July 2021 Catalogue

4 J u l y 2 0 2 1 Deluxe Limited Edition Of The Arabian Nights, One Of Only 100 Sets 1. (ARABIAN NIGHTS) MARDRUS, J.C. The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night. New York, circa 1923. Eight volumes. Octavo, publisher’s full crimson morocco gilt. $7800. Click for more info Limited“Sultana”Editionof thisunexpurgatedandunabridged translation, one of only 100 sets from the first American printing, with 24 hand-colored plates by Roderick McRae, signed by publisher Whitman Bennett, who also executed the beautiful deluxe morocco-gilt bindings. A stunning set. Claiming to have worked from a 17th-century North African manuscript,Mardrus asserted that his versionwasmore faithful to the original stories than Antoine Galland’s early 18th-century translation; in fact, it emphasized and even embellished the more exotic and erotic aspects. T.E. Lawrence originally expressed interest in translating Mardrus’ text into English, but the work ultimately fell to poet E. Powys Mathers. The Mardrus- Powys Mathers Night helped create visions of “a land of fable environment whose deserts and oases, bazaars and slums, jeweled caverns and minaret-topped edifices are immediately recognizable” (Clute & Grant, 51). A beautifully bound and illustrated set in fine condition. Scarce and desirable. Pre-1900 Literature