PREFACE TO THE FIRST (1870) EDITION. "THE genius of Eastern nations," says an established and respectable authority, "was, from the earliest times, much turned towards invention and the love of fiction. The Indians, the Persians, and the Arabians, were all famous for their fables. Amongst the ancient Greeks we hear of the Ionian and Milesian tales, but they have now perished, and, from every account we hear of them, appear to have been loose and indelicate." Similarly, the classical dictionaries define "Milesiae fabulae" to be "licentious themes," "stories of an amatory or mirthful nature,"...
PREFACE TO THE FIRST (1870) EDITION. "THE genius of Eastern nations," says an established and respectable authority, "was, from the earliest times, mu...
