The Jeweller of Bagdad

(pictorial paste-on front cover label; no dust jacket) [moderately worn book, bottom corners slightly bumped and worn (just a bit of exposure of boards at bottom corner of front cover), a little dust-soiling to top edge, a little spotting to covers, small pull-tear hole (about 1/2") in front-cover illustrated label]. (color frontispiece, pen-and-ink drawings) The romantic "Oriental" adventures of Achmed, "a young jeweller who dwelt in the house of his father Machmud, the possessor of countless riches." Described in the opening pages as a "youthful figure, slender as a lance," Achmed was also a babe magnet: "Slave girls, white and black, brought the young dealer in precious stones tender notes, inviting him to trysts and adventures [and he did], in fact, take part in a hundred street love affairs, and often enough had to flee down rope-ladders and over walls; yet hitherto he had been favoured by fortune, and always had escaped with a whole skin." In the course of the story, Achmed takes his pleasures in various harems, moves into his father's palace after the old man croaks, overcomes his youthful cynicism and marries the pretty young thing next door, who "adores him and serves his slightest whim" but whose beauty he begins to doubt and brood over. Before long, in what seems a somewhat odd (not to say kinky) attempt to soothe his own vanity, he starts secretly inviting other men from the bazaar into their home to witness his wife dancing, so that they can assure him that she's still beautiful. This in turn gets him involved with a eunich, "an Iago-like figure full of sophistry and skillful plotting," which leads to a kidnapping of his wife and further complications. (The original New York Times review of this book mentions the "numerous illustrations, colored plates and pen-and-ink drawings," but according to the list of illustrations in the book, all are present and accounted for, and yet all except the frontispiece (which is identical to the illustration on the front-cover label) are in black and white.)

Product Info

Publisher: George H. Doran Company

Year: (c.1927)

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

Seller Info

ReadInk

Address: 2261 West 21st St. Los Angeles, California

Website: https://www.readinkbooks.com

Country: United States