Arabian Nights Entertainments

I have some LEC books but no books published by Heritage Press. I am looking to purchase the set "Arabian Nights Entertainments" - can someone please tell me the difference between LEC and HP editions other than the limitations/signatures (that I am aware of)? Quality-wise - were they the same?

Thanks

Hi Neil,

I personally have not seen the LEC Arabian Nights Entertainments, but I do have a post on the Heritage edition featuring Valenti Angelo's spin on the tales.

http://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/heritage-press-the-arabian-nig...

The LEC is six volumes compared to three. I found a seller for the LEC edition, and yes, I can say there is a difference in terms of outer quality:

http://www.charlesagvent.com/shop/agvent/015008.html

In terms of the interior, that I do not know. Here's a shot of the LEC title page:

http://www.charlesagvent.com/agvent/images/items/015635.JPG

And here's the Heritage:

http://georgemacyimagery.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/dsc_0059.jpg

The Heritage is reprinted by lithograph from this edition. That's about all I can tell you. Hope it helps!

>1 Neil77:

Neil77, are you referring to the Arabian Nights Entertainments edition illustrated by Arthur Szyk? This is different than the Thousand Nights and a Night complete edition of the tales as illuminated by Valenti Angelo which Jerry describes in >2 WildcatJF: above.

3) I didn't think that the Szyk edition was issued as a Heritage reprint. Thus, I assumed that he was asking about the Angelo edition which had seen both a LEC and Heritage printing.

>4 WildcatJF:

Yes Jerry, there was a Heritage reprint, which I have. It is in 2 volumes rather than 4 as the LEC, and the ornamentation on the binding is in silver, rather than gold.

This set is really all about Szyx, as it only contains 65 of the stories--the ones told by Scheherazade--without all the other tales that were attached to the framework (including most of the famous ones: Sindbad, Ali Baba, etc.).

I have not seen the LEC edition of this work, but I suspect the illustrations will have slightly more saturated colors than my Heritage edition. Incidentally, since Szyk died before publication, the LEC edition is not signed. Those are the principle differences.

5) Ah, okay. I suppose I should do some more research next time. XD Curious that there's Heritage reprints of both Arabian Nights.

Thanks to everyone. I was indeed looking to have some information on Arabian Nights Entertainments (illustrated by Szyk) and managed to get it from the seller that Wildcat had pointed out.

Am eagerly looking forward to it. :-)

>7 Neil77:

Which version are you getting? I should say that the seller Jerry pointed to has a very good collection of LECs, however I find him to be very expensive.

Apropos of Richard Burton, did the LEC produce anything else as small as The Kasidah of Hâji Abdu El Yezdi?

Yes, this was an LEC as well, and not issued as a Heritage Press edition.

Jerry, according to my Sandglass, Macy had originally wanted Szyk to do the illustrations for the Arabian Nights, but Szyk was too busy with other work--especially propaganda for the war, and felt he couldn't do it, so Angelo illustrated the complete tales. When Szyk had a heart attack in 1945 and told Macy he wanted to do the Arabian Nights, Macy decided to commission him to do the most popular tales, and include Taylor's notes in addition to some of Burton's. It was a race against time and Szyk died before the book was published. It was a hugely expensive undertaking because of the elaborate printing required for the illustrations and the Heritage reprint was essential to recoup the costs.

Django, I think I phrased that badly. Discussion of the Arabian Nights made me think of Burton which made me think of the Kasidah, which is the smallest LEC I have yet seen, and I wondered was it a one-off or whether there were others in the same format (not necessarily by Burton).
("I wondered was it a one-off or whether" - sorry, that sounds like bad Anglo-Saxon verse!)

OK, the Kasidah and the Arabian Nights sets are the only Burton issued by the LEC/Heritage Press. Among the small (12mo or 16mo) single volume LECs or Heritage Press issues are LEC's Vathek, Psalms and Rubaiyat, and the Heritage Press's The Song of Songs, Salome, and the Szyk Rubaiyat (slightly larger than the others). There are also individual plays, the Heritage A Shropshire Lad, and (again slightly larger, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. There are some very slim volumes such as Snow-Bound, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Comus, La Allegro and Il Penseroso and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, but these are octavo or quarto-sized books.

Thanks!

11) Thanks again. More to add!

>8 Django6924:

I am getting the LEC version of Arabian Nights Entertainments - set of 4 books in two slipcases.

>8 Django6924:

By the way, the seller indeed is very expensive - I found him to be a bit rude s well!!!

>17 Neil77:

I found so as well, but didn't want to make the comment in case he was having an off day. I've found Different Drummer books and Bill Majure easier on the wallet and pleasant to deal with.

> 18

Bill Majure is great - he is a great person to deal with and his prices are much better. I found Charles Agvent extremely rude and unprofessional. And I have dealt with lots and lots of booksellers and I have never had a similar experience ever before.

I'm sorry you had a terrible experience with Agvent. I merely linked to him for reference, but it would seem he's not the nicest seller out there. Shame, since he has such a wide selection. I'm glad to hear Majure is a pleasant fellow, as one day I'd like to place an order with him.

I confirm Majure is nice, even if his shipping across the Atlantic leaves 1m3 of wrapping material!!!
His books are usually LN-.

> 20

You should not be sorry. Although he is rude, he has an amazing collection. I would link his rudeness to arrogance - you will be glad to deal with Majure. I do consult him before I purchase a pricey LEC from even another seller.

> 21

I agree - Majure's wrapping is the best that I have seen - he puts packing materials for three packages in one box.

Another vote for Different Drummer Books and particularly Bill Majure. Bill Majure has a nice selection, reasonable prices, the books are in great condition and his packing is incredible.

> 18

Based on your recommendation, I did a google search on Different Drummer Books and ended up calling them. Loved dealing with Tom - ended up buying four LEC's from him - provided your reference as well - I said "a friend from Library Thing - I don't know his name". Thanks a lot :-)

I have dealt with all three booksellers and I would rate Bill Majure as tops since his book condition is always right on. Tom at Different Drummer is very nice, but he tends to rate the conditin of his books higher than they actually are. Charles Agvent I go to as a last resort. He is over priced and overbearing. I have only bought two or three books from hin in 25 years.

The Szyk Arabian Nights is indeed a nice edition. Also, there seems to be several of them around. I bought my copy for under $200 in near Mint condition with a like slipcase.

>25 leccol:, sorry Don, completely disagree on Tom at Different Drummer. I think he is fantastic, the books are always as he describes and his prices are more than fair....in my experience (and have probably bought at least 50 LEC's, a number of Peter Koch and other fine press from him).

>26 busywine:

Ditto on DD--my favorite online dealer of fine press books. I think leccol has different standards for classifying the books.

I haven't had as good a luck with DD. I have received books from DD with a cracked spine and severe rubbing. I still buy from Tom, but I have learned to query him about condition. His prices are good, so I kept several books to rebind. I use the standards set down by the Antiquarian Booksellers where FINE means no flaws other than shelf aging. I just put the above examples in my to be rebound pile.

I hope someone still cares about the difference between the LEC and HP Arabian Nights. I recently bought the LEC and just had a chance to make the comparison. The Sandglass (which is eight pages long and perhaps very similar to the ML) reads that Cowells (Ipswich, England) did the printing for the LEC. A run of one copy was further made, on smoothly coated paper, to serve as the basis for the photographic printing made for the members of the Heritaga Press. The photographed pages were then printed by offset lithography in the shop of Robert Teller & Dorner in New York. The color plates were printed in the shop of the Triggs Color Printing Company in the same city. The color plates for the LEC were printed by the Sun Engraving Company. Clearly the LEC has an edge over the HP (check out bottom two pictures).

IMO Zsyk hit the mark with this book. His miniatures speak the language of the Orient. And here lays the main difference in both editions. The LEC is embellished with 60 miniature paintings, while the HP is embellished with 40 such. Yet both the HP colophon and the Sandglass are conveniently silent about this. The LEC also has the edge in having the notes in separate books. Thus one does not have to constantly flip pages when reading.











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Heritage Press

>30 JeromeJ: At the back of each volume.

>29 BuzzBuzzard: "I hope someone still cares about the difference between the LEC and HP Arabian Nights"

Thank you for posting this. I have both the HP, which I acquired many years ago, and the LEC, which I won in an auction last year at a surprisingly low price, but in not in the Very Fine condition of your set! The LEC has all the advantages you mention, in addition to the more attractive binding--and more appropriate, as gold is better asuited to these stories than silver.

Oddly, when I first got the LEC, I wasn't sure I preferred the reproduction of the illustrations over how they appeared in the HP (and to which I had been accustomed)--the LEC versions seemed to have more contrast and appeared somehow harsher than the HP reproductions. You can see this in your photos as well. The HP seem mellower. I think this is due to the reproduction of the blue values--created by the combination of the Cyan and Magenta layers in the offset plates--which have a great purity and more accurate rendition in the LEC plates. (Perhaps Don has more familiarity with this technical issue.)

I remember there was a similar reaction on the part of many observers when Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel paintings were cleaned of the accumulation of centuries of candle smoke and soot and appeared in the brilliant colors the artist originally painted--many preferred the patina of age and felt the cleaned frescos were garish in comparison. Now I think most prefer the cleaned versions as best representing the artist's intentions, as I prefer the LEC reproductions of Szyk's work; and I agree that for me these are the most satisfying of all the Arabian Nights illustrations, and closest in spirit to the stories.