ADVERTISEMENT. THIS Volume, the first of a series of "Eastern Romance," lays no claim to originality or literary merit. It is simply a collection of the best tales, selected from the Arabian Nights' Entertainments," and other sources, and freed from those immoral and objectionable passages which render the originals unfit for general reading. The prolix and uncouth style of Galland, whose text we have chiefly taken, has been also somewhat polished; and those tedious conversations, which form no necessary part of the tales, but serve only to mar their beauty and weary the reader, have been curtailed. A purified and unexceptionable edition of the "Arabian Nights" has long been a desideratum, which the Editor hopes these volumes will in a great measure supply-and that they will be found agreeable and instructive companions in many a family circle. A few simple notes, explanatory of Eastern habits and customs, have been added for the benefit of young and uninformed readers. The Arabian tales, having been translated into various languages, passed through numberless editions, and been the wonder and delight of every civilised nation, need no other commendation. We will therefore |