Andrew Lang 
The Arabian Nights 

‘The Arabian Nights’ is a collection of Perso-Arabic folk tales and other stories compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ’One Thousand and One Nights.’

The collection, or at least certain stories drawn from it (or purporting to be drawn from it), became widely known in the West from the 18th century, after it was translated from the Arabic — first into French and then into English and other European languages. The first English language edition, based on Galland’s French rather than the original Arabic, rendered the title as ‘The Arabian Nights’ Entertainment’ – and this, or simply ‘The Arabian Nights’, has been the title by which it has been best known to English-speaking people ever since. 



In this selection made by that master of folklore and fairy-tale Andrew Lang, the reader meets Aladdin with his wonderful lamp, the Enchanted Horse, the Princess Badoura, Sinbad the Sailor, and the great Caliph of Bagdad, Haroun-al-Raschid.