The Forgotten Storyteller behind Aladdin

Aladdin wasn’t a part of the original Arabian Nights; meet the man who narrated the tale

An 1875 illustration from Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, showing Aladdin rescuing the princess. Source: Wikimedia

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp is one of the best-known tales from the Arabian Nights. The story has everything we expect from a perfect fairy tale: a young orphan who falls in love with a princess, a wish-granting genie in a magical lamp, and an evil wizard plotting the protagonist’s downfall.

Disney’s iconic 1992 rendition made Aladdin a household name. I loved the film as a kid, and it inspired me to look up the original story. When I first read Aladdin, I was surprised to learn he was from China, not the Middle East.

The original version and Disney’s adaptation differ in many ways.

Years later, I discovered Aladdin and another well-known tale, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, weren’t a part of the original Arabian Nights. They’re my favorite stories from the book, and I wanted to know how they ended up in the literary work.

My search led me to Antoine Galland, an eighteenth…