Description
This collection contains personal,
official, business, and social correspondence and manuscripts of British explorer and writer
Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) and his wife, Lady Isabel Burton (1831-1896), chiefly
covering the period of Burton's consulship in Trieste and Lady Burton's life after her
husband's death.
Background
Richard Francis Burton was born March 19, 1821, at Torquay; he was educated at Trinity
College, Oxford, but did not take a degree. He became a noted linguist, writer, translator
and explorer; he is probably best known for his translations of the works of The Arabian
Nights and The Kama Sutra, as well as his travels in Africa, the Middle East, South America
and Iceland. Isabel Arundell was born March 20, 1831, in London, of an old, established
Roman Catholic family. In 1861, after an eleven-year courtship, Richard and Isabel were
married, and from that time she accompanied Burton on his travels, and became his amanuensis
and editor. Isabel Burton also used her family connections to help further Burton's career
in the Foreign Office. Besides serving as Burton's editor, Isabel published a number of
works, mainly travel volumes and an autobiography. Burton was given his final consulate at
Trieste in 1873, and was knighted in 1886; after years of ill-health, he suffered a heart
attack and died on October 19, 1890. Isabel Burton returned to England to oversee the
literary estate of her husband; she died on March 22, 1896, from complications of ovarian
cancer. Edwards Huntington Metcalf , grandson of Henry E. Huntington. An avid collector,
Edwards H. Metcalf served on the Board of Overseers of the Huntington Library from 1978
until his death in 2001.
Restrictions
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.