Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 6 (of 6)
General
Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 6 (of 6)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
In my last volumes I have been materially aided by two Anglo-American friends,
MM Thayer and Cotheal, and I have often had cause to thank the Tribune and the
Herald of New York for generously appreciating my labours. But no gratitude
from me is due to the small fry of the Transatlantic Press which has welcomed
me with spiteful little pars mostly borrowed from unfriends in England and
mainly touching upon style and dollars. In the Mail Express of New York
(September 7, '85) I read, "Captain Richard Burton, traveller and translator,
intends to make all the money that there may be in his translation of the
'Arabian Nights.' * * * If he only fills his list, and collects his money, he
will be in easy circumstances for the remainder of his days." In a subsequent
issue (October 24) readers are told that I have been requested not to publish
the rest of the series under pain of legal prosecution. In the same paper
(October 31, '85; see also November 7, '85) I find:--
The authorities have discovered where Capt. Burton's "Thousand and One Nights"
is being printed, despite the author's efforts to keep the place a secret, but
are undecided whether to suppress it or to permit the publication of the
coming volumes. Burton's own footnotes are so voluminous that they exceed the
letterpress of the text proper, and make up the bulk of the work.[FN#459] The
foulness of the second volume of his translation places it at a much higher
premium in the market than the first.
The Tribune of Chicago (October 26,'85) honours me by declaring "It has been
resolved to request Captain Burton not to publish the rest of his translation
of the 'Thousand and One Nights,' which is really foul and slipshod as to
style." The New York Times (October 17 and November 9, '85) merely echoes the
spite of its English confrere:--
Capt. Burton's translation of the "Arabian Nights" bears the imprint
"Benares." Of course the work never saw Benares. America, France, Belgium and
Germany have all been suggested as the place of printing, and now the Pall
Mall Gazette affirms that the work was done "north of the Tweed." There is,
without doubt, on British soil, it says, "a press which year after year
produces scores of obscene publications."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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