Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-87) was one of the most accomplished and many sided men
of the nineteenth
century. As well as being a man of action (explorer, swordsman, etc.) he possessed immense
intellectual ability
- as ethnologist, linguist, poet, amateur botanist, zoologist, and geologist. He published
forty-three volumes
describing his travels, two volumes of poetry, and more than one hundred articles. In
particular he translated
sixteen volumes of the "Arabian Nights", six volumes of Portuguese literature,
two volumes of Latin poetry, four
volumes of folklore (Neapolitan, African and Hindu), etc. In the words of his (perhaps) most
skilful biographer
(F. M. Brodie, "The Devil Drives") ". .. Burton was no ordinary translator; the
inflexible integrity, brilliance, and
vigour of his translations are an index to the man himself. One stands in awe of the ease with
which he moved
from Hindustani for his "Pilpay's Fables" and "Vikram and Vampire" -
to Portuguese for his "Camoens" and
"Lacerda" - to Arabic for the "Arabian Nights" and the
"Perfumed Garden" - to Neapolitan Italian for his "II
Pentamerone" - to Sanscrit for his "Kama Sutra" and "Ananga
Ranga", and to Latin for his "Priapeia" and
"Catullus"."