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.
-
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
- 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.
- Burton-Smithers Papers (1884-1892), mssHM 27955, mssHM 78887-79014.
- 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.