The Thousand and One Nights; Or, the Arabian Nights' Entertainments; Translated and Arranged for Family Reading, with Explanatory Notes, by E.W. Lane, Esq

London: John Murray, 1847. Second edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 3 vol. 8vo. [2], iii-x, [1], 2-517, [3]; [2], v-xii, 1-520, [2]; [2], v-xii, 1-552, [2] pp. Half contemporary calf over marbled boards, spines in six compartments with gilt decorations on the spines and a purple and black morocco label on each spine, lettered in gilt; all edges marbled. Marbled endpapers and pastedowns. Illustrated with six hundred woodcuts by Harvey and illuminated titles by Owen Jones. Each volume with two engraved title pages (each volume's first engraved title is brightly colored). Oxford DNB, Jason Thompson, "Lane, Edward William (1801-1876)". Edward William Lane devoted his life to the study and observation of early nineteenth-century Egyptian culture and custom. He lived for several years of his life in Cairo and worked on various archaeological sites during his time there. He sailed on the Nile into Nubia, and would publish work on Nubian society after this journey. For a long time, his translation of the Arabian Nights (first published in 1839-1841) remained the standard English translation of the body of work. Thompson writes for the DNB, "Lane believed [the Arabian Nights] presented 'most admirable pictures of the manners and customs of the Arabs, and particularly of those of the Egyptians' (Lane, Modern Egyptians, 1.vi n.). ... its copious notes are stimulating micro-essays of enduring value". Lane strongly believed in making Middle Eastern writings accessible to English speakers and readers. He would go on to publish an eight volume Arabic-English Lexicon, assisted by his nephews. His work on Egypt and Middle Eastern history was a breakthrough in the English speaking world, and provided much useful information to scholars of his time and to scholars who studied the region after his death. Moderate rubbing to the extremities and a faint odor of tobacco to the leaves.