"Captain Burton, in his way, renders a gigantic service to all students of literature who are not profound Orientalists, and to many who are, by giving them a literal, honest, and accurate translation of the 'Arabian Nights.'
"The blatant buffoons who have spoken of Captain Burton's work indifferently only show their own ignorance of the literature of the East. Captain Burton's work is well worth the price he charges for it to students of Eastern literatures and Eastern manners, and Eastern customs; but the misguided lunatic who invests in it in the hope of getting hold of a good thing, in the Holywell Street sense of the term, will find indeed that the fool and his money are soon parted."
Morning Advertiser, September 15th.
"There is one work not entered in the publishers' announcements of 'new books,' though for years scholars and others have looked forward to it with an eagerness which has left far behind the ordinary curiosity which is bestowed on the greatest of contributions to current literature, and to-day the new fortunate possessors are examining it with an interest proportionate to the long toil which has been bestowed on its preparation. We refer to Captain Burton's 'Arabian Nights.' Hitherto all the editions have been imperfect, and more or less colourless versions of the original. They throw a flood of light on hundreds of features of Oriental life on which the student has failed to be informed. But the work only a few limited students can ever see, and is simply priceless to any one thus interested in the subject, and may be regarded as marking an era in the annals of Oriental translation. Burton writes: 'Many a time and oft, after the day's journey was over, I gathered the Arabs around me and read or recited these tales to them, until the tears trickled down their cheeks and they rolled on the sand in uncontrollable delight. Nor was it only in Arabia that the immortal "Nights" did me such notable service. I found the wildlings of Somali-land equally amenable to their discipline; no one was deaf to the charm, and the two women workers of my caravan on its way to Harar were incontinently dubbed by my men Shehrazade and Deenarzade.'"
The Lincoln Gazette, October 10th, 1885.
"Captain Burton's first volume in sombre black and dazzling gold—the livery of the Abassides—made its appearance three weeks ago, and divided attention with the newly discovered star. It is the first volume of ten, the set issued solely to subscribers. And already, as in the case of Mr. Payne's edition, there has been a scramble to secure it, and it is no longer to be had for love or money. The fact is, it fills a void; the world has been waiting for this chef d'œuvre, and all lovers of the 'Arabian Nights' wonder how they have got on without it."