Arabian Nights Illustrated: Art of Dulac, Folkard, Parrish and Others (Dover Fine Art, History of Art) [Paperback]

Jeff A. Menges (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2008 | Series: Dover Fine Art, History of Art

This original collection features works inspired by traditional tales of Sinbad, Aladdin, Ali Baba, and other exotic characters. Spanning artwork from the 1860s to the 1920s, it includes more than 185 color and black-and-white illustrations by Maxfield Parrish, Charles Robinson, H. J. Ford, and other acclaimed artists from the Golden Age of Illustration.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Dover Ed edition (June 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486465225
• ISBN-13: 978-0486465227
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #810,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeff A. Menges (b.1965) was born in a small, seaside town in New Jersey. His teen years were shaped by Star Wars, sword and sorcery novels, and Heavy Metal Magazine--his fate was already sealed at this point.

A long-time contributor to the gaming industry, his illustration work continues to grace role-playing products, card games, books and magazines as well. Recent projects include compiling and editing books on legendary illustrators; Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Howard Pyle, and others. Jeff has now produced more than 20 books on Golden Age illustration and painters of the late nineteenth century.

In addition to his freelance work, Jeff has steady experience as an Art Director and Designer, and works with Dover Publications in New York. He currently lives on Long Island with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic illustrations, August 19, 2008

By 

Scott Chamberlain "Historian and archaeologist" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Arabian Nights Illustrated: Art of Dulac, Folkard, Parrish and Others (Dover Fine Art, History of Art) (Paperback)

What a fun book this is. Collected here are some of the most famous illustrations, made by some of the most famous illustrators, of one of the most famous collection of fantastic stories. Scheherezade, Aladdin, Ali Baba and their cohorts come to life in a wonderful variety of styles spanning roughly a century and a half. Dulac, Folkard and Parrish get top billing--deservedly so. I loved the dramatic, ethereal qualities of Parrish when I read the Arabian Nights as a boy, and appreciate his brilliance as an adult. Dulac and Folkard also merge drama, imagination and power to create art worthy of the great stories they portray. These three continue to set the standard in illustration, not just for children's literature but for adults, too.

Another thing I loved about the book was seeing the artistic progression of great illustrators, as well as the development of Europe's collective imagination and ability to express the supernatural. Early illustrators depicted djinn much more literally, providing art that would almost fit into a slightly exotic Jane Austen novel. As art styles developed, morphed, clashed and grew, we get ever-more fascinating interpretations of the same stories. The Art Deco stylists, the impressionists and others provide art that is as vivid as it is wonderfully surreal. Again, Parrish's style is completely natural, but worlds removed from his predecessors' in terms of expressing magic.

On the technical front, I'm pleased that Dover has put together a book with high quality illustrations (the whole reason for buying the book, after all) with vivid, saturated colors and clear detail at an affordable price. One can only imagine how expensive these lavishly illustrated volumes were a century ago!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Idea-Executed in a Mediocre Fashion, July 4, 2009

By 

Marco Antonio Abarca (Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Arabian Nights Illustrated: Art of Dulac, Folkard, Parrish and Others (Dover Fine Art, History of Art) (Paperback)

In many respects, I am a big fan of Dover Publishing. One of their business strategies is to republish great old books whose copyright protection has expired. They do not have to pay their authors/illustrators and we the reading public get access to some classic books at a reasonable price. Editor Jeff Menges used a variant of this strategy when he assembled "Arabian Nights-Illustrated". But instead of republishing the texts, Menges only selected the images for his compilation.

The Golden Age of Illustration is generally considered to have run from the 1880's until the years immediately following the Great War. Gifted illustrators like Edmund Dulac, Maxfield Parrish and N.C. Wyeth prepared sumptous images for children's books. Using as a resource the many volumes published of "The Arabian Nights", Menges has assembled beautiful images from the great illustrators of the day. Of special note, during this time period, "Orientalism" was one of the crazes that swept the art world. It is interesting to see how this fad for the "Oriental" was integrated into children's books.

What keeps me from giving this book five stars is the mediocre printing that is typical of Dover Publishing. A revolution in book printing has taken place in the last twenty years. Unfortunately, Dover is still stuck in the technology of the 1980's. The books' images have that washed out look that speaks eloquently of low production values. If Dover Publishing is going to produce art books, they should make a better printing effort. If you want to see how vibrant the images look in their original volumes, check out Minh Lai's beautiful web site, www.nocloo.com.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Description should be clearer, May 3, 2011

By 

Gregory Stricherz (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Arabian Nights Illustrated: Art of Dulac, Folkard, Parrish and Others (Dover Fine Art, History of Art) (Paperback)

The illustrations are indeed beautiful. But I think the product description should be a bit clearer as to what the book actually is. I expected some stories as well that I could read to my granddaughter. I was not expecting a book of illustrations only.