 Title page forNew Arabian Nights (1882) | |
| Author | Robert Louis Stevenson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short stories |
| Publisher | Chatto & Windus |
Publication date | 1882 |
| Publication place | Scotland |
| Media type | Print (Hardback &Paperback) |
| Followed by | More New Arabian Nights: The Dynamiter |
New Arabian Nights byRobert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1882, is a collection ofshort stories previously published in magazines between 1877 and 1880. The collection contains Stevenson's first published fiction, and a few of the stories are considered by some critics to be his best work, as well as pioneering works in the English-language short story tradition.[1][2]
New Arabian Nights is divided into two volumes.
Volume 1
The first volume contains seven stories originally calledLater-day Arabian Nights and published byLondon Magazine in serial format from June to October1878. It is composed of two story groups, or cycles:
Volume 2
The second volume is a collection of four unconnected (standalone) stories that were previously published in magazines:
The title is an allusion to the collection of tales known as theOne Thousand and One Nights, which Stevenson had read and liked. Although Stevenson's stories were set in modern Europe, he was stylistically drawing a connection to the nested structure of the Arabian tales.
As inA Thousand and One Nights, where we have a caliph named Harun the Orthodox, who wanders through the streets of Baghdad in disguise, here inThe New Arabian Nights by Stevenson, we have Prince Florizel of Bohemia, who wanders through the streets of London in disguise.
Two eagerly awaited translations of theArabian Nights, byRichard F. Burton andJohn Payne, were in the works in the late 1870s and early 1880s, further helping to draw popular attention to Stevenson's "New" title.[4]
"A Lodging for the Night" was Stevenson's first ever published fiction. In 1890Arthur Conan Doyle characterized "The Pavilion on the Links" as "the high-water mark of Stevenson's genius" and "the first short-story in the world".[2]Barry Menikoff (1987) considersNew Arabian Nights to be the starting point in the history of the English-language short story.[1]
The full text ofNew Arabian Nights at Wikisource
New Arabian Nights public domain audiobook atLibriVox