Burton-Smithers Papers, 1884-1892

Summary

Title:

Burton-Smithers Papers

Dates:

1884-1892

Creators:

Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890

Abstract:

This collection consists mainly of letters from Isabel Burton (1831-1896) and her husband, British explorer and writer Richard Burton (1821-1890), to their friend London publisher Leonard Charles Smithers (1861-1907) from 1885 to 1892; the collection also contains a printed prospectus for The Arabian Nights, a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne, a photograph of Isabel Burton, and a lithograph of Richard Burton.

Extent:

129 pieces in 2 boxes and 1 volume.

Language:

English.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Burton-Smithers Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists mainly of letters from Isabel Burton (1831-1896) and her husband, British explorer and writer Richard Burton (1821-1890), to their friend London publisher Leonard Charles Smithers (1861-1907) from 1885 to 1892

1. Correspondence & Manuscripts (Box 1) are arranged alphabetically by author. This box includes letters from Isabel Burton and Richard Burton to Leonard Smithers. This box also includes a draft manuscript by Isabel Burton offering a “pious memento” in return for prayers for Richard Burton’s release from purgatory and a printed prospectus for Burton’s Arabian Nights.

2. Correspondence, Manuscripts, Photograph & Ephemera (Box 2) are arranged alphabetically by author and subject. This box includes letters from Richard Burton to Leonard Smithers; the final letter is dated less than a month before Burton’s death on Oct. 19, 1890. Also included in this box is a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne, a signed photograph of Isabel Burton, a lithograph of Richard Burton and ephemera.

Biographical / historical:

Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890), was a British explorer, linguist, writer, diplomat and translator. He explored Africa, the Middle East, South America and Iceland, and translated, among many other titles, The Arabian Nights. Burton married Isabel Arundell (1831-1896), in 1861, and she, thereafter, accompanied Burton on many of his travels, and became his amanuensis and editor, as well as publishing her own travel volumes and an autobiography. Burton died of a heart attack on October 19, 1890, and Isabel Burton died from complications of ovarian cancer on March 22, 1896.

Leonard Charles Smithers (1861-1907), was a British solicitor, antiquarian bookseller and publisher of works of erotica and supporter of avant-garde authors and their works.

Acquisition information:

Purchased from William K. Bixby, 1918.

Processing information:

1. The material in this purchase originally consisted of two bound volumes: one volume of autograph letters from the Burtons to Leonard Smithers, and, the other, an autograph manuscript by Richard F. Burton, Four Lectures: The Visitation to El Medinah…. The volume of lectures was cataloged in the 1950s, and given the call number HM 27955; and, at the same time, the volume of letters was disbound but not cataloged. It was decided to now catalog the letters in an effort to catalog all of the Burton material currently in the manuscript collections.

2. Because almost the entire collection is about the publication of Burton’s works at the end of his life, it was decided not to subject index these works individually unless substantive.

Arrangement:

Organized in the following manner:

• Bound volume of Four Lectures by Richard F. Burton (HM 27955)
• Correspondence and Manuscript (Box 1)
• Correspondence, Manuscripts, Photograph and Ephemera (Box 2)

Items arranged alphabetically and chronologically.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

• Burke E. Casari Papers (1748-2004) (Call number: 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.
• Sir Richard Francis Burton Papers, 1846-2003 (bulk 1846-1939) (Call number: mssRFB 1-1368). This collection was given to the Huntington as a gift by Edwards H. Metcalf, October 1992.
• Richard and Isabel Burton material listed in the Guide to Literary Manuscripts in the Huntington Library (p. 77); for detailed information about this material, please consult the Manuscripts Card Catalogue.
• Richard and Isabel Burton manuscript material, part of the Burton Library formerly held by the Royal Anthropological Institute; for detailed information about this material, please see: Catalogue of the Library of Sir Richard Burton, held by the Royal Anthropological Institute, B. J. Kirkpatrick (ed.).

Other descriptive data:

Burton, Isabel, Lady, 1831-1896. In photograph, (1888, July 21). HM 79012.

Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890 [death]. In Lady Isabel Burton, 1831-1896, letter to Leonard C. (Leonard Charles) Smithers, 1861-1907, (1890, Oct. 31). HM 78895.

Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890 [funeral]. In Lady Isabel Burton, 1831-1896, card to Leonard C. (Leonard Charles) Smithers, 1861-1907, ([1891, June]). HM 78904.

Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890. In lithograph, ([before 1900]?). HM 79013. Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890. The Scented Garden. In Lady Isabel Burton, 1831-1896, letters to Leonard C. (Leonard Charles) Smithers, 1861-1907, (1891). HM 78907, 78910.

Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890. Supplemental Nights to the Book of The Thousand Nights and a Night. In Lady Isabel Burton, 1831-1896, letter to Leonard C. (Leonard Charles) Smithers, 1861-1907, (1888, Mar. 21). HM 78888.

Hitchman, Francis, 1839-1890. In Lady Isabel Burton, 1831-1896, letter to Leonard C. (Leonard Charles) Smithers, 1861-1907, (1888, Feb. 18). HM 78887.

Pollock, Walter Herries, 1850-1926. In Lady Isabel Burton, 1831-1896, letter to Leonard C. (Leonard Charles) Smithers, 1861-1907, (1888, Feb. 18). HM 78887.

Burton, Isabel, Lady, 1831-1896. Handwriting on note from Sir Richard Francis Burton, 1821- 1890, to [-----], ([1884]). HM 78923.

Burton, Isabel, Lady, 1831-1896. Handwriting on letter from Sir Richard Francis Burton, 1821- 1890, to Leonard C. (Leonard Charles) Smithers, 1861-1907, (1885, Feb. 24). HM 78924.

Maylor, Victoria L. Handwriting on letter from Lady Isabel Burton, 1831-1896, to Leonard C. (Leonard Charles) Smithers, 1861-1907, (1888, Apr. 26). HM 78889.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Authors, English, -- 19th century.
Ephemera -- 19th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- 19th century.
Manuscripts -- 19th century.
Photographs -- 19th century.
Poems -- 19th century.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Finding aid prepared by Gayle M. Richardson, February 26, 2013.

Date Prepared:

© 2013

Date Encoded:

Machine readable finding aid encoded by Diann Benti in November 2016 from PDF finding aid originally in the Huntington Digital Library.

Restrictions:

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

Terms of access:

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]. Burton-Smithers Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:

Huntington Library, Manuscript Collections

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, CA 91108, US

Contact:

(626) 405-2191

reference@huntington.org

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