Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

• This edition is fully illustrated with over 60 color and line drawings
• Full-color illustrations by Edmund Dulac, René Bull, Maxfield Parrish, VF Sterrett, Helen Stratton, MS Orr, Walter Crane, WH Robinson and others
• Line drawings by the finest Victorian and Edwardian illustrators, including Eric Pape, Walter Strang, JC Clark, T Dalziel, Louis Rhead, HG Fell, Alessandro Castelli and others
• One illustration on every page
• Full bibliography of all illustrated editions from 1800-1950, including artist, date and publisher

The story is about two brothers whose father died and left them little. Ali Baba married a poor woman and lived frugally, but Cassim married a woman who soon inherited a fortune and lived in luxury. One day while Ali Baba was in the forest cutting wood to sell he saw a great cloud of dust approaching and the sound of many riders. He feared for his life, so he hid his three donkeys and hid himself in a tree. The band of forty riders and their leader stopped in front of a cave. When the leader said “ Open Sesame” the door of the cave magically opened. The whole troop went inside while Ali Baba stayed hidden. When he was sure they had gone, he approached the cave door and said “ Open Sesame” himself as the cave door magically opened to his command. Inside the cave he saw vast riches and golden coins, which he liberally took for himself and returned home with his donkeys, remembering to properly close the cave door with the “Shut Sesame “ command.

His wife was astonished at all the gold coins he brought home and wanted to count them before Ali buried them in his yard. As there were too many to count, she borrowed a measuring cup from her sister-in-law. She was curious as to what they might have to measure something, so she cleverly put some suet on the bottom to see what would stick. After the cup was returned with a gold coin stuck to the bottom, she called her husband Cassim to tell him what happened.

Cassim went to Ali’s house and demanded to know how he got a gold coin, and Ali told him everything, including the magic password. Cassim was very greedy, so the next day he set out with many donkeys to find the cave and removed as much treasure for himself as possible. In his haste, he forgot the magic words to open the cave and was trapped inside when the robbers returned. They killed him and cut his body in pieces.

When Cassim didn’t return, Ali feared the worst and returned to the cave to find him. He found his brother’s body and returned to town. He knew the robbers would find out if anyone had been murdered in such a fashion, so they sewed Cassim's body back together and pretended he died a natural death.

The robbers sent scouts to town to determine if anyone had died and discovered Ali Baba’s house. The captain of the robbers disguised himself as an oil merchant and hid his band in leather jars planning to murder all the household. When Morgiana, Ali Baba’s clever slave girl discovers the ruse, she murders all the robbers. The captain flees, but soon returns in another disguise to take his revenge. Again she discovers him, plunges a dagger into his heart and saves her master.

I found over fifty different illustrated editions of this tale from around 1800 through 1950 and decorated this edition with the best illustrations. The artists include Edmund Dulac, René Bull, Virginia Frances Sterrett, Monro S Orr, Eric Pape, Milo Winter, Albert Robida, Walter Crane, AE Jackson, JD Batten, Walter Strang, JB Clark, Maxfield Parrish, Thomas Dalziel, Louis Rhead, WH Robinson, Helen Stratton, AE Norbury, Alessandro Castelli, Walter Paget, John Hassall and others.

I’m sure you will enjoy the whole series on Amazon. The other titles include-

• Scheherazade
• The Enchanted Horse
• The Caliph Haroun al Rashid
• Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
• The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor

Publisher - Dulacebooks

Language - English

Perfect Bound

Contributors

By author

Albert Seligman

Edward Lane

Published Date - 2025-09-22

ISBN - 9789564235110

Dimensions - 25.4 x 17.8 x 0.4 cm

Page Count - 64