Physical description

Hard cover book. New Arabian Nights
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Publisher: W Foulsham & Co Ltd
Date: 1920s–1932
Further Information: Black cloth front cover, reinforced blocked spine with lettering and patterning to spine in black. The spine has a Library label with an inscription.

Publication type

fiction

Inscriptions & markings

The label on the spine with typed text PAT 823 STE
Paste down front end paper has a sticker from Warrnambool Public Library covered by a sticker from Corangamite Regional Library Service

Summary

New Arabian Nights is Robert Louis Stevenson's first published fiction collection, gathering stories that had originally appeared in magazines mainly the London Magazine between 1877 and 1880, and published in book form by Chatto & Windus in 1882. Despite the title, it isn't a translation of the Arabian Nights; rather, it borrows the frame-narrative device loosely, with Prince Florizel of Bohemia wandering the streets of London in disguise the way Harun al-Rashid wanders Baghdad in the original tales, stylistically drawing a connection to their nested structure. The book is in two halves: the first contains two linked story-cycles, The Suicide Club, about a sinister gentleman's club that helps members end their lives, and The Rajah's Diamond, dealing with a macabre secret society and the intrigues and escapades involving exotic jewels. The second half collects standalone stories, most notably The Pavilion on the Links, which was described by Conan Doyle as the first short story in the world, set in a cottage surrounded by quicksand, telling the story of two old friends who become rivals for a woman's affection. Also included is A Lodging for the Night, Stevenson's actual fictional debut.