The Arabian Nights: Volume I

A betrayed king vows to marry a new bride every night and execute her at dawn, until Shahrazad volunteers. Her weapon is story. This first of ten volumes of Sir Richard Burton's famous unexpurgated translation opens the frame tale and the first nights: the trader and the jinni, the fisherman and his copper jar, the porter and the three ladies of Baghdad, the three apples, and the hunchback. Burton's version is lush, explicit, and exhaustively annotated, with period notes that reflect dated Victorian views. Intended for adult readers. Beautifully typeset Tydbyts Classics edition.