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 Burtons career in the
Foreign Office. Besides serving as Burtons 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.