The Thousand and One Nights, a collection of tales with no known author and free of all copyright, were a blessing for writers and publishers alike. The tales gave birth to innumerable adaptations in books, plays and films, as well as in fashion, advertising and the fine arts. The many rewritings of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, which followed the initial publication of the tale in France in the 18th Century, testify to this tremendous diversity.