The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia

These two volumes are written with the modest aim of “supplying comprehensive and reliable information” about the collection of Arabic folk stories known as the Arabian Nights. Within each of the work's four sections, however, the authors aim at something rather more ambitious, the second, for example, attempting to provide “the most comprehensive treatment of stories from the Arabian Nights ever published in the English language”.

Part 1 offers 14 short introductory essays contributed by an impressive range of established scholars in the field. Given the wide variety of nationalities represented (Japanese, French, German, Dutch and British to name but...