Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890)
Author of The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights
About the Author
Richard Francis Burton was an explorer, translator, writer, soldier, spy, fencer, and diplomat. He is most famous for his translations of One Thousand and One Sights and the Kama Sutra and for having been the first European to visit the Great Lakes of Africa. He once traveled to Mecca in disguise show more and spoke nearly thirty languages. He died in 1890. show less
Series
Works by Richard Francis Burton
The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights (2001) — Translator — 1,825 copies, 23 reviews
The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night: Six volumes in a Three Book Set (1968) 327 copies, 6 reviews
The Illustrated Kama Sutra : Ananga-Ranga and Perfumed Garden - The Classic Eastern Love Texts (1987) 164 copies
Vikram and The Vampire: Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance (1870) 162 copies, 4 reviews
Tales from the Arabian Nights: Selected from The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night (1885) 132 copies, 3 reviews
The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights (Modern Library Classics) (1978) — Translator — 132 copies, 2 reviews
The Arabian Nights Entertainments: Containing Sixty-Five Stories Told by Shahrazade the Sultaness to Divert Shahryar… (1932) 105 copies, 1 review
The Arabian Nights: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, all 16 volumes, with active table of contents (1978) 104 copies
The City of the Saints: Among the Mormons and Across the Rocky Mountains to California (1971) 89 copies
Favorite Tales from the Arabian Nights' Entertainments (Dover Thrift Editions) (2002) 58 copies, 1 review
A plain and literal translation of the Arabian nights entertainments now intituled The book of the thousand nights and… (1900) 41 copies, 2 reviews
The Arabian Nights Complete and Unabridged (Unexpurgated Edition) (Halcyon Classics) (2010) 36 copies
Historia ilustrada de las formas artisticas/ illustrated History of the Artistic Shapes: Egipto (Spanish Edition) (1990) 28 copies
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (Complete Arabian Nights) Volume 1 (Volume 1) (2008) 28 copies, 1 review
One Thousand and One Nights - Complete Arabian Nights Collection (Delphi Classics) (Series Six Book 12) (2015) 27 copies, 1 review
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (2001) 19 copies
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (2010) 19 copies, 1 review
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (2008) 18 copies
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (Complete Arabian Nights) Volume 17 (Volume 17) (1994) 18 copies
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (2017) 16 copies
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (2008) 16 copies
Tales from the Arabian Nights: Selected from the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night (Centenary Edition) (1985) 16 copies
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (2001) 16 copies
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (2003) 15 copies
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (2008) 15 copies
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (2008) 14 copies
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (Complete Arabian Nights) Volume 14 (Volume 14) (2008) 14 copies
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (1885) 14 copies
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (Complete Arabian Nights) Volume 10 (Volume 10) (2008) 14 copies
The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments:… (1885) 13 copies
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (Complete Arabian Nights) Volume 16 (Volume 16) (2017) 13 copies
The Arabian Nights: The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night (The great tales) [abridged] [Naxos Audiobook] (1995) 12 copies
Selected Papers on Anthropology, Travel and Exploration (1972) — Author; Author — 9 copies, 1 review
Rare The Arabian Nights - Richard Burton Illustrated Leather Bound Hardback 1st Print (1777) 6 copies
The Perfumed Garden of the Shaykh Nafzawi: Richard Francis Burton (Classics, Literature) [Annotated] (2021) 5 copies
Wit and Wisdom from West Africa: A Book of Proverbial Philosophy, Idioms, Enigmas, and Laconisms (1969) 5 copies
The Book of The Thousand Nights and a Night: A Plain and Literal, Illustrated Translation of the Arabian Nights… (2014) 4 copies
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night a Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments Made… (1962) 4 copies
The Nile Basin 4 copies
The Book of The Thousand Nights & A Night A Plain & Literal Translation of the Arabian NightsÕ Entertainments Made &… (1934) — Translator — 3 copies
The book of the thousand nights and a night: a plain and literal translation of the arabian nights entertainments, Vol.… (2012) 3 copies, 1 review
Supplemental Nights Volume 3 3 copies
Supplemental nights to the Book of the thousand nights and a night : with notes anthropological and explanatory Volume… (2011) 3 copies
The Vice: Containing Sir Richard Burton's Sotadic Zone and Extracts from Dr. Jacobus' Untrodden Fields of Anthropology… (1967) 3 copies
Tales from the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights… (2011) 2 copies
Ultima Thule; or, a Summer in Iceland. With historical introduction, maps, and illustrations. 2 copies
Unexplored Syria 2 Volume Set: Visits to the Libanus, the Tulúl el Safá, the Anti-Libanus, the Northern… (2012) 2 copies
Tales From The Arabian Nights, Translation of Sir Richard Burton, with illustrations of Leon Carre, Franklin Library… — Translator — 2 copies
The Richard Burton Poetry Collection 2 copies
Tales from the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights… (2011) 2 copies
Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. With Introductory Explanatory Notes on the Manners and Customs of Moslem Men… (2012) 2 copies
THE BOOK OF THE Thousand Nights and a Night VOLUME V: 1885 "Burton Club" edition, illustrated (2017) 2 copies
The Kasidah of Haji El-Yezdi 1 copy
Yahudi, Çingene ve Müslümanlar Üzerine Bir İnceleme 1853-1891;Binbir Gece Masalları'nın… (2024) 1 copy
The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night (Burton's Arabian Nights) 10 Volumes Complete Set (1885) 1 copy
The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night -- Volumes Three and Four: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian… (2020) 1 copy
Burton's Reisen Nach Medina Und Mekka Und in Das Somaliland Nach Härrär in Ost-Afrika (German Edition) (2012) 1 copy
The book of the thousand nights and a night A plain and literal translation of The arabian nights entertainments Volume… (2016) 1 copy
THE BOOK OF THE Thousand Nights and a Night VOLUME IV: 1885 "Burton Club" edition, illustrated (2017) 1 copy
Unexplored Syria: Visits to the Libanus, the Tulúl el Safá, the Anti-Libanus, the Northern Libanus, and… (2012) 1 copy
Arabian Nights (Volume 10) 1 copy
A plain and literal translation of the Arabian nights' entertainments now entituled The Book of the Thousand… (2010) 1 copy
The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions : With Illustrations, and Intineraries of the Principal… (2018) 1 copy
Arabian Nights (Volume 13) 1 copy
THE BOOK OF THE Thousand Nights and a Night VOLUME III: 1885 "Burton Club" edition, illustrated (2017) 1 copy
Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Seven volumes [Vol. 2 missing] 1 copy
Bilješke o Istri 1 copy
Richard Burton's Arabian Nights and Victorian Books of Exploration and Travel in Asia and Africa (2002) 1 copy
The Arabian nights , vol II 1 copy
Mystery of the Sacred Shroud 1 copy
THE COMPLETE ARABIAN NIGHTS (ILLUSTRATED): THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT (2016) 1 copy
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS, THE SECOND VOLUME, & NOTES ON THE SECOND VOLUME, IN TWO VOLUMES. 1 copy
Explorations of the Highlands of the Brazil: With a Full Account of the Gold and Diamond Mines. Also, Canoeing down… (2002) 1 copy
THE BOOK OF THE Thousand Nights and a Night. VOLUME II: 1885 "Burton Club" edition, illustrated (2017) 1 copy
The Sotadic Zone 1 copy
The Land of Midian 1 copy
THE BOOK OF THE Thousand Nights and a Night. VOLUME I: 1885 (London "Burton Club" edition), illustrated (2017) 1 copy
The Pop-Up Kama Sutra 1 copy
Associated Works
The Best of the West: An Anthology of Classic Writing from the American West (1991) — Contributor — 265 copies, 1 review
The Hindu Art of Love: The Classic Companion to the Kama Sutra (1172) — Translator, some editions — 108 copies, 6 reviews
Major Problems in the History of the American West: Documents and Essays (1989) — Contributor — 63 copies
Arabian Nights: Four Tales from a Thousand and One Nights (Pegasus Library) (1988) — Editor, some editions — 46 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Burton, Richard Francis
- Legal name
- Burton, Sir Richard Francis
- Other names
- El-Yezdi, Haji Abdu (pseudonym)
Sir Richard Burton - Birthdate
- 1821-03-19
- Date of death
- 1890-10-20
- Burial location
- St Mary Magdalen Church, Mortlake, London, England, UK
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- England, UK
- Birthplace
- Torquay, Devon, England, UK
- Place of death
- Trieste, Austria-Hungary
- Cause of death
- heart attack
- Places of residence
- Tours, France
Trieste, Austria-Hungary
Elstree, Hertfordshire, England, UK - Education
- University of Oxford (Trinity College)
- Occupations
- explorer
translator
geographer
writer
soldier
orientalist (show all 7)
diplomat - Relationships
- Burton, Isabel (wife)
Stisted, Georgiana M. (niece) - Organizations
- East India Company
Anthropological Society of London - Awards and honors
- National Institute of Arts and Letters (1908)
Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (1886)
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society - Short biography
- Sir Richard Francis Burton 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer, and diplomat. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian and African languages.
Burton's best-known achievements include: a well-documented journey to Mecca in disguise, at a time when Europeans were forbidden access on pain of death; an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after early translations of Antoine Galland's French version); the publication of the Kama Sutra in English; a translation of The Perfumed Garden, the Arab Kama Sutra; and a journey with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile.
His works and letters extensively criticised colonial policies of the British Empire, even to the detriment of his career. Although he aborted his university studies, he became a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices and ethnography. A characteristic feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and information. William Henry Wilkins wrote: "So far as I can gather from all I have learned, the chief value of Burton’s version of The Scented Garden lay not so much in his translation of the text, though that of course was admirably done, as in the copious notes and explanations which he had gathered together for the purpose of annotating the book. He had made this subject a study of years. For the notes of the book alone he had been collecting material for thirty years, though his actual translation of it only took him eighteen months."
Burton was a captain in the army of the East India Company, serving in India, and later briefly in the Crimean War. Following this, he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa, where he led an expedition guided by locals and was the first European known to have seen Lake Tanganyika. In later life, he served as British consul in Fernando Pó (now Bioko, Equatorial Guinea), Santos in Brazil, Damascus (Ottoman Syria) and finally in Trieste. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood in 1886.
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Sir Richard Francis Burton in Legacy Libraries (April 2015)
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Statistics
- Works
- 419
- Also by
- 28
- Members
- 9,052
- Popularity
- #2,657
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 86
- ISBNs
- 505
- Languages
- 14
- Favorited
- 1
Eu entendo que foi um livro importante, e para mim, no entanto, vai ser apenas isso, um livro que sei ser importante e nada mais; gostei mais da Epopéia de Gilgamesh do que as Mil e uma Noites.
Muitos dos meus autores favoritos sempre recomendam esse livro, mas, sei lá, muito impalpável para mim. Fico me perguntando até se li a versão certa, dada a chuva de cinco estrelas que esse livro recebe por aqui. Um dia eu tento de novo. Talvez o caminho seja ler os contos espaçados e não em sequência, dada a grande repetição de temas. Talvez o caminho seja outra edição. Sinceramente não sei.… (more)