- 1898: Longmans, Green and Co. edition, selected and edited by Andrew Lang
- 1907: Stories from the Arabian Nights, retold by Laurence Housman and illustrated by Edmund Dulac
- 1969: Dover edition, selected and edited by Andrew Lang
- 2007: Dodo Press edition, selected and edited by Andrew Lang
- 2019: Independently published edition, selected and edited by Andrew Lang
- 2020: Mary Publishing Company edition, selected and edited by Andrew Lang
One Thousand and One Nights
A night-by-night escape into a vast world of stories.
Overview
One Thousand and One Nights, often called The Arabian Nights, is a vast collection held together by one urgent setup. Shahrazad tells King Shahryar a story each night, then stops before the ending. To hear what comes next, he must let her live another day.
Inside that frame are voyages, court tricks, enchantments, lost fortunes, and tales that open into more tales. Some familiar names, including Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sindbad, belong to the wider tradition rather than its oldest core. That messy history is part of the book’s appeal.
Don’t expect one clean novel or one fixed version. This is a living storehouse shaped by centuries of oral telling, copying, and translation. Andrew Lang’s public-domain selection is a friendly way in, though its older retelling style still shows its age.
Is This Book for You?
Yes, if...
- You want Aladdin, Sindbad, and other famous tales in a larger story world.
- You enjoy nested stories, magic, clever escapes, and sudden turns of fortune.
- You'd rather dip into a rich collection than follow one long plot.
No, if...
- You want one modern novel with a single cast and a steady pace.
- You need every tale to share the same tone or setting.
- You dislike old-fashioned retellings and stories inside stories.
Summary
Notable Quotables
“My love of trading, and the pleasure I took in anything that was new and strange, made me set my affairs in order, and begin my journey through some of the Persian provinces, having first sent off stores of goods to await my coming in the different places I intended to visit.”
“much is gained by patience, and your Majesty might regret any violence.”
“Whoso meddles in affairs that are no business of his, will hear truths that will not please him.”