New Arabian Nights' Entertainment; Selected from the Original Oriental Ms. ... And Now first translated into English by The Rev. George Lamb de Von Hammer, Jos. (Hoseph Von Hammer-Purgstall - 1826

London: Henry Colburn, 1826. First edition in English. Hardcover. Very good. Three volumes. 12mo. xxvii,(1),264;(2),274;(2),249(1),6pp. (Includes 6 page publisher's catalogue at end of Volume 3). Original drab paper boards, paper spine labels. Spines and labels worn and chipped, else a very good copy; the text pages are untrimmed. The first edition in English of Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall's edition of the Arabian Nights. He was an Austrian Orientalist who served in the Levant. One of his early commissions in Constantinople was to seek out a manuscript copy of the Nights, but failed. Later, in Egypt, he apparently succeeded. This was the first manuscript discovered which had the ending in which Shahriyar repents of executing Sheherazade. The manuscript and his translation into French have been lost, but a German version survives and is the basis for this translation into English.