One Thousand and One Nights. Book 1. Nights 1-270

Few books can compare in beauty and fascination to the tales of «One Thousand and One Nights», whose intricate text resembles the cunning patterns of Persian carpets. Touching stories of romantic lovers, exciting tales of heroic journeys, amusing narratives about the tricks of treacherous wives and the revenge of deceived husbands, stories about djinns, flying carpets, magic lamps — these amazing, captivating, mysterious works, often devoid of modesty, embody the entire charm and beauty of the medieval East! The translation into Russian of the tales of «One Thousand and One Nights», done by Mikhail Salye and conveying all the uniqueness and colorfulness of the original, has long been considered a classic of domestic literature.

However, a complete edition of this outstanding work has not yet been available. It is time to correct this regrettable oversight! We offer readers a collection of tales, aligned with the classical eight-volume edition of 1929–1939, as well as other rare publications, restoring all censored cuts. The publication is accompanied by illustrations by the remarkable St. Petersburg artist Nikolai Alexeyevich Ushin, for which he received a Gold Medal at the World Exhibition of 1937 in Paris. The first book includes the tales told by Scheherazade in nights 1–270.