Marvellous Thieves: Secret Authors of the Arabian Nights

The Arabian Nights originated many centuries ago in regions of the Near East, Central, and South Asia. While most scholars agree it was a composite, frame story collected over time based largely on folk tales, European translations included more stories that were not in the original Arabic versions and may well have been the creation of translators and interpreters. For example, "Aladdin's Lamp" and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" appeared first in Antoine Galland's French translation. Horta (literature, New York Univ. Abu Dhabi) focuses on "new" material added by European translators, who variously recast the original stories. While exploring the literary context in which imitation, invention, forgery, and plagiarism flourished, the author pays particular attention to myriad ways cultural nuances had been handled in the tales. In the seven chapters of this well-researched and highly engaging work, readers will uncover the origins of the Arabian Nights as it exists today in the West. This work is a major contribution to the study of the complexities inherent in translating such a masterpiece.