LES LIVRE DES MILLE NUITS [COMPLETE IN 8 LARGE VOLUMES] [Bx] by J C [Jean-Charles] Mardrus" (1868–1949) Trans - ca 1920

Paris: Grenelle. Very Good with no dust jacket. ca 1920. Hardcover. Chromotype; 4to 11" - 13" tall; ca4800 pages; The Book of the thousand nights and one night. Literal and complete translation of Dr. JC Mardrus. French language text. Original attractive 1/2 morocco leather and marbled boards; crubbed extremities. Plates and illustrations. Page borders. Light browning to pages. Handsome large volumes weighing in at about 60 pounds. Large frames varied colors and 156 color plates reproducing miniatures of ancient manuscripts Persian and Hindu. Apparently Mardrus' French translation could be seen as an interpretation more than a translation. Mardrus's version of the Arabian Nights is racy, elegant, and highly readable. It is mentioned explicitly in the pages of A Remembrance of Things Past . Mardrus inserted a lot of imaginative material of his own, and his translation is therefore not wholly authentic, even though it is very well written and developed. As a doctor for the French government, he worked throughout Morocco and the Far East. He produced other translations. Fine binding. .