arabian nights
There used to be a massive Borders bookstore just outside of Manchester. The Euro and I would spend rainy Saturdays there drinking coffee and reading American Magazines. It’s sunnier here (72degrees on Friday!) and more difficult to justify a day indoors but we manage to do it now and then. A few weeks ago we went to Barnes & Noble, this time to read British Magazines, lunch on lattes and peruse the cinematography books. I had a 50% discount code so I brought home this little lovely for under a tenner.
The Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics Collection is gorgeous. They’re not Folio, which I understand hold up much better under thumbing, but they’re a steal for the price. I don’t buy these books to read – I use dog-eared paperbacks for that. I buy them to display. The Arabian Knights isn’t my favorite title in the collection but I think it’s the most beautiful.
Seems this is the famous Richard Burton translation. Probably you already know about him, but in case not, he had an extraordinary (and dangerous)life as a Victorian adventurer. He was the first Westerner to sneak into Mecca by disguising himself as a muslim. Had he been discovered he’d have been put to death. His biography is probably more interesting than the stories he translated! No relation to Elizabeth Taylor’s ex.
I didn’t know about Burton…but had meant to look him up just because of his famous doppel-name-ganger. I’ve been remiss at reading any decent biographies lately. Seems a good one to start with.
Buffy