“The Preface says, ‘M. Petit et M. Galland n’ont en aucune connaissance des manuscrits dont cet ouvrage est tiré.’
“The Tales are from the MSS. and translations sent by those despatched by the French Ministers to Constantinople to learn Arabic, &c., and so become fit to act as Dragomans and Interpreters to the French Embassy.”
There is a copy of this work in the British Museum; it proves, as I expected, to be the series of tales subsequently attributed to the Count de Caylus.
In addition to the above, the following, of which I can only give the names, are mentioned in the Cabinet des Fées, but not reprinted:—
| 1. | Alma-Moulin, conte oriental, 1779. | |
| 2. | Gengiskan, histoire orientale, par M. de St. M. | |
| From “les mercures.” | { 3. | Almanzor et Zelira, conte arabe, par M. Bret. (1772). |
| { 4. | Almerine et Zelima, ou les Dangers de la Beauté, conte orientale, 1773. | |
| { 5. | Les Ames, conte arabe, par M. B——. | |
| { 6. | Balky, conte oriental, 1768. | |
| { 7. | Mirza, ou la necessité d’etre utile (1774). | |
| { 8. | Zaman, histoire orientale, par M. B. | |
| 9. | Anecdotes Orientales, par Mayol, 1752. 12mo. | |
| 10. | Contes très moguls. | |
| 11. | Foka ou les Metamorphoses, conte chinois. Derobé à M. de V. 1777. 12mo. | |
| 12. | Mahulem, histoire orientale. 12mo. 1776. | |
| 13. | Mille et une heure, contes Peruviens. 4 vols. 12mo. 1733. | |
| 14. | Histoire de Khedy. Hermite de Mont Ararat. Conte orientale, traduit de l’Anglais, 12mo. 1777. | |
| 15. | Zambeddin, histoire orientale. 12mo, 1768 | |
| 16. | Zelmoille et Zulmis et Turlableu. Par M. l’Abbé de Voisem, 12mo, 1747. | |
| 17. | Roman Oriental, Paris, 1753. |
The remaining imitations, &c., known to me I shall place roughly in chronological order, premising that I fear the list must be very incomplete, and that I have met with very few except in English and French.
A.—French.
1. Zadig, ou la Destinée, par Voltaire[[473]] probably partakes of classes 2 and 6; said to be partly based on Gueulette’s “Soirées Bretonnes,” published in 1712. The latter is included in Cabinet des Fées, Vol. 32.
2. Vathek, an Arabian Tale, by William Beckford. I include this book here because it was written and first published in French. Its popularity was once very great, and it contains some effective passages, though it belongs to Class 2, and is rather a parody than an imitation of Oriental fiction. The Caliph Vathek, after committing many crimes at the instance of his mother, the witch Carathis, in order to propitiate Eblis, finally starts on an expedition to Istakar. On the way, he seduces Nourounihar, the beautiful daughter of the Emir Fakreddin, and carries her with him to the Palace of Eblis, where they are condemned to wander eternally, with their hearts surrounded with flames.
This idea (which is certainly not Oriental, so far as I know) took the fancy of Byron, who was a great admirer of Vathek, and he has mixed it with genuine Oriental features in a powerful passage in the Giaour, beginning: