The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol 16 | Page 4

Richard Burton
Warlock and the Young Cook of Baghdad 5. The Pleasant History of the Cock and the Fox 6. History of What Befel the Fowl-let with the Fowler 7. The Tale of Attaf The Tale of Attaf by Alexander J. Cotheal 8. History of Prince Habib and what Befel Him with the Lady Durrat Al-Ghawwas a. The History of Durrat Al-Ghawwas
Appendix
Notes on the Stories Contained in Volume XVI, by W. F. Kirby Index to the Tales and Proper Names Index to the Variants and Analogues Index to the Notes of W. A. Clouston and W. F. Kirby Alphabetical Table of Notes (Anthropological, &c.) Additional Notes on the Bibliography of the Thousand and One Nights, by W. F. Kirby The Biography of the Book and Its Reviewers Reviewed Opinions of the Press

The Translator's Foreword.

This volume has been entitled "THE NEW ARABIAN 1 NIGHTS," a name now hackneyed because applied to its contents as far back as 1819 in Henry Weber's "Tales of the East" (Edinburgh, Ballantyne).
The original MS. was brought to France by Al-Káhin Diyánisiás Sháwísh, a Syrian priest of the Congregation of St. Basil, whose name has been Frenchified to Dom Dennis (or Denys) Chavis. He was a student at the European College of Al-Kadís Ithanásiús (St. Athanasius) in Rúmiyah the Grand (Constantinople) and was summoned by the Minister of State, Baron de Breteuil, to Paris, where he presently became "Teacher of the Arabic Tongue at the College of the Sultán, King of Fransá in Bárís (Paris) the Great." He undertook (probably to supply the loss of Galland's ivth MS. volume) a continuation of The Nights (proper), and wrote with his own hand the last two leaves of the third tome, which ends with three instead of four couplets: thus he completed Kamar al-Zamán (Night cclxxxi.- cccxxix.) and the following tales:--
The History of the Sleeper and the Waker (Nights cccxxx.-ccclxxix.). The History of Warlock and the Cook (ccclxxx.-cd.). The History of the Prisoner in the Bímáristán or Madhouse (cd.-cdxxvii.). The History of Ghánim the Thrall o' Love (cdxxviii.-cdlxxiv.). The History of Zayn al-Asnám and the King of the Jánn (cdlxxv.-cdxci.). The History of Alaeddin (cdxcii.-dlxix.), and The History of Ten Wazirs (dlxx.).
The copy breaks off at folio 320, r in the middle of Night dcxxxi., and the date (given at the end of Night cdxxvii., folio 139) is Shubát (February), A.D. 1787. This is the MS. numbered Supplément Arabe, No. 1716.
In Paris, Dom Chavis forgathered with M. Cazotte, a littérateur of the category "light," an ingénieux écrivain, distinguished for "gaiety, delicacy, wit and Attic elegance," and favorably known for (inter alia) his poem "Olivier," his "Diable Amoureux," "The Lord Impromptu," and a travesty of The Nights called "The Thousand and One Fopperies." The two agreed to collaborate, the Syrian translating the Arabic into French, and the Parisian metamorphosing the manner and matter to "the style and taste of the day"; that is to say, working up an exaggerated imitation, a caricature, of Galland. The work appeared, according to Mr. A. G. Ellis, of the British Museum, who kindly sent me these notes, in Le Cabinet | des Fées, | ou | Collection choisie | des Contes des Fées, | et autres contes merveilleux, | ornés de figures. | Tome trente-huitiéme--(quarante-unième). | A Genève, | chez Bárde, Manget et Compagnie, | Imprimeurs-Libraires. | Et se trouve à Paris | Rue et H?tel Serpente. | 1788-89, 8 [FN#1] . The half-title is Les Veilliées Persanes, and on the second title- page is Les Veilliées | 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. | Ornées de I2 belles gravures. | Tome premier (--quatrième) | à Genève, | chez Barde, Manget et Comp' | 1793. This 8vo[FN#2] bears the abridged title, La Suite des mille et une Nuits, Contes Arabes, traduits par Dom Chavis et M. Cazotte. The work was printed with illustrations at Geneva and in Paris, MDCCLXXXVIII., and formed the last four volumes (xxxviii.- xli.) of the great Recueil, the Cabinet des Fées, published at Geneva from A.D. 1788 to 1793.
The following is a complete list of the histories, as it appears in the English translation, lengthily entitled, "Arabian Tales; | or, | a Continuation | of the | Arabian Nights Entertainments. | Consisting of | Stories | Related by the | Sultana of the Indies | to divert her Husband from the Performance of a rash vow; | Exhibiting | A most interesting view of the Religion, Laws, | Manners, Customs, Arts, and Literature | of the | Nations of the East, | And | Affording a rich Fund of the most pleasing Amusement, | which fictitious writings can supply. | In Four Volumes | newly
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