LES CONTES DES GENIES, OU LES CHARMANTES LECONS D'HORAM, FILS D'ASMAR, Ouvrage traduit du Persan en Anglois, Par Sir Charles Morell, Ci-devant Ambassadeur des Etablissements Anglois dans l'Inde, a la Cour du Grand Mongol, Et en Francois sur la Traduction Angloise. (The first 2 volumes only of 3).

Amsterdam, 1782., 1782.. Very good. - Two volumes, each 16mo, 5-7/8 inches high by 3-3/4 inches wide. Bound in full vintage mottled tan calf titled in gilt with elaborate formal and floral gilt decorations on the spines and with triple gilt rules framing the covers. All edges are marbled. The covers are slightly rubbed and scuffed with wear to the corners and head and tail of the spines. The second volume's spine is lightly stained. 359 pages; and 370 pages respectively, illustrated with a total of 9 plates consisting of an engraved frontispiece to the first volume plus 4 engraved plates in each volume. The marbled endpapers and pastedowns are rubbed and soiled and there is some occasional minor soiling internally. Very good. <p>The first 2 volumes only of a 3 volume set, complete in themselves with the tales here numbered 1 through 9, concluding with the Tale of Sadak and Kalasrade and their continuation. The the tale titled in the English editions as "Mirglip, the Persian; or, Fincal, the Dervise of the Groves" was presumably published in the third volume.<p>From the collection of "Mr. Charles Comte de la Vaulx Baron de Vrecourt Guidon de Gendarmerie" with his elaborately illustrated Armorial bookplate, engraved by Dominique Collin in 1752, mounted on the front pastedown of each volume.<p>This French translation of "The Tales of the Genii" is attributed to Jean-Baptiste-Rene Robinet.<p>Modeled on the "Arabian Nights", "The Tales of the Genii: or, the Delightful Lessons of Horam, The Son of Asmar" were written by the English author James Ridley. Published anonymously, Ridley originally passed his tales off as authentic stories penned by a Persian Imam named Horam supposedly translated into English by Sir Charles Morrell.<p>Educated at University College, Oxford, the English author James Kenneth Ridley (1736-1765) is best known for "The Tales of the Genii", an Oriental pastiche inspired by the "Arabian Nights". Ridley also authored two novels, "The History of James Lovegrove, Esq." and "The Schemer, or the Universal Satirist...."