THE LATE ARRIVAL OF ALADDIN

Fun fact: The story of Aladdin and his lamp isn’t in the original 1,001 Arabian Nights, it was added when the book got translated from Arabic into French. Antione Galland, the translator, had heard this story from a friend traveling from the Near East and decided to add the story. This version of 1,001 Arabian Nights was translated in 1789 from French to English and is therefore the first time the story of Aladdin and his lamp was available in English. This small book has decorations of golden suns and the title and volume of the book on the spine. Creases can be seen where the book’s spine joins the cover, showing not only its age but that this book has been well-loved. While visually unimpressive, this book called out to me because I used it for the final research paper in History 471Y (​​Classical Islamic Civilization, 600-1258), the class I took freshman year here that re-sparked my love of history and made me decide to pursue a post-graduate degree in history.

by Ryan Broncatello, Actuarial Science, Class of 2025