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Burton (Sir Richard Francis) Papers
mssRFB  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Provenance
  • Custodial History
  • Processing Information
  • Appendix: Original RFB call numbers
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement
  • Related Materials
  • General

  • Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library
    Title: Sir Richard Francis Burton Papers
    Creator: Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890.
    Identifier/Call Number: mssRFB
    Physical Description: 65.45 Linear Feet (59 boxes)
    Date (inclusive): 1846-2003
    Date (bulk): 1846-1939
    Abstract: 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.
    Language of Material: Significant languages represented other than English: French, Spanish, Italian, German, Arabic, Portuguese.

    Access

    Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

    Publication Rights

    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.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. Sir Richard Francis Burton Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    Gift of Edwards H. Metcalf, October 1992.

    Custodial History

    The bulk of the collection was acquired by Mr. Metcalf at two Sotheby's sales, in 1963 and 1965, featured the property of R.J.R. Arundell who had inhertined them from Lady Burton. Smaller groups and individual items came from various booksellers in Britain and the United States, including Spink & Son, Ltd, Maggs Brothers, David Bickersteth, Howard S. Mott, III, John Shroeder, Argus Bookshop, David Magee Bookshop, Bennett & Marshall, Bertram Rota, and others. The collection of papers of A.R. Allinson was purchased from Robert W. Mann in 1979.

    Processing Information

    1. The collection was cataloged in 2005, as the Edwards H. Metcalf Manuscript Collection of Sir Richard Francis Burton; in 2008, it was decided to recatalog the collection as the Sir Richard Francis Burton Papers. Please consult the appendix, for a list of original RFB call numbers and the current call numbers.
    2. Richard and Isabel Burton's autograph notes appear on manuscripts and letters throughout the collection. Unless substantive, it was decided not to index each instance separately.
    3. There are references to Richard and Isabel Burton throughout the collection; only substantive references and author/title references for their works have been subject indexed.

    Appendix: Original RFB call numbers

    The collection was cataloged in 2005, as the Edwards H. Metcalf Manuscript Collection of Sir Richard Francis Burton; in 2008, it was decided to recatalog the collection as the Sir Richard Francis Burton Papers and the original RFB call numbers were changed. Please consult the appendix, for a list of original RFB call numbers and the current call numbers.
    1. Appendix: RFB call numbers 

    Biographical Note

    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.

    Scope and Content

    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. The collection contains very little early material for Richard and Isabel Burton, but it does include almost all of Burton's work on Camoens, in various drafts over a number of years. There is also a large group of letters between Isabel Burton and Leonard C. Smithers, and other publishers, editors, and lawyers which detail the, sometimes torturous, publication process in late nineteenth-century England. The collection was assembled by Edwards H. Metcalf over more than thirty years.
    The papers consist of the following series:
    1. Manuscripts (Boxes 1-21). The manuscripts include a selection of Burton's literary works, mainly from his later writing career. Included in this series are: travel journals, essays, a few poems, and his translation of Ariosto…Roland the Rageful, his Camoens notes and translations, and his translation of Ladislaus Magyar. This series also includes manuscripts by other authors, most notably by Isabel Burton, Edward Rehatsek, Leonard C. Smithers, and Henry Yule.
    2. Correspondence (Boxes 22-46). This series includes Burton's personal letters, business letters related to gold mining enterprises, and letters related to his writing; also included are a small number of Isabel Burton's personal letters and a large number of letters with various publishers, booksellers, and lawyers concerning the publication of Burton's works. This series also includes letters from notable people in the fields of exploration and publishing: Verney Lovett Cameron, Charles George Gordon, William Forsell Kirby, and Leonard C. Smithers.
    3. Other Scholars Material (Boxes 47-50). This series includes mostly research material and correspondence dealing with Apuleius‟ "Golden Ass," the publication of erotic literature, and various translation projects by Alfred Richard Allinson, Charles A. Groves, John Payne, Theodore Watts-Dunton, and Thomas Wright.
    4. Extra Oversize Material (Box 51). Included in this series is a portrait proof engraving of Richard Burton by Frederic Leighton; also, 21 hand-drawn maps of Midian, many with Arabic captions and autograph notes by Burton.
    5. Other Scholars Material (Boxes 52-55). This series includes research and manuscript material for Fawn Brodie, including her Burton biography, The Devil Drives.
    6. Ephemera (Boxes 56-59). Box 56 contains invoices, printed material, photographs, and transcriptions (1873-1896); box 57 contains book reviews, Mary S. Lovell material, photocopies, and printed material (1964-2000); box 58 contains photocopies; and box 59 contains prints and ephemera.

    Arrangement

    Arranged in the following series: 1. Manuscripts (Boxes 1-21); 2. Correspondence (Boxes 22-46); 3. Other Scholars' Material (Boxes 47-50); 4. Extra Oversize Material (Box 51); Other Scholars' Material (Boxes 52-55); 6. Ephemera (Boxes 56-59).

    Related Materials

    1. Burke E. Casari Papers (1748-2004), mssHM 78795-78885, 80305-80324. Also, Richard F. Burton and African explorers related rare books, pamphlets and reports from the library of Burke E. Casari cataloged individually in the Huntington Library Online Catalog.
    2. Burton-Smithers Papers (1884-1892), mssHM 27955, mssHM 78887-79014.
    3. Richard Francis Burton Library Manuscripts Collection (1842-1890), mssRBL.

    General

    Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssRFB 1-1386.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Arabian nights -- Translations into English
    Arabists -- Great Britain -- Correspondence
    Authors, English -- 19th century -- Archives
    Authors and publishers -- Great Britain -- Correspondence
    Catholic women -- Great Britain -- Archives
    Erotic literature -- Publishing -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
    Explorers -- Great Britain -- Archives
    Gold mines and mining -- Arabian Peninsula
    Gold mines and mining -- Ghana
    Linguists -- Great Britain
    Poets, British
    Portuguese language -- Study and teaching -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
    Translators -- Great Britain -- Archives
    Travelers' writings, English
    Women authors, English -- 19th century -- Archives
    Africa, West -- Discovery and exploration
    Arabian Peninsula -- Discovery and exploration
    Balkan Peninsula -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
    Brazil -- Description and travel
    Egypt -- History -- Ismail, 1863-1879 -- Sources
    Iceland -- Description and travel
    Italy, Northern -- Description and travel
    Trieste (Italy)
    Business letters -- Great Britain -- 19th century
    Ephemera -- Great Britain -- 19th century
    Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain -- 19th century
    Manuscripts -- Great Britain -- 19th century
    Maps -- Great Britain -- 19th century
    Poems -- Great Britain -- 19th century
    Personal papers -- Great Britain -- 19th century
    Translations -- Great Britain -- 19th century
    Ariosto, Lodovico, 1474-1533 Orlando furioso -- Translations into English
    Brodie, Fawn McKay, 1915- Devil drives
    Camões, Luís de, 1524?-1580 -- Translations into English
    Magyar, László, 1818-1864 Reisen in Süd-Afrika in den Jahren 1849 bis 1857 -- Translations into English
    Ariosto, Lodovico, 1474-1533 Orlando furioso
    Apuleius. Metamorphosis
    Burton, Isabel, Lady, 1831-1896
    Cameron, Verney Lovett
    Camões, Luís de, 1524?-1580
    Carrington, Charles, 1867-1921, correspondent
    Cole, George R. Fitz-Roy.
    Ismail, Khedive of Egypt, 1830-1895
    Hunfalvy, János, 1820-1888, tr.
    Kirby, W. F. (William Forsell), 1844-1912
    Magyar, László, 1818-1864 Reisen in Süd-Afrika in den Jahren 1849 bis 1857
    Marié, Georges
    Metcalf, Edwards H. (Edwards Huntington), donor
    Murchison, J. H.
    Notcutt, Oliver.
    Payne, John, 1842-1916
    Pincherle, James
    Smithers, Leonard C. (Leonard Charles), 1861-1907
    Swinburne, Algernon Charles, 1837-1909
    Tassoni, Alessandro, 1565-1635 Secchia rapita
    Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander, 1865-1921
    Tinsley, John
    Tootal, Albert
    Walker, R. B. N. (Robert Bruce N.)
    Yule, Henry, Sir, 1820-1889
    African Gold Coast Syndicate
    C. Kegan Paul and Co. Publishers
    Great Britain. Consulate (Trieste, Italy)
    Guinea Coast Gold Mining Company
    John F. Henry and Co.