Selections from the Alif Laylah for the High Proficiency Examination in Arabic for Officers in the Military and Civil Services.

Arabian Nights printed for officers in the British Indian Army. Henry Sullivan Jarrett (1839-1919) was a British Colonial officer in India. Born in Madras he joined the Indian Army in 1857, rising to the rank of Colonel. Between 1870 and 1894 he was also the Secretary and Member of the Board of Examiners at Fort William and Assistant Secretary in the government Legislative department. He was a linguist that is known for a number of other Urdu and Persian publications including Muntakhab-i Musnawiyāt-i Saudā (Calcutta, 1875); Anwar-i-Suhayli (n.p. 1880) and the Diwan-i Hafiz (Calcutta, 1881).

This edition of the Arabian Nights is institutionally rare with only 4 copies in the British Isles (Oxford, Edinburgh, Leeds and St Andrews' Libraries) and 2 in North America (Clifford E. Barbour Library Pittsburgh and Cleveland Public Library). We can trace no other copies traced commercially or at auction.

First edition, 8vo; printed in Arabic with additional title in English, near-contemporary pencil annotations throughout with corresponding manuscript index (cross-referencing sections of the Nights with the Burton Nights), facing Arabic title; modern boards with printed label to spine, original wrappers bound-in, some faint traces of ownership inscriptions to wrappers, overall very clean crisp copy. 215 x 135mm (8½ x 5¼ inches).