Földvári Books

The First Hebrew Translation of the Arabian Nights

[Yellin, David]

[The Tales of One Thousand and One Nights.] .סיפורי אלף לילה ולילה [In Hebrew: Sipure Elef lailah ve-lailah. Turgemu me-'Aravit 'al yede David Yelin.]

Jerusalem: Turgeman (or Turgemon), 672 [1919 or 1920]. First Jerusalem edition (second overall; first in Odessa, 1912). In publisher’s printed wrappers. Illustrated. [6] 3–161 [3] p. Artistically restored. Ownership stamps on the front cover, title page, and inside the book. Occasional brown stains. Paper yellowed due to aging. Overall in very good condition.

The first translation of the Arabian Nights into Hebrew, consists of sixteen selected stories. This scarce collection of sixteen selected stories is the first Hebrew translation of the Arabian Nights, done by David Yellin in 1912, for the then Odessa-based publishing house Turgeman.

Turgeman was founded in 1911, besides others by Zeev Jabotinsky and Nachman Bialik, with the aim of introducing classic European and world literature to the Jewish audience in Hebrew translations. David Yellin (1864–1941), the Jerusalem-born educator and Zionist politician, who was one of the central figures of the revival of the Hebrew language, worked at Turgeman as an editor, and his translation of the Arabian Nights was the first book to be published by the publishing house.

Literature: Hussein, M.: Arabian Nights, Hebrew Nights: On the Influence of Alf laylah wa-laylah on Jewish Culture in Palestine/Israel. In: Journal of Levantine Studies. Vol. 8. No. 2, Winter 2018, pp. 125–146.

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Price: €5,000.00