Arabian Nights Images
I've become somewhat fascinated with the stories
of the Arabian Nights
(also known as 1001 Nights).
And perhaps more so with the artwork
used to illustrate the stories in the
various book versions published over the years.
Of course, the subject matter is of some interest, but
I also think that
a lot of the pictures
are just really lovely images.
So I thought I'd share some of them with you.
(Note: All of these represent selections from books
that have actually been
purchased;
I haven't gone out and just scraped images from elsewhere
on the Internet. And most of these books are quite old, so I believe
the copyrights are expired and therefore it's OK to
publish the images here
(or else I severely limit what I post here)...
if you know otherwise, please let me know!)
Most of the published books do not include all the stories
from the original Arabic (presumably because of sex, violence,
and whatever).
And I haven't even read all the ones I have yet.
But based on the various stories in the books I've read so far,
there are a few that may have special interest to dancers:
-
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", in which Ali Baba's
life is saved by his housekeeper, Morgiana, when she does a dance
with a scimitar or dagger.
Interestingly, although "Ali Baba" is a well-known, popular story,
it's not included in some of the editions I have.
(In my more cynical moments, I blame that on patriarchal
conservatism.)
-
"The Sleeper Awakened", in which a party (with dancing) takes place.
(The Tenggren book has an especially
wonderful picture of this; see also
A. E. Jackson.)
But enough of my rambling...
I've scanned some of the more interesting pictures in some of
the books.
("Interesting" according to my own interests, of course, which tend to
focus on dancing, women's costumes, and the occasional camel.)
On a separate page is a summmary
of all the books I've reviewed for this purpose thus far,
organized by publisher.
I also have a separate page to collect just the images of
Morgiana dancing.
Also check out the
Arabian Nights Books
web site for more info on these fascinating books and their
illustrators.
Anyway,
following here are links to collections of interest,
organized by the illustrator name.
Named Illustrators
John Batten?,
1899?
(Added here 11/26/03, updated 2/23/04)
|
Vera Bock,
1898 or 1946
(Added here 11/26/03)
|
Adeline H. Bolton,
1924
(Added here 10/14/03)
|
Frances Brundage,
1924
(Added here 4/9/04)
|
William Dempster,
1968
(Added here 12/8/02)
|
Oscar Fabrès,
1944
(Added here 4/26/04)
|
H. J. Ford,
1898
(Added here 10/12/02)
|
Earle Goodenow,
1946
(Added here 3/26/04)
|
Girard Goodenow,
1955
(Added here 1/16/03)
|
Antony Groves-Raines, 1950s?
(Added here 8/16/07)
|
Tessa Hamilton, 1988
(Added here 12/17/07)
|
Will Hillenbrand, 1996
(Added here 12/8/02)
|
Lacy Hussar, 1921
(Added here 1/7/07)
|
A. E. Jackson, undated (1920s?)
(Added here 11/16/02)
|
Joan Kiddell-Monroe,
1907
(Added here 10/16/02)
|
Steele Savage, 1932
|
Helen Stratton,
1923?
(Added here 4/21/03)
|
Gustaf Tenggren,
1957
(Added here 10/14/03)
|
Harry G. Theaker,
1928?
(Added here 1/7/07)
|
Milo Winter,
1914 and 1954
(Added here 11/16/02;
updated 3/2/07)
|
Unnamed Illustrators
