Vol. vi. contains another unimportant preface respecting Nos. 191 and 192.
Vol. x. Here the preface is of more importance, relating to the contents of the volume, and especially to the Ten Vazirs (No. 174).
Vol. xi. contains tales from Scott. The preface contains a full account of his MSS., and the tales published in his vol. vi. This preface is taken partly from Ouseley’s Oriental Collections, and partly from Scott’s own preface.
Vol. xii. contains tales from Gauttier, vol. vii. The preface gives the full contents of Clarke’s and Von Hammer’s MSS.
Vol. xiii. includes Caussin de Perceval’s Preface, the remaining tales from Gauttier’s vol. vii. (ending with Night 568); and four tales from Caussin which Gauttier omits (Nos. 21a, 22, 37 and 202).
Vols. xiv. and xv. (extending from Night 884 to Night 1001) consist of tales from the Breslau edition, to which a short preface, signed by Dr. Max. Habicht is prefixed. The first of these tales is a fragment of the important Romance of Seyf Zul Yesn (so often referred to by Lane), which seems to have been mixed with Habicht’s MS. of The Nights by mistake. (Compare Payne, Tales, iii. 243.)
In this fragment we have several incidents resembling The Nights; there is a statue which sounds an alarm when an enemy enters a city (cf. Nos. 59 and 137); Seyf himself is converted to the faith of Abraham, and enters a city where a book written by Japhet is preserved. The text of this story has lately been published; and Sir R. F. Burton informs me that he thinks he has seen a complete version in some European language; but I have not succeeded in obtaining any particulars concerning it.
On account of the interest and importance of the work, I append to this section an English version of the fragment translated into German by Habicht. (From the extreme simplicity of the style, which I have preserved, I suspect that the translation is considerably abridged.)
There is an Icelandic version of The Nights (Þúsund og ein Nott. Arabiskar Sögur. Kaupmannahöfn, 1857, 4 vols. roy. 8vo), which contains Galland’s tales, and a selection of others, distributed into 1001 Nights, and apparently taken chiefly from Gauttier, but with the addition of two or three which seem to be borrowed from Lane (Nos. 9a, 163, 165, &c.). It is possibly derived immediately from some Danish edition.
There is one popular English version which may fairly be called a composite edition; but it is not based upon Gauttier. This is the “Select Library Edition. Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, selected and revised for general use. To which are added other specimens of Eastern Romance. London: James Burns, 1847. 2 vols.”