{"product_id":"1896-rare-book-the-arabian-nights-entertainments-by-mrs-sugden","title":"1896 Rare Book - The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments by Mrs. Sugden","description":"\u003cp class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn exceptionally attractive late-Victorian edition of the Arabian Nights, presented in a brilliant pictorial cloth binding and retaining its vivid colour frontispiece.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hon. Mrs. Sugden, arranger.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTitle:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eThe Arabian Nights’ Entertainments: Arranged for the Perusal of Youthful Readers.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e London, George Routledge and Sons, The Broadway, Ludgate; New York, 9 Lafayette Place, [1896].\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEdition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Victorian illustrated edition, arranged and adapted for youthful readers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/strong\u003e English.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e vii, 501 pages, followed by publisher’s advertisement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 7.5\" x 5\".\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBinding:\u003c\/strong\u003e Very good original publisher’s bright red cloth binding, elaborately blocked in black, green, and gilt. The front board features a striking floral and geometric design surrounding a large gilt title panel and a gilt pictorial vignette, with corresponding decoration and gilt lettering to the spine. Rear board decorated in blind. Minor rubbing and light wear to the extremities, chiefly at the corners and spine ends, but the cloth remains remarkably bright and the elaborate decoration exceptionally well preserved. Binding tight and sound. Protected in a removable mylar cover. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContent:\u003c\/strong\u003e Very good. Pages are clean and well preserved with only light age toning and occasional minor spotting consistent with age. Decorative initials, headpieces, and ornaments throughout. Small bookseller’s ticket of A. \u0026amp; R. Milne, Aberdeen, to the upper front pastedown. No ownership inscriptions noted. A particularly pleasing example internally.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrations:\u003c\/strong\u003e Complete with the full-page colour frontispiece, retaining strong, rich colouring, together with numerous decorative initials and typographical ornaments throughout the text.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEstimate: \u003c\/strong\u003eUSD 150–250.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe book:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis handsome Victorian edition presents the great tales of the \u003cem\u003eArabian Nights\u003c\/em\u003e in a form specifically arranged for younger readers. In her preface, Mrs. Sugden explains that the collection was prepared to provide families with an edition freed from material considered unsuitable for children, while preserving the stories that had made Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sindbad the Sailor, and their companions perennial favourites. Among the tales included are \u003cem\u003eThe History of Sindbad, the Sailor\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eAladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe History of Ali Baba, and of the Forty Robbers Killed by One Slave\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMuch of the appeal of this copy lies in its spectacular publisher’s binding. The vivid scarlet cloth, richly ornamented with gilt, black, and green blocking, belongs to the flourishing Victorian tradition of decorative gift books, when publishers transformed popular literary classics into objects designed to be displayed as well as read. Surviving copies are frequently encountered with considerable rubbing or fading; the brightness and completeness of the present binding make it particularly attractive for collectors of nineteenth-century pictorial cloth and illustrated fairy-tale literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe editor:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Hon. Mrs. Sugden prepared this adaptation of the \u003cem\u003eArabian Nights\u003c\/em\u003e specifically for Victorian family reading, condensing and modifying the traditional stories while retaining their adventure, fantasy, and narrative variety. Her arrangement became sufficiently popular to be issued by George Routledge \u0026amp; Sons in a number of bindings and formats during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer edition belongs to a broader Victorian movement that brought traditional fairy tales, legends, and world literature into the nursery through carefully edited texts and increasingly elaborate illustrated editions. In this particularly decorative Routledge production, the familiar stories are paired with one of the period’s most appealing forms of commercial book design.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MFLIBRA - Antique Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49055367397625,"sku":null,"price":135.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0953\/3348\/files\/20260912arabian_01.jpg?v=1789248674","url":"https:\/\/mflibra.com\/products\/1896-rare-book-the-arabian-nights-entertainments-by-mrs-sugden","provider":"MFLIBRA - Antique Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}