Small 8vo. [16], 356 pp., [28], full calf, rubbed at corners and top spine, title gilt on decorated & raised spine, speckled edges, old inscription on front fly leaf, small tear to lower corner of end fly leaf, otherwise copy clean & in very good condition, S. Benard & Michel Brunet, Paris, first edition, 1694.

Synopsis

Antoine Galland, a French Orientalist and numismatist, was already a scholar at the age of twenty-four, when de Nointel, the French ambassador to Constantinople took him to the East to study the faith of the Greeks. In 1675, Galland accompanied Nointel to Jerusalem, and in 1679 he was charged by Colbert, and, after his death by Louvois, with scientific researches in the Levant under the title of king’s antiquary. In 1709 he was appointed to the chair of Arabic at the College de France. He collaborated on Herbelot’s “Bibliotheque Orientale”, which he brought to a conclusion after the death of its author. He is chiefly famous for his translation of the eastern tales “The Arabian Nights” (Paris, 1704-08).
Bibliographic references: Coiranescu 17e 32136; Fuck 101.