On Her Majesty's Service.' The idea of a French or an Austrian Colonel
lowering himself so infinitely low! Have these men lost all sense of honour,
all respect for themselves (and others) because they can no longer be called
to account for their insolence more majorum? I never imagined 'Tuppence' to be
so cunning a touchstone for detecting and determining the difference between
gold and dross; nor can I deeply regret that circumstance and no default of
mine has placed in hand Ithuriel's spear in the shape of the said 'Tuppence'."