| Date | Relevent Event |
|---|---|
| AD c. 800 | Sindibad cycle put together. |
| c. 800 - 900 | Kitab Hadith Alf Layla put together. |
| c. 850? | Earliest surviving fragment of the Nights written. |
| 1143 | Qu'uran translated into Latin. |
| 1258 | Mongols sack Baghdad. Execution of last Abbassid caliph of Baghdad. |
| 1353 | Boccaccio'sDecameron written. |
| 1387 | Canterbury Tales begun by Chaucer. | 1549-59 | Heptameron compiled by Margaret of Navarre. |
| 1634-6 | Basile's Pentamerone. |
| 1646 | Birth of Antoine Galland. |
| 1704 | Galland begins publishing his translation, Les Mille et une nuits. (The last volume appears in 1717.) |
| 1708 | Probable date of first chap-book edition of Galland in English translation. |
| 1764 | Ridley's Tales of the Genii. |
| 1786 | English edition of Beckford's Vathek. |
| 1798-1801 | French occupation of Egypt. |
| 1804-5 | First part of Potocki's Saragossa Manuscript. |
| 1811 | Jonathan Scott's translation of the Nights. |
| 1813 | Brothers Grimm publish their Marchen. |
| 1814-18 | Calcutta I edition of the Nights. |
| 1824-43 | Breslau edition of the Nights. |
| 1825 | Al-Jabarti dies. Habicht begins to publish his version of the Nights. German version of von Hammer-Purgstall's translation of the Nights published. |
| 1832 | Publication of Washington Irving's Nights inspired Legends of the Alhambra. |
| 1835 | Bulaq edition of the Nights. |
| 1837 | Weil begins his translation of the Nights. |
| 1838 | Torrens's translation of the Nights. |
| 1838-41 | Lane's translation of theNights. |
| 1839-42 | Calcutta II edition of the Nights. |
| 1882 | Stevenson's New Arabian Nights. |
| 1882-84 | Payne's translation of the Nights. |
| 1885-88 | Burton's translation of the Nights. |
| 1899-1904 | Mardrus's translation of the Nights. |
| 1921-28 | Littman's German translation of the Nights. |
| 1974 | John Barth's Chimera. |
| 1984 | Mahdi's edition of Alf Layla wa-Layla. |
Truly, dear reader, the rich tapestry of image and idea contained in the Arabian Nights is readily available to you in any number of places. Perhaps even on your own family's bookshelves. Barring that, the local library can help you. If you're like me, you'll head to the nearest bookstore and buy the most affordable and available version you can get your hands on!
If good stories, magical marvels, exotic settings filled with characters royal and run-of-the-mill, handsome Princes and beautiful, dark-eyed Princesses, Wise Sultans and clever Magicians (good and bad), are of any interest to you, then don't tarry. Get thee hence and immerse yourself for a bit.
And don't laugh, folks. These tales are not just for kids! Television is commonly known as eye-candy. Well, believe it or not, this stuff is brain food! Scholars read this stuff. And frankly, so should you!
O.K. If your too lazy to follow up on this, stay where you are, move your Mouse HERE, and click. There's your table of contents for an "on-line" text version of the Arabian Nights for you to sample. Couldn't be any easier, eh? Be brave now, you might diss it immediately...or you might be in for a wonderful adventure that could easily last your lifetime!
GO FOR IT!