excluding the hundreds of popular editions which have nothing
specially noticeable about them, are very numerous; and the
following Notes must, I am fully aware, be incomplete, though
they will, perhaps, be found useful to persons interested in the
subject. Although I believe that editions of most of the English,
French, and German versions of any importance have passed through
my hands, I have not had an opportunity of comparing many in
other languages, some of which at least may be independent
editions, not derived from Galland. The imitations and
adaptations of The Nights are, perhaps, more numerous than the
editions of The Nights themselves, if we exclude mere reprints of
Galland; and many of them are even more difficult of access.
In the following Notes, I have sometimes referred to tales by
their numbers in the Table.
Galland’s MS. and Translation.
The first MS. of The Nights known in Europe was brought to Paris
by Galland at the close of the 17th century; and his translation
was published in Paris, in twelve small volumes, under the title
of “Les Mille et une Nuit: Contes Arabes, traduits en Francois
par M. Galland.” These volumes appeared at intervals between 1704
and 1717. Galland himself died in 1715, and it is uncertain how
far he was responsible for the latter part of the work. Only the
first six of the twelve vols. are divided into Nights, vol. 6
completing the story of Camaralzaman, and ending with Night 234.
The Voyages of Sindbad are not found in Galland’s MS., though he
has intercalated them as Nights 69–90 between Nos. 3 and 4. It
should be mentioned, however, that in some texts (Bresl., for
instance) No. 133 is placed much earlier in the series than in
others.
The stories in Galland’s last six vols. may be divided into two
classes, viz., those known to occur in genuine texts of The
Nights, and those which do not. To the first category belong Nos.
7, 8, 59, 153 and 170; and some even of these are not found in
Galland’s own MS., but were derived by him from other sources.
The remaining tales (Nos. 191–198) do not really belong to The
Nights; and, strange to say, although they are certainly genuine
Oriental tales, the actual originals have never been found. I am
inclined to think that Galland may, perhaps, have written and
adapted them from his recollection of stories which he himself
heard related during his own residence in the East, especially as
most of these tales appear to be derived rather from Persian or
Turkish than from Arabian sources.
The following Preface appeared in vol. 9 which I translate from
Talander’s German edition, as the original is not before me:
“The two stories with which the eighth volume concludes do not
properly belong to the Thousand and One Nights. They were added
and printed without the previous knowledge of the translator, who
had not the slightest idea of the trick that had been played upon
him until the eighth volume was actually on sale. The reader must
not, therefore, be surprised that the story of the Sleeper
Awakened, which commences vol. 9, is written as if Scheherazade
had related it immediately after the story of Ganem, which forms
the greater part of vol. 8. Care will be taken to omit these two
stories in a new edition, as not belonging to the work.”
It is, perhaps, not to be wondered at that when the new edition
was actually published, subsequently to Galland’s death, the
condemned stories were retained, and the preface withdrawn;
though No. 170 still reads as if it followed No. 8.
The information I have been able to collect respecting the
disputed tales is very slight. I once saw a MS. advertised in an
auction catalogue (I think that of the library of the late Prof.
H. H. Wilson) as containing two of Galland’s doubtful tales, but
which they were was not stated. The fourth and last volume of the
MS. used by Galland is lost; but it is almost certain that it did
not contain any of these tales (compare Payne, ix. 265 note).
The story of Zeyn Alasnam (No. 191) is derived from the same
source as that of the Fourth Durwesh, in the well-known
Hindustani reading-book, the Bagh o Bahar. If it is based upon
this, Galland has greatly altered and improved it, and has given
it the whole colouring of a European moral fairy tale.
The story of Ali Baba (No. 195) is, I have been told, a Chinese
tale. It occurs under the title of the Two Brothers and the
Forty-nine Dragons in Geldart’s Modern Greek Tales. It has also
been stated that the late Prof. Palmer met with a very similar
story among the Arabs of Sinai (Payne, ix. 266).
The story of Sidi Nouman (No 194b) may have been based partly
upon the Third Shaykh’s Story (No. 1c), which Galland omits. The
feast of the Ghools is, I believe, Greek or Turkish, rather than
Arabic, in character, as vampires, personified plague, and
similar horrors are much commoner in the folk-lore of the former
peoples.
Many incidents of the doubtful, as well as of the genuine tales,
are common in European folk-lore (versions of Nos. 2 and 198, for
instance, occur in Grimm’s Kinder und Hausmärchen), and some of
the doubtful tales have their analogues in Scott’s MS., as will
be noticed in due course.
I have not seen Galland’s original edition in 12 vols.; but the
Stadt-Bibliothek of Frankfort-on-Main contains a copy, published
at La Haye, in 12 vols. (with frontispieces), made up of two or
more editions, as follows:—
Vol. i. (ed. 6) 1729; vols. ii. iii. iv. (ed. 5) 1729; vols. v.
vi. viii. (ed. 5) 1728; vol. vii. (ed. 6) 1731; vols. ix. to xi,
(ed. not noted) 1730; and vol. xii. (ed. not noted) 1731.
The discrepancies in the dates of the various volumes look (as
Mr. Clouston has suggested) as if separate volumes were reprinted
as required, independently of the others. This might account for
vols. v. vi. and viii. of the fifth edition having been
apparently reprinted before vols. ii. iii. and iv.
The oldest French version in the British Museum consists of the
first eight vols., published at La Haye, and likewise made up of
different editions, as follows:—
i. (ed. 5) 1714; ii. iii. iv. (ed. 4) 1714; v. vi. (ed. 5) 1728;
vii. (ed. 5) 1719; viii. (“suivant la copie imprimée à Paris”)
1714.
Most French editions (old and new) contain Galland’s Dedication,
“À Madame la Marquise d’O., Dame du Palais de Madame la Duchesse
de Bourgogne,” followed by an “Avertissement.” In addition to
these, the La Haye copies have Fontenelle’s Approbation prefixed
to several volumes, but in slightly different words, and bearing
different dates. December 27th, 1703 (vol. i.); April 14th, 1704
(vol. vi.); and October 4th, 1705 (vol. vii.). This is according
to the British Museum copy; I did not examine the Frankfort copy
with reference to the Approbation. The Approbation is translated
in full in the old English version as follows: “I have read, by
Order of my Lord Chancellor, this Manuscript, wherein I find
nothing that ought to hinder its being Printed. And I am of
opinion that the Publick will be very well pleased with the
Perusal of these Oriental Stories. Paris, 27th December, 1705
[apparently a misprint for 1703] (Signed) FONTENELLE.”
In the Paris edition of 1726 (vide infrà), Galland says in his
Dedication, “Il a fallu le faire venir de Syrie, et mettre en
François, le premier volume que voici, de quatre seulement qui
m’ont été envoyez.” So, also, in a Paris edition (in eight vols.
12mo) of 1832; but in the La Haye issue of 1714, we read not
“quatre” but “six” volumes. The old German edition of Talander
(vide infrà) does not contain Galland’s Dedication (Epitre) or
Avertissement.
The earliest French editions were generally in 12 vols., or six;
I possess a copy of a six-volume edition, published at Paris in
1726. It may be the second, as the title-page designates it as
“nouvelle edition, corrigée.”
Galland’s work was speedily translated into various European
languages, and even now forms the original of all the numerous
popular editions. The earliest English editions were in six
volumes, corresponding to the first six of Galland, and ending
with the story of Camaralzaman; nor was it till nearly the end of
the 18th century that the remaining half of the work was
translated into English. The date of appearance of the first
edition is unknown to bibliographers; Lowndes quotes an edition
of 1724 as the oldest; but the British Museum contains a set of
six vols., made up of portions of the second, third and fourth
editions, as follows:—
Vols. i. ii. (ed. 4) 1713; vols. iii. iv. (ed. 2) 1712; and vols.
v. vi. (ed. 3) 1715.
Here likewise the separate volumes seem to have been reprinted
independently of each other; and it is not unlikely that the
English translation may have closely followed the French
publication, being issued volume by volume, as the French
appeared, as far as vol. vi. The title-page of this old edition
is very quaint:
“Arabian Nights Entertainments, consisting of One thousand and
one Stories, told by the Sultaness of the Indies to divert the
Sultan from the Execution of a Bloody Vow he had made, to marry a
Lady every day, and have her head cut off next Morning, to avenge
himself for the Disloyalty of the first Sultaness, also
containing a better account of the Customs, Manners and Religion
of the Eastern Nations, viz., Tartars, Persians and Indians, than
is to be met with in any Author hitherto published. Translated
into French from the Arabian MSS. by Mr. Galland of the Royal
Academy, and now done into English. Printed for Andrew Bell at
the Cross Keys and Bible, in Cornhill.”
The British Museum has an edition in 4to published in 1772, in
farthing numbers, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It extends
to 79 numbers, forming five volumes.
The various editions of the Old English version appear to be
rare, and the set in the British Museum is very poor. The oldest
edition which I have seen containing the latter half of Galland’s
version is called the 14th edition, and was published in London
in four volumes, in 1778. Curiously enough, the “13th edition,”
also containing the conclusion, was published at Edinburgh in
three volumes in 1780. Perhaps it is a reprint of a London
edition published before that of 1778. The Scotch appear to have
been fond of The Nights, as there are many Scotch editions both
of The Nights and the imitations.
Revised or annotated editions by Piguenit (4 vols., London, 1792)
and Gough (4 vols., Edinburgh, 1798) may deserve a passing
notice.
A new translation of Galland, by Rev. E. Forster, in five vols.
4to, with engravings from pictures by Robert Smirke, R.A.,
appeared in 1802, and now commands a higher price than any other
edition of Galland. A new edition in 8vo appeared in 1810. Most
of the recent popular English versions are based either upon
Forster’s or Scott’s.
Another translation from Galland, by G. S. Beaumont (four vols.
8vo), appeared in 1811. (Lowndes writes Wiliam Beaumont.)
Among the various popular editions of later date we may mention
an edition in two vols., 8vo, published at Liverpool (1813), and
containing Cazotte’s Continuation; an edition published by
Griffin and Co., in 1866, to which Beckford’s “Vathek” is
appended; an edition “arranged for the perusal of youthful
readers,” by the Hon. Mrs. Sugden (Whittaker & Co., 1863); and
“Five Favourite Tales from The Arabian Nights in words of one
syllable, by A. & E. Warner” (Lewis, 1871).
Some of the English editions of Galland aim at originality by
arranging the tales in a different order. The cheap edition
published by Dicks in 1868 is one instance.
An English version of Galland was published at Lucknow, in four
vols., 8vo, in 1880.
I should, perhaps, mention that I have not noticed De Sacy’s
“Mille et une Nuit,” because it is simply a new edition of
Galland; and I have not seen either Destain’s French edition
(mentioned by Sir R. F. Burton), nor Cardonne’s Continuation
(mentioned in Cabinet des Fées, xxxvii. p. 83). As Cardonne died
in 1784, his Continuation, if genuine, would be the earliest of
all.
The oldest German version, by Talander, seems to have appeared in
volumes, as the French was issued; and these volumes were
certainly reprinted when required, without indication of separate
editions, but in slightly varied style, and with alteration of
date. The old German version is said to be rarer than the French.
It is in twelve parts—some, however, being double. The set
before me is clearly made up of different reprints, and the first
title-page is as follows: “Die Tausend und eine Nacht, worinnen
seltzame Arabische Historien und wunderbare Begebenheiten,
benebst artigen Liebes-Intriguen, auch Sitten und Gewohnheiten
der Morgenländer, auf sehr anmuthige Weise, erzehlet werden;
Erstlich vom Hru. Galland, der Königl. Academie Mitgliede aus der
Arabischen Sprache in die Französische und aus selbiger anitzo
ins Deutsche übersetzt: Erster und Anderer Theil. Mit der Vorrede
Herru Talanders. Leipzig Verlegts Moritz Georg Weidmann Sr.
Konigl. Maj. in Hohlen und Churfürstl. Durchl. zu Sachsen
Buchhändler, Anno 1730.” Talander’s Preface relates chiefly to
the importance of the work as illustrative of Arabian manners and
customs, &c. It is dated from “Liegnitz, den 7 Sept., Anno 1710,”
which fixes the approximate date of publication of the first part
of this translation. Vols. i. and ii. of my set (double vol. with
frontispiece) are dated 1730, and have Talander’s preface; vols.
iii. and iv. (divided, but consecutively paged, and with only one
title-page and frontispiece and reprint of Talander’s preface)
are dated 1719; vols. v. and vi. (same remarks, except that
Talander’s preface is here dated 1717) are dated 1737; vol. vii.
(no frontispiece; preface dated 1710) is dated 1721; vol. viii
(no frontispiece nor preface, nor does Talander’s name appear on
the title-page) is dated 1729; vols. ix. and x. (divided, but
consecutively paged, and with only one title-page and
frontispiece; Talander’s name and preface do not appear, but
Galland’s preface to vol. ix., already mentioned, is prefixed)
are dated 1731; and vols. xi. and xii. (same remarks, but no
preface) are dated 1732.
Galland’s notes are translated, but not his preface and
dedication.
There is a later German translation (6 vols. 8vo, Bremen, 1781–
1785) by J. H. Voss, the author of the standard German
translation of Homer.
The British Museum has just acquired a Portuguese translation of
Galland, in 4 volumes: “As Mil e uma Noites, Contos Arabes,”
published by Ernesto Chardron, Editor, Porto e Braga, 1881.
There are two editions of a modern Greek work in the British
Museum (1792 and 1804), published at Venice in three small
volumes. The first volume contains Galland (Nos. 1–6 of the
table) and vols. ii. and iii. chiefly contain the Thousand and
One Days. It is, apparently, translated from some Italian work.
Several editions in Italian (Mille ed una Notte) have appeared at
Naples and Milan; they are said by Sir R. F. Burton to be mere
reprints of Galland.
There are, also, several in Dutch, one of which, by C. Van der
Post, in 3 vols. 8vo, published at Utrecht in 1848, purports, I
believe, to be a translation from the Arabic, and has been
reprinted several times. The Dutch editions are usually entitled,
“Arabische Vertellinge.” A Danish edition appeared at Copenhagen
in 1818, under the title of “Prindsesses Schehezerade.
Fortällinger eller de saakatle Tusende og een Nat. Udgivna paa
Dansk vid Heelegaan.” Another, by Rasmassen, was commenced in
1824; and a third Danish work, probably founded on the Thousand
and One Nights, and published in 1816, bears the title, “Digt og
Eventyr fra Osterland, af arabiska og persischen utrykta kilder.”
I have seen none of these Italian, Dutch or Danish editions; but
there is little doubt that most, if not all, are derived from
Galland’s work.
The following is the title of a Javanese version, derived from
one of the Dutch editions, and published at Leyden in 1865,
“Eenige Vertellingen uit de Arabisch duizend en één Nacht. Naar
de Nederduitsche vertaling in het Javaansch vertaald, door
Winter-Roorda.”
Mr. A. G. Ellis has shown me an edition of Galland’s Aladdin (No.
193) in Malay, by M. Van der Lawan (?) printed in Batavia, A.D.
1869.
CAZZOTTE’S CONTINUATION, AND THE COMPOSITE EDITIONS OF
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS.
We shall speak elsewhere of the Cabinet des Fées; but the last
four volumes of this great collection (38 to 41), published at
Geneva from 1788 to 1793, contain a work entitled, “Les Veillées
du Sultan Schahriar avec la Sultane Scheherazade; histoires
incroyables, amusantes et morales, traduites de l’arabe par M.
Cazotte et D. Chavis. Faisant suite aux Mille et une Nuits.” Some
copies bear the abridged title of “La suite des Mille et une
Nuits. Contes Arabes, traduits par Dom Chavis et M. Cazotte.”
This collection of tales was pronounced to be spurious by many
critics, and even has been styled “a bare-faced forgery” by a
writer in the Edinburgh Review of July, 1886. It is, however,
certain that the greater part, if not all, of these tales are
founded on genuine Eastern sources, though very few have any real
claim to be regarded as actually part of the Thousand and One
Nights.
Translations of the originals of most of these tales have been
published by Caussin de Perceval and Gauttier; and a comparison
clearly shows the great extent to which Chavis and Cazotte have
altered, amplified and (in a literary sense) improved their
materials.
It is rather surprising that no recent edition of this work seems
to have been issued, perhaps owing to the persistent doubts cast
upon its authenticity, only a few of the tales, and those not the
best, having appeared in different collections. My friend, Mr. A.
G. Ellis, himself an Oriental scholar, has remarked to me that he
considers these tales as good as the old “Arabian Nights”; and I
quite agree with him that Chavis and Cazotte’s Continuation is
well worthy of re-publication in its entirety.
The following are the principal tales comprised in this
collection, those included in our Table from later authors being
indicated.
1. The Robber Caliph, or the Adventures of Haroun Alraschid with
the Princess of Persia, and the beautiful Zutulbe. (No. 246.)
2. The Power of Destiny, being the History of the Journey of
Giafar to Damas, containing the Adventures of Chelih and his
Family. (No. 280.)
3. History of Halechalbe and the Unknown Lady. (No. 204c.)
4. Story of Xailoun the Idiot.
5. The Adventures of Simoustapha and the Princess Ilsetilsone.
(No. 247.)
6. History of Alibengiad, Sultan of Herak, and of the False Birds
of Paradise.
7. History of Sinkarib and his Two Viziers. (No. 249.)
8. History of the Family of the Schebandad of Surat.
9. Story of Bohetzad and his Ten Viziers. (No. 174.)
10. Story of Habib and Dorathil-Goase. (No. 251.)
11. History of the Maugraby, or the Magician.
Of these, Nos. 4, 6, 8 and 11 only are not positively known in
the original. No. 11 is interesting, as it is the seed from which
Southey’s “Thalaba the Destroyer” was derived.
On the word Maugraby, which means simply Moor, Cazotte has the
following curious note: “Ce mot signifie barbare, barbaresque
plus proprement. On jure encore par lui en Provence, en
Languedoc, et en Gascogne Maugraby; ou ailleurs en France
Meugrebleu.”
The Domdaniel, where Zatanai held his court with Maugraby and his
pupilmagicians, is described as being under the sea near Tunis.
In Weil’s story of Joodar and Mahmood (No. 201) the Magician
Mahmood is always called the Moor of Tunis.
No. 3 (=our No. 204c) contains the additional incident of the
door opened only once a year which occurs in our No. 9a, aa.
Moore probably took the name Namouna from Cazotte’s No. 5, in
which it occurs. In the same story we find a curious name of a
Jinniyah, Setelpedour. Can it be a corruption of Sitt El Budoor?
For further remarks on Cazotte’s Continuation, compare Russell’s
History of Aleppo, i. p. 385; and Russell and Scott, Ouseley’s
Oriental Collections, i. pp. 246, 247; ii. p. 25; and the
“Gentleman’s Magazine” for February, 1779.
An English version under the title “Arabian Tales, or a
Continuation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments,” translated
by Robert Heron, was published in Edinburgh in 1792 in 4 vols.,
and in London in 1794 in 3 vols. It was reprinted in Weber’s
“Tales of the East” (Edinburgh, 1812); and, as already mentioned,
is included in an edition of the Arabian Nights published in
Liverpool in 1813.
A German translation forms vols. 5 to 8 of the “Blaue
Bibliothek,” published in Gotha in 1790 and 1791; and the British
Museum possesses vols. 3 and 4 of a Russian edition, published at
Moscow in 1794 and 1795, which is erroneously entered in the
catalogue as the Arabian Nights in Russian.
Respecting the work of Chavis and Cazotte, Sir R. F. Burton
remarks, “Dom Dennis Chavis was a Syrian priest of the order of
Saint Bazil, who was invited to Paris by the learned minister,
Baron Arteuil, and he was assisted by M. Cazotte, a French
author, then well known, but wholly ignorant of Arabic. These
tales are evidently derived from native sources; the story of
Bohetzad (King Bakhtiyar) and his Ten Wazirs is taken bodily from
the Bres. Edit. [not so; but the original Arabic had long been
known in the French libraries]. As regards the style and
treatment, it is sufficient to say that the authors out-Gallanded
Galland, while Heron exaggerates every fault of his original.”
The first enlarged edition of Galland in French was published by
Caussin de Perceval, at Paris, in 9 vols., 8vo (1806). In
addition to Galland’s version, he added four tales (Nos. 21a, 22,
32 and 37), with which he had been furnished by Von Hammer. He
also added a series of tales, derived from MSS. in the Parisian
libraries, most of which correspond to those of Cazotte.
The most important of the later French editions was published by
E. Gauttier in 7 vols. in 1822; it contains much new matter. At
the end, the editor gives a list of all the tales which he
includes, with arguments. He has rather oddly distributed his
material so as to make only 568 nights. The full contents are
given in our Table; the following points require more special
notice. Vol. i. Gauttier omits the Third Shaykh’s story (No. 1c)
on account of its indecency, although it is really no worse than
any other story in The Nights. In the story of the Fisherman, he
has fallen into a very curious series of errors. He has
misunderstood King Yunan’s reference to King Sindbad (Burton i.
p. 50) to refer to the Book of Sindibad (No. 135); and has
confounded it with the story of the Forty Vazirs, which he says
exists in Arabic as well as in Turkish. Of this latter,
therefore, he gives an imperfect version, embedded in the story
of King Yunan (No. 2a). Here it may be observed that another
imperfect French version of the Forty Vazirs had previously been
published by Petis de la Croix under the title of Turkish Tales.
A complete German version by Dr. Walter F. A. Behrnauer was
published at Leipzig in 1851, and an English version by Mr. E. J.
W. Gibb has appeared while these sheets are passing through the
press.
Vol. ii. After No. 6 Gauttier places versions of Nos. 32 and 184
by Langlès. The Mock Caliph is here called Aly-Chah. The other
three tales given by Caussin de Perceval from Von Hammer’s MSS.
are omitted by Gauttier. Vol. v. (after No. 198) concludes with
two additional tales (Nos. 207h and 218) from Scott’s version.
But the titles are changed, No. 207h being called the Story of
the Young Prince and the Green Bird, and No. 218 the Story of
Mahmood, although there is another story of Mahmood in vol. 1.
(==No. 135m) included as part of the Forty Vazirs.
Vol. vi. includes the Ten Vazirs (No. 174), derived, however, not
from the Arabic, but from the Persian Bakhtyar Nameh. Three of
the subordinate tales in the Arabic version are wanting in
Gauttier’s, and another is transferred to his vol. vii., but he
includes one, the King and Queen of Abyssinia (No. 252), which
appears to be wanting in the Arabic. The remainder of the volume
contains tales from Scott’s version, the title of Mazin of
Khorassaun (No. 215) being altered to the Story of Azem and the
Queen of the Genii.
Vol. vii. contains a series of tales of which different versions
of six only (Nos. 30, 174, 246, 248, 249 and 250) were previously
published. Though these have no claim to be considered part of
The Nights, they are of sufficient interest to receive a passing
mention, especially as Gauttier’s edition seems not to have been
consulted by any later writer on The Nights, except Habicht, who
based his own edition mainly upon it. Those peculiar to
Gauttier’s edition are therefore briefly noticed.