Les mille et une nuits, contes arabes traduits en français (lit.'The Thousand and One Nights, Arab stories translated into French'), published in 12 volumes between 1704 and 1717, was the first European version of The Thousand and One Nights tales.
Illustration from Galland's Les Mille et Une Nuit, Contes Arabes, Vol. 2, by Pierre Husson, The Hague, 1714, by Dutch artist David Coster (1686-1752): Shahrazad tells her story to Shahryār, while her sister Dunyazad listens. Note other stories in the smaller panels (e.g., "The Ebony Horse" and "The Fisherman and the Jinn").
The French translation by Antoine Galland (1646–1715) derived from an Arabic text of the Syrian recension of the medieval work[1] as well as from other sources. It included stories not found in the original Arabic manuscripts[2] — the so-called "orphan tales" — such as the famous "Aladdin" and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", which first appeared in print in Galland's collection. Literary scholars Ruth B. Bottigheimer[3] and Paulo Lemos Horta have argued that Hanna Diyab should be understood as the original author of some of the orphan tales, and even that several of them, including Aladdin, were partly inspired by Diyab's own life.[4][5]
Immensely popular at the time of initial publication by the house of the late Claude Barbin[fr],[6]
and enormously influential later, Galland's published tales were supplemented by subsequent volumes, introduced using Galland's name - although some stories were produced by others at the behest of a publisher wanting to capitalize on the popularity of Galland's work.[7]
Galland had come across a manuscript of "The Tale of Sindbad the Sailor" in Constantinople during the 1690s and in 1701 he published his French translation of it.[8] Its success encouraged him to embark on a translation of a 14th-century Syrian manuscript of tales from The Thousand and One Nights. The first two volumes of this work, under the title Les mille et une nuit, appeared in 1704, with volumes three to seven published in 1705 and 1706. Galland translated two more stories, but not enough for another complete volume. Frustrated, Galland's publisher Claude Barbin published these two along with two of François Pétis de la Croix's translations of the Turkish Ferec baʿd eş-şidde (later published as Les mille et un jours in 1710–12) as the eighth volume in 1709. This outraged Galland, who switched publishers for all subsequent volumes.[9]
Galland translated the first part of his work solely from the Syrian manuscript, but in 1709 he was introduced to a Syrian Christian—a Maronite from Aleppo whom he called Youhenna (“Hanna”) Diab. Galland's diary (March 25, 1709) records that he met Hanna through Paul Lucas, a French traveler who had used him as an interpreter brought him to Paris. Hanna recounted 14 stories to Galland from memory and Galland chose to write them down. At the end of the day, he included seven of them in his books. These are the tales called "Orphan tales" and are actually not translations but new additions directly written by Galland after what he heard from Diab. These new stories include Aladin and Ali Baba. For example, Galland's diary tells that the version of "Aladdin" that he wrote was made in the winter of 1709–10. It was included in his volumes IX and X, published in 1710. The final two volumes were published posthumously in 1717.
Galland adapted his translation to the taste of the times. The immediate success the tales enjoyed was partly due to the vogue for fairy stories—in French, contes de fees[10]—which had been started in France in the 1690s by Galland's friend Charles Perrault. Galland was also eager to conform to the literary canons of the era. He cut many of the erotic passages out along with all of the poetry. This caused Sir Richard Burton to refer to "Galland's delightful abbreviation and adaptation" which "in no wise represent[s] the eastern original."[11]
Galland's translation was greeted with immense enthusiasm and was soon further translated into many other European languages:
English (a "Grub Street" version of 1706 under the title Arabian Nights Entertainments)
German (1712)
Italian (1722)
Dutch (1732)
Russian (1763)
Polish (1768)
These produced a wave of imitations and the widespread 18th century fashion for oriental tales.[12]
Volume 1
Les Mille et une Nuits
"L'Ane, le Boeuf et le Laboureur" ("The Fable of the Ass, the Ox, and the Labourer")
"Fable de Chien et du Boeuf" ("The Fable of the Dog and the Ox")
"Le Marchand et le Génie" ("The Merchant and the Genie")
"Histoire du premier Vieillard-Baron et de la Biche" ("The History of the first Old Man and the Doe")
"Histoire du second Vieillard et des deux Chiens noirs" ("The Story of the second Old Man and the two black Dogs")
"Suite de l'Histoire de Noureddin Ali, et de Bedreddin Hassan" ("Continuation of the Story of Noureddin Ali and of Bedreddin Hassan")
"Histoire du petit Bossu" ("History of the Little Hunchback")
"Histoire que raconta le Marchand chretien" ("The Story told by the Christian Merchant")
"Histoire racontée par le pourvoyeur du sultan de Casgar" ("The Story told by the Sultan of Casgar's Purveyor")
"Histoire racontée par le médecin juif" ("The Story told by the Jewish Physician")
"Histoire que raconta le Tailleur" ("The Story told by the Tailor")
Volume 5
"Suite de l'Histoire que raconta le Tailleur" ("Continuation of the Story told by the Tailor")
"Histoire du Barbier" ("The Story of the Barber")
"Histoire du premier Frere du Barbier" ("The Story of the Barber's Eldest Brother")
"Histoire du second Frere du Barbier" ("The Story of the Barrber's Second Brother")
"Histoire du troisieme Frere du Barbier" ("The Story of the Barber's Third Brother")
"Histoire du quatrieme Frere du Barbier" ("The Story of the Barber's Fourth Brother")
"Histoire du cinquieme Frere du Barbier" ("The Story of the Barber's Fifth Brother")
"Histoire du sixieme Frere du Barbier" ("The Story of the Barber's Sixth Brother")
"Histoire d'Aboulhassan Ali Ebn Becar et de Schemselnihar, favorite du calife Haroun-al-Raschid" ("History of Aboulhassan Ali Ebn Becar and Schemselnihar, Favourite of Caliph Haroun-Al-Raschid")
Volume 6
"Suite de l'histoire de la Princesse de la Chine" ("Continuation of the story of the Princess of China")
"Histoire de Marzavan avec la suite de celle de Camaralzaman" ("History of Marzavan with the continuation of that of Camaralzaman")
"Séparation du Prince Camaralzaman d'avec la Princesse Badoure" ("Separation of Prince Camaralzaman from Princess Badoure")
"Histoire de la Princesse Badoure apres la separation du Prince Camaralzaman" ("Story of Princess Badoure after the separation of Prince Camaralzaman")
"Suite de l'histoire du Prince Camaralzaman, depuis sa separation d'avec la Princesse Badoure" ("Continuation of the story of Prince Camaralzaman, since his separation from Princess Badoure")
"Histoire des Princes Amgiad et Assad" ("History of Princes Amgrad and Assad")
"Le Prince Assad arrete en entrant dans la ville des Mages" ("Prince Assad arrests upon entering the city of the Magi")
"Histoire du Prince Amgiad & d'une dame de la ville des Mages" ("Story of Prince Amgiad & a Lady from the City of the Magi")
"Suite de l'Histoire du Prince Assad" ("Continuation of the Story of Prince Assad")
Volume 7
"Histoire de Noureddin et de la belle Persienne" ("The Story of Noureddin and the Fair Persian")
"Histoire de Beder, prince de Perse, et de Giauhare, princesse du royaume du Samandal" ("The Story of Beder, Prince of Persia, and Giahaurre, Princess of the Kingdom of Samandal")
Volume 8
"Histoire de Ganem, Fils d'Abou Ayoub, surmomme l'Esclave d'Amour" ("The Story of Ganem, Son of Abou Ayoub, and known by the Surname of Love's Slave")
"Histoire du prince Zein Alasnam et du roi des Génies" ("The Story of Prince Zeyn Alasnam, and the King of the Geniuses")
"Histoire de Codadad et de ses frères" ("History of Codadad and his Brothers")
"Histoire de la princesse Deryabar" ("The Story of the Princess of Deryabar")
Volume 9
"Histoire du dormeur éveillé" ("The Story of the Sleeper Awakened")
"Histoire d'Ali Cogia, Marchand de Bagdad" (The Story of Ali Cogia, Merchant of Baghdad)
"Histoire du Cheval enchanté" (History of the Enchanted Horse) ("The Ebony Horse")
Volume 12
"Histoire du prince Ahmed et de la fee Pari-Banou" (History of Prince Ahmed and the Pari-Banou fairy)
"Histoire des deux Soeurs jalouses de leur cadette" (The Story of the two sisters jealous of their younger sister) ("The Sisters Envious of Their Cadette")
Another fact is undeniable. The most famous and eloquent encomiums of The Thousand and One Nights—by Coleridge, Thomas de Quincey, Stendhal, Tennyson, Edgar Allan Poe, Newman—are from readers of Galland's translation. Two hundred years and ten better translations have passed, but the man in Europe or the Americas who thinks of the Thousand and One Nights thinks, invariably, of this first translation. The Spanish adjective milyunanochesco [thousand-and-one-nights-esque] ... has nothing to do with the erudite obscenities of Burton or Mardrus, and everything to do with Antoine Galland's bijoux and sorceries.[13]
First publication
1704–1717: Les mille et une nuit, contes arabes traduits en François, par M. Galland, Paris: la Veuve Claude Barbin, In-12. 12 vols.
Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 = 1704–1705, Paris: la Veuve Claude Barbin
Vol. 7 = 1706, Paris: la Veuve Claude Barbin
Vol. 8 = 1709, Paris: la Boutique de Claude Barbin, chez la veuve Ricoeur
Vols. 9, 10 = 1712, Paris: Florentin Delaulne
Vols. 11, 12 = 1717, Lyon: Briasson
Subsequent editions
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2013)
The longest volume in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade series is Les Mille et Une Nuits I, II et III, at 3,504 pages.
Les mille et une nuits as translated by Galland (Garnier Flammarrion edition, 1965)
Horta, Paulo Lemos, ed. (16 November 2021). The Annotated Arabian Nights: Tales from 1001 Nights. The Annotated Books. Translated by Seale, Yasmine. Liveright. ISBN9781631493645. Retrieved 8 May 2024. After meeting Diyab at Lucas's Paris apartment on March 25, 1709, Galland noted in his diary that the young traveler '[knew] some very beautiful Arabic tales.' He arranged to meet Diyab for a series of storytelling sessions from May 5 to June 6, during which the French translator took shorthand notes on fourteen fantastical stories. [...] Galland's insertion of many of these tales into Les mille et une nuits was arguably his most significant contribution to the development of the story collection [...].
Razzaque, Arafat Abdur (28 April 2020). "Genie in a Bookshop: Print Culture, Authorship, and 'The Affair of the Eighth Volume' at the Origins of Les Mille et une nuits". In Akel, Ibrahim; Granara, William (eds.). The Thousand and One Nights: Sources and Transformations in Literature, Art, and Science. Studies on Performing Arts & Literature of the Islamicate World, volume 9. Leiden: Brill. p.102. ISBN9789004429031. Retrieved 14 May 2024. [...] Galland's Nuits was released from Barbin's after the death of its eponym and under the proprietorship of his widow Marie Cochart.
For example:
Horta, Paulo Lemos, ed. (16 November 2021). The Annotated Arabian Nights: Tales from 1001 Nights. The Annotated Books. Translated by Seale, Yasmine. Liveright. ISBN9781631493645. Retrieved 14 May 2024. [...] as Galland approached volume eight of his translation, he found himself at the end of the 282 nights in his unfinished Arabic manuscript. As other Orientalist translators entered the market with their own offerings of tales translated from Arabic, Persian, or Turkish sources, Galland's publisher did what copyists and scribes of the Arab world had done many times before: She inserted tales that were not part of the original One Thousand and One Nights to complete the eighth volume (published in 1709). [...] Galland initially objected to his publisher's decision to include in this eighth volume translations from Turkish sources done by his rival François Pétis de la Croix, but the authenticity of a text mattered little for early eighteenth-century French publishers [...].
Muhawi, Ibrahim (2005). "The "Arabian Nights" and the Question of Authorship". Journal of Arabic Literature. 36 (3): 323–337. doi:10.1163/157006405774909899.
Borges, Jorge Luis, "The Translators of The Thousand and One Nights" in The Total Library: Non-Fiction 1922-1986, ed. Eliot Weinberger (Penguin, 1999), pp. 92-93
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