Title Name:

Perfumed Garden of Sheik Nefzaoui

Creator(s):

Umar Ibn Muhammad el-Nafzawi (author); Sir Richard F. Burton (translator)

Description:

The Perfumed Garden of Sheik Nefzaoui is one of the world’s great classic works of erotic literature. Originally written in Arabic in 16th Century Tunis (modern day Tunisia) by Umar Ibn Muhammad el-Nafzawi, it is a manual on the erotic arts. In many respects the Perfumed Garden closely parallels its more famous cousin, the Hindu Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, and most who have read both works find the Perfumed Garden much more interesting, entertaining and erotic. For example, the 22 stories in the Perfumed Garden are very much like those found in the Thousand and One Arabian Nights. By comparison, the Kama Sutra is a relatively dry work (it contains no stories), reflecting a quite different cultural, literary and religious tradition. The Perfumed Garden reveals many fascinating, surprising and sometimes even humorous insights into the sexual mores and customs of medieval Arab Islamic society. Despite the historical and anthropological insights it gives scholars today, many of the teachings of the Perfumed Garden are timeless and universal, and are as useful today for understanding and expressing human sexuality as they were in medieval Islamic society.

Our version of the Perfumed Garden is based on the 1886 translation into English (from a French edition) by Sir Richard F. Burton, the famous British explorer, linguist, ethnologist and sexologist. Unlike other Victorian-era translators, who tended to whitewash their translations to conform with accepted “decency”, Burton boldly and literally translated his many published works as they were actually written, and this included his edition of the Perfumed Garden. Although our edition has significantly improved upon Burton’s edition (such as fixing numerous textual errors and awkward wordings), it is otherwise a complete, faithful, unexpurgated and high-quality reproduction. Additional prefatory and annotative materials, including a mini-biography of Burton, are provided. We believe our edition of the Perfumed Garden to be the best available today, in both print and ebook.

Because of its sexually explicit content, this title is For Adults Only.

Cover Image:

(Display) Inspired from a geometric “floral” pattern painted on a 19th century Moroccan Qur’an tablet. (32 KB, suitable for all audiences.)

Suggested List (discounts may be available):

$8.95 (USD)

Currently Available Formats:

LIT (for Microsoft Reader, all versions)

Available For Purchase and Download At:

Fictionwise

Current Edition:

1.1 (issued 01-Feb-2002)

ISBN:

1-928553-27-3 (LIT version)

Document Size:

76000 words, including 225 numbered notes

File Size:

267 KB (LIT version)