The Arabian Nights - Earle Goodenow - First Edition Childrens Books, Illustrated Junior Library, Arabian Nights, 1001 Nights, Sheherazade

Beautiful 1978 printing of The Arabian Nights for the Illustrated Junior Library. Sheherazade weaves tales over 1,001 nights to mesmerize her murderous husband.

Written by various authors. Illustrated by Earle Goodenow. 1978 printing. An Illustrated Junior Library Edition, Grosset & Dunlap Publishers.

The history of The Arabian Nights is as adventurous as the stories it tells. It begins over a thousand years ago with a small collection of fantastic tales of Indian and Persian origin that were adopted and added to, and largely overwritten, by many Arabic, Greek, Jewish, and Turkish authors over many centuries. In 1704 Antoine Galland translated the One Thousand and One Nights, as it was known historically, into French, and added new stories we know well today, including Aladdin's Lamp, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. An English translation appeared in 1706 titled The Arabian Nights' Entertainment, which is still the more popular title for most English-language texts.

In the main, or "frame", story, the Sultan Shahryar discovers that his wife has been unfaithful, and after dispatching with her, disillusioned by all women, runs through a succession of virgin brides, hundreds of years before Henry VIII. Then, Sheherazade, much loved daughter of his vizier, who was responsible for choosing the brides, volunteers to marry the Sultan. On their wedding night, Sheherazade begins to weave a rich story so compelling, and unfinished, that he lets her live one more night so that she can finish the story. The following night she concludes the story and begins a new one while leaving the conclusion for the next night. And so it goes for 1,001 nights.

The 1978 printing is an edited version of selected stories suitable for young readers. Recommended for advanced readers based on vocabulary, grammar, and complexity of the stories.

Artist Earle Goodenow (1913 - 1985) is best known for his work for The Arabian Nights but also illustrated several other children's books, including The Bashful Bear, The Lazy Llama, The Careless Kangaroo, and The Peevish Penguin.

Condition*: Fine/Very Good. The clear acetate dust jacket has a small chip on the top right corner and two closed tears at the tail of the spine.

*Based on guidelines of the Independent Online Booksellers' Association.

Etsy.com/shop/TheCharmedBookshop
Visit TheCharmedBookshop.com for more first edition children's books.