1 - GALLAND (Antoine). Les Mille & Une Nuit. Contes Arabes. Traduits en François par Mr Galland. Paris and Lyon, 1704-1717.

GALLAND (Antoine). Les Mille & Une Nuit. Contes Arabes. Traduits en François par Mr Galland. Paris and Lyon, 1704-1717. 12 volumes, 12mo, in contemporary bindings (calf or sheep), spines with raised bands and gilt decoration. Volume 1, Paris, veuve de Claude Barbin, au Palais, sur le second perron de la Sainte Chapelle, 1704, [24] pp. (title, dedication to Madame la Marquise d’O, preface, approbation and privilege), 312 pp. Calf binding. Volume 2, Paris, veuve de Claude Barbin, au Palais, sur le second perron de la Sainte Chapelle, 1704, [12] pp. (title, table and errata), 370 pp. Calf binding. [CORRECTION] Volume 3, [PARIS, HILAIRE FOUCAULT, 1713, VERY RARE PARIS REISSUE – THE SECOND EDITION OF THE THIRD VOLUME – WITH COLLATION AND TYPOGRAPHICAL SETTING IDENTICAL TO THOSE OF THE 1704 FIRST EDITION (Paris, widow of C. Barbin, 1704), APART FROM THE ORNAMENTAL FLEURONS], [12 (of 14)] pp. (preface, table and errata), 341 pp. Sheep binding (heavily worn). Lacking the title leaf. Old dampstaining in places; torn endpapers. Tears without loss of text to a few pages. Early manuscript notes on an endpaper: “De la visite du 28 janvier / Brizac / Buffren[?] / Albac / Michelot / Fauvel / Dhaleac[?] / Villeneuve / Bigore / Loizet [or Loiret?] / Callimeau[?]”. Volume 4, veuve de Claude Barbin, au Palais, sur le second perron de la Sainte Chapelle, 1704, [12] pp. (title, table), 347 pp. Calf binding. Early 19th-century manuscript ownership inscription on the front free endpaper, Duthoin (or Duthoit?). Very small insignificant hole to the title. Volume 5, Paris, veuve de Claude Barbin, au Palais, sur le second perron de la Sainte Chapelle, 1705, [12] pp. (title, table), 345 pp. Calf binding. Early calculations in brown ink on the final endpaper. Volume 6, Paris, veuve de Claude Barbin, au Palais, sur le second perron de la Sainte Chapelle, 1705, [8] pp. (table), 460 pp. Calf binding, gilt edges (one joint partly split). Volume 7, Paris, veuve de Claude Barbin, au Palais, sur le second perron de la Sainte Chapelle, 1706, [4] pp. (preface, table and approbation), 389 pp., [3] pp. (privilege). Calf binding, gilt edges. Volume 8, Paris, in Claude Barbin’s shop, widow Ricœur, au Palais, sur le second perron de la Sainte Chapelle, 1709, [4] pp. (title, catalogue and table), 304 pp., [4] pp. (privilege, errata). Calf binding, gilt edges. Volume 9, Paris, Florentin Delaulne, rue Saint-Jacques, à l’Empereur, 1712, [8] pp. (title, preface, table, errata, approbation, privilege), 336 pp. Calf binding. Traces of a 19th-century pencilled ownership inscription on the pastedown: “Ce livre appartient à Monsieur Delille”. 18th-century ownership inscription (or note) in brown ink in the margin of p. 60: “Rose Dammartin”. Volume 10, Paris, Florentin Delaulne, rue Saint-Jacques, à l’Empereur, 1712, [6] pp. (title, table, approbation and privilege), 328 pp. At the end of the privilege: “J’ai cédé le présent privilège à Florentin Delaulne pour jouir en mon lieu et place (Galland)”. Sheep binding. Early manuscript ownership inscription in brown ink on the front free endpaper: “Ce livre apatin a mon siurbatiderne urssinagrite lapotr de Labie Marigene vienehard nt Leconte [sic]”. Outer margin of the first text leaf cut away, without affecting the text. Volume 11, printed in Lyon [by Antoine Briasson] and sold in Paris by Florentin Delaulne, rue S. Jacques, à l’Empereur, 1717, [2]-342-[4] pp. Calf binding, losses to the spine label. Early manuscript ownership inscription on the pastedown: “Ce livre a partient a Nicolle Étienne je prie ceux ou celle qui le trovairont de me le rendre je les satis ferer de leur penne / ces a Monsieu le curé de gurgis[?] [sic]”. 18th-century ownership inscription (or note) in brown ink in the margin of p. 60: “Rose Dammartin”. A few light dampstains. Volume 12, printed in Lyon [by Antoine Briasson] and sold in Paris by Florentin Delaulne, rue S. Jacques, à l’Empereur, 1717, engraved AB monogram on the title, [1] p. (title), [1] blank, 345 pp., [1] p. table. Calf binding. Pencil calculations on the front free endpaper. 18th-century ownership inscription (or note) in brown ink in the margin of p. 60: “Rose Dammartin”. Signs of use, losses of leather, a few rare tears without loss of text, occasional foxing or soiling. (A composite set bringing together six different early provenances, as indicated by examination of the bindings.) EXCEPTIONALLY RARE COMPLETE SET OF ALL TWELVE VOLUMES OF GALLAND’S ARABIAN NIGHTS: ELEVEN VOLUMES IN FIRST EDITION AND VOLUME III IN ITS VERY RARE SECOND PARIS EDITION. Establishing the exact collation of the early editions of Galland’s translation has long constituted one of the most complex bibliographical problems in 18th-century French literature. The staggered publication of the twelve volumes between 1704 and 1717, their immense success from the outset, and the partial reprintings undertaken almost immediately resulted in a proliferation of editions, issues, resettings and typographical states. So complex is the publishing history that, among the early impressions and reissues of the individual volumes alone, some fifty distinct volumes can be identified. Some differ only in the most minute details: the imprint or date on the title, a fleuron, the resetting of a few leaves, or typographical variants. Identifying each of the twelve volumes with certainty therefore requires exceptionally close comparison between copies. The present set provides a remarkable illustration. Lacking its title leaf, volume III has exactly the same collation — 341 pages preceded by the same preliminary matter — and the same typographical setting as Barbin’s 1704 first edition. Only a comparative study of the typographical ornaments ultimately made it possible to identify it as the very rare second Paris edition, published by Hilaire Foucault in 1713. This discovery scarcely diminishes the exceptional character of the set. Eleven of its twelve volumes are indeed first editions, in their respective first issues from 1704 to 1717, while the sole volume that differs is a very rare and early Paris reissue, published during Galland’s lifetime and reproducing the setting of the first edition almost identically. To assemble a set containing all twelve volumes in first edition and strictly complete with every leaf is today an almost impossible undertaking. Truly “perfect” copies are virtually unobtainable, even in major public collections, as a direct consequence of this eventful publishing history. The copy in the Bibliothèque nationale de France notably lacks the third volume, while its volume II, dated 1705, already belongs to a later resetting: it has only 323 pages, compared with 370 in the original edition. The copy in the Bibliothèque des Langues orientales (shelfmark EE.X.28), collated by Nikita Elisséeff and subsequently studied by Manuel Couvreur, remains an exceptional reference copy in this respect. This rarity accounts for the uncertainties of earlier bibliographers themselves. In his Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes, Chauvin acknowledged the difficulty of describing the first edition with certainty for lack of complete sets to compare, and already noted the existence of very early partial impressions. The entry in En français dans le texte (no. 133) likewise bears witness to these difficulties, dating volumes V and VI to 1706, whereas their first edition was in fact published in 1705. Genesis and publication of the Arabian Nights The French public’s discovery of the Arabian Nights was the result of an exceptional intellectual and publishing adventure. At the end of the 17th century, when the literary tale was enjoying considerable popularity in France, Antoine Galland became interested in Oriental narratives as part of his research into the origins of the novel. After translating the Voyages of Sindbad, he obtained from Aleppo an Arabic manuscript of the Arabian Nights, which he began translating around 1701-1702. A few years later, his encounter with the Syrian Maronite Hanna Dyâb further enriched his material: Dyâb orally transmitted several stories to him, including the future tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba, destined to become the most famous in the collection. The first two volumes appeared from the widow Barbin in 1704. Their success was immediate and far exceeded the publisher’s expectations, the initial print run having been relatively limited. Copies of this first issue are today extremely rare. As early as 1705, faced with the scale of demand, certain volumes had to be reset, giving rise to different typographical states that considerably complicate the identification of true first-edition copies. Galland then continued his translation at a sustained pace. Volumes III to VII appeared between 1704 and 1706, while the translator gradually adapted his original project, incorporating the Voyages of Sindbad and later several tales collected from Hanna Dyâb. The success of the collection encouraged him to extend the undertaking beyond the Arabic manuscript at his disposal, which accounts for certain changes in the order of the tales and the introduction of new stories. After the death of the widow Barbin in 1707, publication passed to the widow Ricœur and then to the bookseller Florentin Delaulne. Relations between Galland and his publishers became more complicated, notably because certain tales were added without his consent. Despite these difficulties, volumes VIII to X appeared between 1709 and 1712. Galland henceforth took care to retain control of his privilege and his text. The final two volumes occupied his last years. Written between 1711 and 1713 from stories related by Hanna Dyâb, they were ready for printing before his death, but were not published until 1717, two years after he died. Printed in Lyon for Antoine Briasson and distributed in Paris by Delaulne, they brought to a close a publishing enterprise begun nearly fifteen years earlier. The present set takes on particular significance in view of the extreme scarcity of Galland’s early impressions on the market. On 11 March 2026, Millon offered at auction, from the collection of Mr Ghozzi, an exceptional set of eleven first-edition volumes, lacking volume XI. Estimated at €80,000-150,000, it realised €73,000 hammer, a result testifying to the place now occupied by the early editions of the Arabian Nights among the great landmarks of bibliophily. Only a few months after that sale, the appearance of the present set is in turn a remarkable event. This time it brings together all twelve volumes and therefore the complete text of the work in its earliest published form: eleven volumes are first editions, while volume III is the very rare second Paris edition of 1713. Lacking its title leaf, the latter reproduces the collation and typographical setting of Barbin’s 1704 first edition so faithfully that only an exceptionally close comparison of the ornaments made it possible to establish its issue. The two sets thus offer different and complementary configurations of this exceptional rarity: eleven first editions but one volume absent in the Ghozzi copy; all twelve volumes present here, eleven of them in first edition and only one in an early second edition. This situation illustrates better than any description the almost insurmountable difficulty of assembling all twelve volumes today in their very earliest impressions. The particular fate of volume III is also worth noting: it is precisely this volume that is lacking from the copy held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. While no general conclusion can be drawn from this coincidence, it is indicative of the dispersal and fragility of early sets, assembled over the course of a publication extending across thirteen years and marked by partial reprintings and multiple resettings. The almost unbelievable succession, only a few months apart, of these two sets — the first comprising eleven volumes, all in first edition, and the second bringing together all twelve volumes, eleven of them in first edition — offers a singular opportunity to appreciate both the extreme rarity and the fascinating bibliographical complexity of Galland’s foundational edition of the Arabian Nights. (See the detailed investigation in Manuel Couvreur, A. Galland, les Mille et une Nuit, critical edition, chronology of the translation and publication, 2016, p. 37 ff.; Mohamed Abdel-Halim, Antoine Galland, sa vie, son œuvre, 1964; F. Bauden and R. Walter, Le journal d’A. Galland. La période parisienne 1708-1709.)