[FIRST OTTOMAN TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS] Tercüme-yi Elf Leyle ve Leyle [i.e., Translation of the One Thousand and One Nights]. 4 volumes set

ARABIAN NIGHTS.; NAZIF, AHMED SAHHAFLARSEYHIZÂDE (Translator) (?-1858).

Matbaa-i Mekteb-i Sanayii, Istanbul, [1870-1872].

Contemporary quarter calf bindings, marbled boards of the last volume, and five unevenly spaced raised bands on each spine. Roy. 8vo. (23 x 16 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 4 volumes set: (392 p., 391 p., 367 p., 289 p.). Boards show light wear; the second volume’s spine has been sympathetically restored. The recto of the front endpaper of the third volume is missing, occasional foxing throughout, and a few penciled marginalia by a former owner. Bindings vary slightly across the set. Each title page verso is sealed with the stamp of “Matbaa-i Mekteb-i Sanayi,” confirming the authenticity of the printing as a period practice. Overall, a very good complete set.

Early (second) and extremely rare Ottoman edition of this renowned collection of Middle Eastern folktales, originally compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. This is the first complete Turkish translation from the 1835 Arabic edition in Bulak, printed by order of Sultan Abdulmecid (1823-1861). Faithful to the original's chronological structure, this edition preserves the narrative order of the first Arabic printing. However, as noted in his preface, translator Nazif acknowledges having censored several chapters he deemed excessively obscene.

Following the tradition of One Thousand and One Nights, the work opens with an introduction titled İbtidâ-yi Tercüme-yi Elf Leyle ve Leyle, which presents the frame story of the main character and storyteller Scheherazade and the Sasanian Sultan Shahriyar, ruler of India and China. From the first night to the thousand and first, Scheherazade recounts her tales to Shahriyar. Throughout the translation, all couplets and proverbs remain in their original Arabic, with Turkish translations provided afterward by the translator.

The renowned translation of One Thousand and One Nights by Sahhaflar Şeyhizâde Ahmed Nazif (?-1858), who served as a judge in Mecca, Jerusalem, and Damascus, was published twice, first in 1850 and again in 1870. It gained widespread popularity among the public during the second half of the 19th century. Nazif was also the son of the master (başkethüda) of the Ottoman Booksellers Guild. 

The Arabian Nights was compiled over many centuries by a range of authors, translators, and scholars from across West, Central, and South Asia, as well as North Africa. While some stories can be traced to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, and Mesopotamian literature, the majority originated as folk tales from the Abbasid and Mamluk periods. The frame narrative in particular is believed to derive from the Persian Hezâr Afsân, itself possibly based on earlier Indian sources.

All editions of The Nights share the central framing narrative in which the ruler Shahryar is told a series of tales by his wife Scheherazade, with one story unfolding each night. From this foundational tale, the narratives branch out, some stories are nested within others, while some stand alone. Depending on the edition, the number of nights varies: some feature only a few hundred, while others include 1001 or more. The work is primarily written in prose, though it occasionally shifts into verse, especially for songs, riddles, or moments of heightened emotion. Most poetic interludes are in the form of couplets or quatrains, though longer poems also appear.

Özege 20590., As of May 2024, OCLC shows twelve copies worldwide (66832497, 1114593259). Eight paper copies in North American libraries: McGill University Library, Harvard University, LoC, Concordia Theological Seminary, Virginia Tech, Concordia College Library, Dallas Theological Seminary, Hawaii Pacific University.