Laurence Housman (1865–1959)

You can tell from the cover of this book that it’s a bit of a “worn” copy. But that hasn’t affected the wonderful illustrations by Edmund Dulac. These have been tipped-in (I think that’s the term) and the colours are still very good. Though I often wonder whether the originals were brighter and maybe, via the printing process or just the aging of the originals or the prints themselves, .... if they have darkened compared with the originals.
Really, I bought this book just for the show more colour plates. But then I read it as bedtime stories to my son (hoping to improve his classical education) and found the stories were really good. Of course I’ve read many versions of Aladdin and his wonderful lamp.... but the version here was as good as any. And it’s a good cross-section of the stories. That incredible mixture of jinns and genies, magic and romance. My favourite character is probably the very smart servant girl Morgana who overhears the thieves talking from within the giant pots. Though one has to admit there is pretty casual murder committed here when she pours boiling oil in on the thieves. (And I found myself thinking that the thieves must have shown enormous self control not to scream with pain and so alert the other thieves).
There is a bit of the “Hero with a thousand faces” with many of these stories and a rather casual re-inforcement of the idea that being a prince or princess is the greatest thing one can be. (And everyone else is of lesser importance).
I wonder how much these stories have contributed to the sustainment of monarchies throughout the world. Not sure how widespread these stories were throughout the world before Richard Burton’s translation into English around 1850. His original version apparently contained a lot of highly sexual content and much of this was purged for later (family) editions such as the current one. I love the illustrations in watercolour. Dulac is a real master of the medium and a lot of modern children’s book illustrators such as Robert Ingpen and Lisbeth Zwerger clearly owe a debt to Dulac. Happy to recommend this book though it’s almost certainly not in print. show less

This was a bit disappointing, and doesn't stand up very well after a hundred years. The third star is for the illustrations. I was going to DNF this even before the Princess made her first appearance, based on my distaste for the prince; but then I decided to stick it out for the sake of research. The tale got somewhat better, but the prose was still a bit agonizing to plow through. (That's just my opinion.)

This is a book that I had long been interested in reading, mainly because I've seen show more some of the excellent Dulac illustrations over the years, and thought it must be fabulous. I mean, who doesn't love Arabian Nights with all their exotic splendor? Unfortunately, the story itself doesn't quite live up to the promise of the illustrations. I felt a bit like finally getting into the candy store after seeing pretty baubles through the window for years, then finding out everything tastes kind of like cardboard. The narrative language is somewhat archaizing, even for the early 1900s when it was first published, and everyone speaks in tiresome, flowery thees and thous.

The bare elements of the story. The prince is unbelievably perfect in every way (ho hum) except that when his Dad wants him to marry, he refuses (three times) because women are evil and he's so disgusted by them. (Hey, I didn't write this, OK? I should stick with Mantissa Etherbright.) So the king locks the prince in a dungeon. Beneath the dungeon is an evil female genie who whisks the princess Badoura in from China and pairs her up with the prince. There's some trickery involving sleep and fleas, during which they each get to ogle the sleeping other privately, and of course are bowled over by one another's beauty. They're tricked into thinking they must have been married while asleep. But then a genie carries her off back to China. Obviously, they both fall madly in love with one another and get the hots for some nuptials. Blah blah blah. That's the beginning, and there are a fair number of unlikely twists and turns and missed connections on the way to Badoura being proven wise and devoted, and the prince ending up with two wives...

It's not very long so you can judge for yourself by checking out the free Project Gutenberg edition. That's what I did. After reading it I wouldn't pay $150+ for a groovy first edition just to see the tipped-in illustrations in all of their original glory.

I know, I know. Housman isn't here any longer to defend himself, so please feel free to slap my wrists for bullying him. show less

(Included in the 1001 Arabian Nights)

Damn that's a lot of brothers... 50 altogether. Due to a quirk of fate, the youngest is born later than his brothers and is despised by them. So naturally the good-hearted baby brother goes on adventures which include freeing his 49 older siblings.

A modern fairy-tale. Witty & warm satirical commentary on the role & power of tradition & ritual that can be appreciated by ages 9-99. I will say 4.5 stars so you don't feel as if you have to track it down and pay collector's price for it - but my copy was at my library and gosh am I glad I did find it!