Clifford Edmund Bosworth

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

First Published in 1995. Published a few years after the author’s death this text offers explanatory notes for his translation of The Thousand and One Nights. The editor Lane had utilized as the main basis for this the Arabic text printed at the press of Biilaq in the suburbs of Cairo established by the Pasha Muhammad 'Ali, but had enriched it by a copious commentary. Since the stories making up the Nights illustrate almost the whole gamut of public and settled domestic life in the Arab Middle Ages, from the opulent surroundings of Caliphs and Sultans to the humblest dwellings of petty tradesmen and bazaar artisans, Lane was able to construct on these foundations a remarkably detailed picture of society as it functioned in the urban centres of Mediaeval Islam.