Editing Richard Francis Burton

{{Short description|British explorer, writer, scholar and army officer (1821–1890)}}
{{other people|Richard Burton}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
 | honorific_prefix = Sir
 | name             = Richard Burton
 | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG|FRGS}}
 | office           = [[His Majesty's Diplomatic Service|British consul]] in [[Bioko|Fernando Pó]]
 | office2          = [[His Majesty's Diplomatic Service|British consul]] in [[Santos, São Paulo|Santos]]
 | office3          = [[His Majesty's Diplomatic Service|British consul]] in [[Damascus]]
 | office4          = [[His Majesty's Diplomatic Service|British consul]] in [[Trieste]]
 | image            = Richard Francis Burton by Rischgitz, 1864.jpg
 | caption          = Burton in 1864
 | birth_date       = {{Birth date|df=yes|1821|03|19}}
 | birth_place      = [[Torquay]], [[Devon]]
 | death_date       = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1890|10|20|1821|03|19}}
 | death_place      = [[Trieste]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
 | nationality      = British
 | alma_mater       = [[Trinity College, Oxford]]
 | spouse           = {{marriage|[[Isabel Burton|Isabel Arundell]]|22 January 1861}}
| module = {{infobox writer|embed=yes
 | notable_works    = {{hlist|''Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Meccah''|''[[The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night]]''|''[[The Kasidah]]''}}
 | pseudonym        = {{hlist|Mirza Abdullah the Bushri|Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî|Frank Baker}}
}}
 | signature        = Richard Francis Burton signature.svg
 | allegiance       = {{flagcountry|British Empire}}
 | branch           = [[Bombay Army]]
 | nickname         = Ruffian Dick
 | serviceyears     = 1842–1861
 | rank             = [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]]
 | mawards          = [[Order of St Michael and St George|Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]] and [[Crimea Medal]]
 | battles          = [[Crimean War]]
}}

[[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] '''Sir Richard Francis Burton''', [[Order of St Michael and St George|KCMG]], [[Royal Geographical Society#Fellowship|FRGS]], (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, army officer, orientalist writer and scholar.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvhn09p9.9 | jstor=j.ctvhn09p9.9 | chapter=Sir Richard Burton's Orientalist Erotica | last1=de la Fuente | first1=Ariel | date=31 October 2023 | title=Borges, Desire, and Sex | pages=84–108 | publisher=Liverpool University Press | doi=10.2307/j.ctvhn09p9.9 | isbn=9781786941503 | s2cid=239794503 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Richard Francis Burton |url=https://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/burton_r/burton_r.html |access-date=2024-09-05 |website=freemasonry.bcy.ca}}</ref> He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and South America, as well as his extensive knowledge of languages and cultures, speaking up to 29 different languages.<ref>{{cite book |author=Young, S. |year=2006 |title=Richard Francis Burton: Explorer, Scholar, Spy |location=New York |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=9780761422228 |pages=16–26 |chapter=India |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x8l3SdjWcrcC&pg=PA16}}</ref>

Born in [[Torquay]], [[Devon]], Burton joined the [[Bombay Army]] as an officer in 1842, beginning an eighteen-year military career which included a brief stint in the [[Crimean War]]. He was subsequently engaged by the [[Royal Geographical Society]] (RGS) to explore the [[East Africa]]n coast, where Burton along with [[John Hanning Speke]] led an expedition to discover the source of the [[Nile]] and became the first European known to have seen [[Lake Tanganyika]]. He later served as the British [[consul (representative)|consul]] in [[Bioko|Fernando Pó]], [[Santos, São Paulo|Santos]], [[Damascus]] and [[Trieste]].<ref name=":0" /> Burton was also a Fellow of the RGS and was awarded a [[knight]]hood in 1886.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/burton_sir_richard.shtml "Historic Figures: Sir Richard Burton"]. BBC. Retrieved 7 April 2017</ref>

His best-known achievements include undertaking the [[Hajj]] to [[Mecca]] in disguise, translating ''[[The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night|One Thousand and One Nights]]'' and ''[[The Perfumed Garden]]'', and publishing the ''[[Kama Sutra]]'' in English. Although he abandoned his university studies, Burton became a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and academic articles on subjects such as [[human behaviour]], [[travel]], [[falconry]], [[fencing]], [[Human sexual activity|sexual practices]] and [[ethnography]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burton, I. |last2=Wilkins, W. H. |year=1897 |title=The Romance of Isabel Lady Burton. The Story of Her Life |location=New York |publisher=Dodd Mead & Company |url=http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/isabel/romance/chapter38.html |access-date=28 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129004328/https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/isabel/romance/chapter38.html |archive-date=29 January 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Biography==

===Early life===
{{expand section | with = a broader, yet accurate account derived from multiple secondary sources, that begins to reduce the reliance of the section on Wright (1906), offering instead broader and more recent scholarship | small = no | date = May 2025}}
Richard Burton was born in [[Torquay]], [[Devon]], on 19 March 1821; in his autobiography, he incorrectly claimed to have been born in the family home of Barham House in [[Elstree]], [[Hertfordshire]].<ref>[[#Lovell|Lovell]], p. 1.</ref><ref>Wright (1906), [https://web.archive.org/web/20080820044951/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97zw/chapter1.html#section1 vol. 1, p. 37] .</ref> Burton was baptised on 2 September 1821 at Elstree Church in [[Borehamwood]], Hertfordshire.<ref>{{cite book|last=Page|first=William|title=A History of the County of Hertford|publisher=Constable|year=1908|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43292&strquery=elstree|pages=vol. 2, pp. 349–351|no-pp=true|isbn=978-0-7129-0475-9|access-date=15 October 2007|archive-date=28 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004322/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43292&strquery=elstree|url-status=dead}}</ref> His father, [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-Colonel]] Joseph Netterville Burton, was an [[Anglo-Irish people|Anglo-Irish]] officer in the [[British Army]]'s [[36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot]]. Joseph, through his mother's family, the Campbells of [[Tuam]], was a first cousin of [[Henry Pearce Driscoll]] and [[Richard Graves (theologian)#Family|Eliza Graves]]. Burton's mother, Martha Baker, was the daughter and co-heiress of Richard Baker, a wealthy Hertfordshire [[squire]] whom Burton was named after. He had two siblings, Maria Katherine Elizabeth Burton (who married Lieutenant-General [[Henry William Stisted|Sir Henry William Stisted]]) and Edward Joseph Netterville Burton.<ref>Wright (1906), [https://archive.today/20120710153620/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97zw/chapter1.html#section2 vol. 1, p. 38] .</ref>

<!--Paragraphs 2-5 corrected to appearing sources, all unsourced material marked as needing citations.-->In his early life, Burton grew up between [[Elstree, England]], the home of Richard's esteemed and wealthy namesake, Richard Baker, and, initially, [[Tours, France]], the latter after their father sought a better climate for his asthma.<ref name = WrightChI/> The transition to Tours appears to have been before the death of Baker, on 16 September 1824.<ref name = WrightChI/><ref>In Wright's presentation of these historical events, the family's transition to Tours is presented in Section 2, "Tours and Elstree", ahead of the presentation of the death of Baker, which is in Section 3, "Death of Richard Baker, 16th September 1824", see Wright, Ch. I, op. cit.</ref> Burton was looked after while very young, in both England and France, by the family's "Hertfordshire nurse, Mrs. Ling, a good, but obstinately English soul"; his formal, early education began at a school in Tours, taught by "a lame Irishman named Clough", which was followed, when "for the children’s sake" the family moved to a house in the Rue De L’Archeveche, "the best street" in Tours, after which "[t]he little Burtons... attended the academy of a Mr. John Gilchrist, who grounded them in Latin and Greek".<ref name = WrightChI/> 

The Colonel, earlier preoccupied with (but also sustaining injury by) [[boar hunting]], eventually began a pursuit of the study of [[chemistry]], including experimental, that would persist for some time, while, during forays "into society", becoming known for his ability to "inexpressibly shoc[k]... sensitive company" in his directness of speech (e.g., publicly referring to “an adulteress” in that way), a characteristic that Thomas Wright, in his ''Life'', suggests the son having learned from the father.<ref name = WrightChI/> The Burton family returned to England in 1829, and Richard and his brother Edward were sent to a [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|preparatory school]] at [[Richmond Green]] run by a [[The Reverend|Reverend]] Charles Delafosse, a school that Wright describes in his ''Life'' as having "fees [that] were high", and the school as being "badly conducted" with the boys being "both ill-taught and ill-fed".<ref name = WrightChI/> 

By the time measles broke out in the school, the Colonel had "tired of Richmond", and after arranging tutors for the children—a Rev. H. R. Du Pre for the boys, and a "peony-faced lady named Miss Ruxton" for Maria—the family moved to [[Blois|Blois, France]] (Du Pre continuing tenaciously, but Ruxton returning home, having "g[iven] up in despair").<ref name = WrightChI/> The time in Blois would amount to a year, after which, via [[Marseille, France]] and "Leghorn"<ref name = WrightChI/> ([[Livorno, Italy]]), on the coast of [[Tuscany]],<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|Livorno|access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4V50jYkWRgC&pg=PA63 |title=The World Today: Concepts and Regions in Geography |chapter=Regions of the Realm |page=63 |first1=H. J. |last1=de Blij |first2=Peter |last2=O. Muller |first3=Jan |last3=Nijman |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2010 |isbn=9780470646380}}</ref>), the family settled in [[Pisa, Italy|Pisa]], allowing the boys to become "proficient in Italian and drawing", and to begin the violin (against which Richard would rebel, and in which Edward would excel).<ref name = WrightChI/> By July 1832, they were in [[Siena, Italy|Siena]] and [[Perugia, Italy|Perugia]], then [[Florence, Italy|Florence]], [[Rome, Italy|Rome]] and [[Naples, Italy|Naples]], then [[Sorrento, Italy|Sorrento]] and [[Capri, Italy|Capri]] (with Rev. Du Pre yet in tow, and the Colonel still devoted to pursuits related to "[o]xygen, abandoning... mass” to become a gas).<ref name = WrightChI/> At this juncture, the boys are described as having become "generally ungovernable", with escapades that included "a visit to a house of poor reputation" and thwarted whipping by father and tutor.<ref name = WrightChI/>

Colonel Burton quit England again for France in 1836, for [[Pau, France|Pau]] in the south, and soon again after, for Italy, first [[Pisa, Italy|Pisa]], then [[Lucca, Italy|Lucca]], where the sons divided time "ruffl[ing] it with a number of dissolute medical students" learning "several quite original wickednesses", and time spent under the influence of their parents, in "more wholesome society", in the latter case with introductions to the painter [[Louis William Desanges|Louis Desanges]], to "Helen Croly, daughter of... <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[George Croly]], author of] ''Salathiel''", and to Virginia Gabriel, later a [[composer]], and daughter of an English [[Major-general]].<ref name = WrightChI>Wright (1906), [https://web.archive.org/web/20080820044951/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97zw/chapter1.html#section4 vol. 1, p. 52ff]. "Being subject to asthma, Colonel Burton now left England and hired a chateau called Beausejour situated on an eminence near Tours, where there was an English colony. For several years the family fluctuated between Tours and Elstree...".</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gabriel,_Mary_Ann_Virginia_(DNB00)|author=Middleton, Lydia|title=Gabriel, Mary Ann Virginia|volume=20 |access-date=14 May 2014}}</ref> 

As well, during his youth, he allegedly had a sexual relationship with a [[Romani people|Roma]] girl and learned the rudiments of the [[Romani language]].{{cn|date=May 2025}} The peregrinations of Burton's youth may have encouraged him to regard himself as an outsider for much of his life.{{says who|date=May 2025}}{{speculation inline|date=May 2025}} He would later write,{{or|date=May 2025}} "Do what thy manhood bids thee do, from none but self expect applause".<ref name="Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî' 1870">{{cite book |last1=Burton |first1=R. F. |year=1911 |title=The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî |edition=Eight |location=Portland |publisher=Thomas B. Mosher |url=https://archive.org/details/kasdahofhjabdely00burt |chapter=Chapter VIII |pages=[https://archive.org/details/kasdahofhjabdely00burt/page/44 44]–51 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/kasdahofhjabdely00burt/page/50}}</ref>

<!--Paragraph 7-10 corrected to appearing sources, all unsourced material marked as needing citations.-->Throughout the foregoing period, Burton had ample opportunity to learn languages, modern and ancient, for which he had demonstrated aptitude; prior to departing for university, he had become acquainted with written, ancient Greek and Latin,<ref name = WrightChI/> and had become fluent in [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], and modern Greek,<ref name=WrightChII/> quickly learning these as well as [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]] and several dialects.{{cn|date=May 2025}} According to biographer [[Ed Rice]], during Burton's days at university, he would<blockquote>sti[r] the bile of the [[Don (academia)|dons]] by speaking real—that is, Roman—Latin instead of the artificial type peculiar to England, and [by speaking] [[Greek language|Greek]] Romaically, with the accent of [[Athens]], as he had learned it from a Greek merchant at [[Marseille]], as well as [knowing] the classical forms. Such a linguistic feat was a tribute to Burton's remarkable ear and memory, for he was only a teenager when... in Italy and southern France."<ref name="er">{{cite book |last1=Rice |first1=Ed |title=Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: the secret agent who made the pilgrimage to Mecca, discovered the Kama Sutra, and brought the Arabian nights to the West |date=1990 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |isbn=978-0684191379 |page=22}}</ref></blockquote>

In October 1840,<!--October, PER CITED SOURCE.--> he [[Matriculation|matriculated]] at [[Trinity College, Oxford]].<ref name=WrightChII/> Before getting a room at the college, Burton was coached by [[William Alexander Greenhill]] and by a "Dr. Ogle";<ref name=WrightChII/> he lived for a short time in the house of Greenhill, a doctor at the [[Radcliffe Infirmary]].{{cn|date=May 2025}} Wright, in his ''Life'', notes that Burton "spent his first months, not in studying, but in rowing, [and] fencing"—in the latter case, in the "fencing saloons" of an Italian and a Scotsman, with mastery of [[fencing foil|foil]] and [[broad-sword]]<ref name=WrightChII/>—to which he added [[falconry]].{{cn|date=May 2025}} As well, he had engaged in "shooting the college rooks, and breaking the rules generally", and, despite his expressed respect, in pranks "at the expense of [a] Dr. Jenkins".<ref name=WrightChII/> 

For all the experiences and education Burton brought with him to Oxford, he described his reception there as being unpleasant, and disparaged its educational offerings, stating that the "college teaching for which one was obliged to pay... was of the most worthless description", with "[t]wo hours a day... regularly wasted", noting that "those who read for honours... choose and pay a private coach".<ref name=WrightChII/> On a personal level, he describes having "grown a splendid moustache... the envy of all the boys abroad", that, despite his mentors Greenhill and Ogle advising removal, was only shaved after being given formal college orders;<ref name=WrightChII/> he describes having<blockquote>already formed strong ideas upon the Shaven Age of England, when her history, with some brilliant exceptions, such as Marlborough, Wellington and Nelson, was at its meanest.<ref name=WrightChII/></blockquote> On being laughed at by a fellow undergraduate, he responded by challenging him to a [[duel]].<ref name=WrightChII/> While there, he sat under the Christian teaching of [[John Henry Newman]], "[t]he only preacher Burton would listen to";<ref name=WrightChII/> Greenhill, Burton's mentor, was Newman's [[churchwarden]].{{cn|date=May 2025}} 

Still, Burton "longed to excel as a linguist, and particularly in Oriental languages", and sought to learn [[Arabic]], approaching the [[Regius Professor]]—whose retort was that professors did not teach individuals—and then going it alone, with "a little assistance from the Spanish scholar [[Pascual de Gayangos y Arce|Don Pascual de Gayangos]]".<ref name=WrightChII/> In April 1842, Burton attended a [[Steeplechase (horse racing)|steeplechase]] event at the Oxford races, an act forbidden "at the last moment" by the college; the culprits being brought before the same on the morning following the event, "the dons having lectured Burton, he began lecturing them"—in particular, observing that "young men ought not to be treated like children".<ref name=WrightChII/> As such, while all other offenders were [[Rustication (academia)|"rusticated" (temporarily expelled)]], Burton was instead permanently expelled from Oxford.<ref name=WrightChII>Wright (1906), [https://web.archive.org/web/20080820044257/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97zw/chapter2.html Chapter II, "October 1840-April 1842 / Oxford", Sections 6 and 7]. The material in support of his expulsion clearly draws from §7; Chapter II, on the whole, is devoted to Burton's Oxford experiences.</ref>

===Bombay Army career===
[[File:The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton - Richard Burton in native dress.jpg|thumb|150px|Burton in Persian disguise as "Mirza Abdullah the Bushri" ({{circa|1849}})]]

In his own words, "fit for nothing but to be shot at for six pence a day",<ref>{{cite book | author = Burton, Richard F. | date = 1852 | title = ''Falconry in the Valley of the Indus'' | page = 93 | location =  | publisher = John Van Voorst | url =  | access-date =  | quote =  }}{{full|date=May 2025}}</ref>{{full|date=May 2025}} Burton was commissioned into the [[Bombay Army]] at the behest of his former classmates in college who were already serving as officers there. He had hoped to fight in the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]], but the conflict was over by the time Burton arrived in India. He was posted to the [[Bombay Army#Native Infantry|18th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry]], which was stationed in [[Gujarat]] and under the command of General [[Charles James Napier]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ghose|first=Indira|editor1-first=Tim|editor1-last=Youngs|date=January 2006|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9781843317692A015/type/book_part|pages=71–86|publisher=Anthem Press|language=en|doi=10.7135/upo9781843317692.005|isbn=9781843317692|access-date=25 August 2018|title=Travel Writing in the Nineteenth Century|chapter=Imperial Player: Richard Burton in Sindh}}</ref> He earned the nickname "Ruffian Dick",<ref name=er/>{{rp|218}} for his "demonic ferocity as a fighter and because he had fought in single combat more enemies than perhaps any other man of his time".<ref>Wright (1906), [https://web.archive.org/web/20080819233833/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97zw/chapter6.html#section26 vol. 1, Chapter VI, "3rd April 1853 to 29th October 1854 / Pilgrimage to Mecca", Section 26. Mecca., pp. 119–120].</ref>

While in India, he became a proficient speaker of [[Persian language|Persian]] and Arabic, as well as [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]], and [[Marathi language|Marathi]],{{cn|date=May 2025}}<!--PLEASE TO NOT ADD PURPORTED FACTS WITHOUT THIRD-PARTY SOURCES.--> having passed six formal lanugage examinations,{{what|date=May 2025}} and being in the process of studying for two more.<ref name=er/>{{page needed|date=May 2025}} (And while in the Bombay Army, he kept a large [[menagerie]] of tame monkeys in the hopes of [[Animal communication|learning their language]], and has been quoted as stating he had accumulated sixty "words" of their speech.<ref>[[#Lovell|Lovell]], p. 58.</ref><ref name=er/>{{rp|56–65}})

Burton also had a documented interest and actively participated in the [[Culture of India|cultures]] and [[Religion in India|religions of India]].{{cn|date=May 2025}}<!--Primary source following is fine as an example, but it does not substantially make the case presented in the preceding broad, very general statement. Another better source is needed.--><ref>{{cite journal | author = Burton, RIchard F. | date = July 1852 | title = Remarks Upon a Form of Sub-Mesmerism, Popularly Called Electro-Biology, Now Practised in Scinde and Other Eastern Countries | journal = The Zoist: A Journal of Cerebral Physiology & Mesmerism, and Their Applications to Human Welfare | volume = 10 | issue = 38 | pages = 177-181 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=J0DKte2VwYYC&pg=PA177 | access-date = 15 May 2025 | quote =  }}{{so what|date=May 2025}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2025}} This was one of the many peculiar habits that set him apart from other British officers in India.{{cn|date=May 2025}} According to a Burton autobiographical work, his studies of [[Hinduism|Hindu]] culture had progressed to such an extent that "my Hindu teacher officially allowed me to wear the ''[[Upanayana|janeo]]''".<ref>[[#Burton1893|Burton (1893)]], Vol. 1, p. 123.{{third party inline|date=May 2025}}</ref>{{third party inline|date=May 2025}}<!--Hidden because relevance is unclear: Him Chand, his ''[[gotra]]'' teacher and a [[Nagar Brahmin]], was possibly an apostate.<ref name=er/>{{rp|83}}-->

Burton's religious experiences were varied, including attending [[Catholic Church in India|Catholic services]], becoming a Naga Brahmin, converting to [[Sikhism]] and [[Islam]], and undergoing the ''[[Chilla (retreat)|chilla]]'' retreat for [[Qadiriyya]] [[Sufism]]. Regarding Burton's Muslim beliefs, Rice stated that "he was circumcised, and made a Muslim, and lived like a Muslim and prayed and practiced like one."  Furthermore, Burton, "was entitled to call himself a ''[[Hafiz (Quran)|hāfiz]]'', one who can recite the [[Quran|Qur'ān]] from memory."<ref name=er/>{{rp|58,67f,104–108,150–155,161,164}}{{Page range too broad|date=May 2025}}<!--Put the ER citation at end of each quote, with the {{rp... apparatus to indicate the page number for the quote. Content and citation verifiers do not have unlimited time to check things.-->

According to Rice, "Burton now regarded the seven years in India as time wasted." Yet he had passed six language examinations, was en route to two further, and so is described by Rice as "eminently qualified."{{what|date=May 2025}}{{cn|date=May 2025}}

===First explorations and journey to Mecca===
[[File:Richardburtonarabicdress.JPG|thumb|Burton disguised as "Haji Abdullah" in 1853 (illustration from Burton's ''Personal Narrative'')]]

Motivated by his love for adventure, Burton gained the approval of the [[Royal Geographical Society]] (RGS) for an exploration of the [[Middle East]], and, now at the rank of captain, received permission from the [[List of East India Company directors|directors]] of the [[East India Company]] (EIC) to take leave from the Bombay Army. The seven years he spent in India gave Burton a familiarity with the customs and behaviour of [[Muslims]] and prepared him to attempt a [[Hajj]] to [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]]. He planned it whilst travelling disguised among Muslims in [[Sindh]], and had laboriously prepared it by studying and practising Muslim culture, including undergoing [[circumcision]] to further lower the risk of being discovered.<ref>{{cite book |author=Seigel, Jerrold |date=2015 |title = Between Cultures: Europe and Its Others in Five Exemplary Lives Intellectual History of the Modern Age | location = Philadelphia, PA | publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOflCgAAQBAJ | access-date = 15 May 2025 |isbn=9780812247619 | pages = 1-12, 13-264, 247-264, esp. 250 | quote = }}{{Page range too broad|date=May 2025}} Note, the indicated page number, p. 250, and the broad array of possible page numbers for Burton material are not available at this linked source.</ref>{{Page range too broad|date=May 2025}}{{failed verification|date=May 2025}}

Burton's undertaking of the Hajj in 1853 was his realisation of "the plans and hopes of many and many a year... to study thoroughly the inner life of the Moslem."{{cite quote|date=May 2025}} He donned the guise of a Persian [[Mirza (name)|mirza]], and then a [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[sheikh]], doctor, magician and [[dervish]], accompanied by an enslaved Indian boy named Nūr. In April, he travelled through [[Alexandria]] before reaching [[Cairo]] by May, where Burton stayed during [[Ramadan]] in June. He further equipped himself with a case for carrying the Quran, but which instead had three compartments for his watch, compass, money, penknife, pencils and numbered pieces of paper for taking notes.<ref name=:0/>{{verification needed|date=May 2025}} 

Burton travelled onwards with a group of nomads to [[Suez]] before sailing to [[Yambu]] and joining a caravan to Medina, where he arrived on 27 July.  Departing Medina with a caravan on 31 August, Burton entered Mecca on 11 September, where he participated in the [[Kaaba#Tawaf|Tawaf]]. He travelled to [[Mount Arafat]] and participated in the [[stoning of the Devil]], all the while taking notes on the [[Kaaba]], its [[Black Stone]] and the [[Zamzam Well]]. Departing Mecca, he journeyed to [[Jeddah]] and then back to Cairo, returning to Army duty in [[Mumbai|Bombay]]. In India, Burton wrote his ''Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah'', writing that "at Mecca there is nothing theatrical, nothing that suggests the opera, but all is simple and impressive... tending, I believe, after its fashion, to good."<ref name=er/>{{rp|179–225}}{{Page range too broad|date=May 2025}}

Although Burton was not the first non-Muslim European to undertake the Hajj, with [[Ludovico di Varthema]] first to do so in 1503,<ref>{{cite web |title=Ludovico di Varthema |author=Leigh, R. |work=Discoverers Web |url=http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/varthema.html |access-date=16 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617222339/http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/varthema.html|archive-date=17 June 2012}}</ref> and [[Johann Ludwig Burckhardt]] doing so in 1815,{{cn|date=May 2025}} Burton's entry into Mecca is the most famous and the best documented of the period.{{cn|date=May 2025}} He adopted various disguises, including that of a [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]], to account for any oddities in speech,{{cn|date=May 2025}} but he still had to demonstrate an understanding of intricate Islamic traditions and a familiarity with the minutiae of Eastern manners and etiquette.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Burton's trek to Mecca was dangerous, and his caravan was attacked by bandits (a common experience at the time).{{third party inline|date=May 2025}} As he put it, although "...&nbsp;neither [[Quran|Koran]] or [[Sultan]] enjoin the death of Jew or Christian intruding within the columns that note the sanctuary limits, nothing could save a European detected by the populace, or one who after pilgrimage declared himself an unbeliever".<ref>{{cite book |author=Burton, R. |title=Selected Papers on Anthropology, Travel, and Exploration |editor=Penzer, N. M. |place=London |publisher=A. M. Philpot |year=1924}}{{third party inline|date=May 2025}}</ref>{{third party inline|date=May 2025}} The pilgrimage entitled him to the title of [[Hajji]] and to wear the green [[turban]].<ref name=er/>{{rp|179–225}}{{Page range too broad|date=May 2025}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Burton |first=R. F. |year=1855 |title=A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah |publisher=Tylston and Edwards |location=London |url=https://archive.org/stream/personalnarrati01burt | access-date =  }}{{third party inline|date=May 2025}}</ref>{{third party inline|date=May 2025}}

While back in India, Burton sat for the examination as an Arab linguist for the EIC. The examiner was [[Robert Lambert Playfair]], who mistrusted Burton. As academic [[George Percy Badger]] knew Arabic well, Playfair asked Badger to oversee the exam. Having been told that Burton could be vindictive, and wishing to avoid any animosity should he fail, Badger declined. Eventually, Playfair conducted the tests; despite Burton's success in living like an Arab, Playfair recommended to the committee that Burton be failed. Badger later told Burton that "After looking [Burton's test] over, I sent them back to [Playfair] with a note eulogising your attainments and... remarking on the absurdity of the Bombay Committee being made to judge your proficiency inasmuch as I did not believe that any of them possessed a tithe of the knowledge of Arabic you did."<ref>[[#Lovell|Lovell]], pp. 156–157.</ref>{{verification needed|date=May 2025}}

===Early explorations===
{{third party|section|date = May 2025}}
[[File:The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton - Burton at marriage.jpg|thumb|An illustration of Isabel Burton]]

In May 1854, Burton travelled to [[Aden]] in preparation for an RGS-backed expedition, which included [[John Hanning Speke]], to [[Somaliland]]. The expedition lasted from 29{{Spaces}}October 1854 to 9{{Spaces}}February 1855, with much of its time spent in [[Zeila]], where Burton was a guest of the town's governor [[Sharmarke Ali Saleh]]. Burton, assuming the disguise of an Arab merchant "Hajji Mirza Abdullah", awaited word that the road to [[Harar]] was safe. On 29 December, Burton met with Gerard Adan in the village of Sagharrah and openly proclaimed himself as a British officer with a letter for the [[Emir]] of Harar. On 3 January 1855, Burton made it to Harar and was graciously met by the Emir. He stayed in the city for ten days, officially a guest of the Emir but in reality his prisoner. Burton also investigated local landmarks in Harar; according to him, "A tradition exists that with the entrance of the first [white] Christian, Harar will fall." With Burton's entry, the tradition was broken.<ref name=er/>{{rp|219f,227–264}}{{page range too broad|date=May 2025}}{{verification needed|date=May 2025}}<!--All preceding material of the paragraph must be here.--> The journey back was plagued by lack of supplies, and Burton wrote that he would have died of thirst had he not seen desert birds and realized they would be near water. He made it back to [[Berbera]] on 31 January 1855.<ref name=er/>{{rp|238–256}}<ref name=BurtonFirstFootsteps1856>{{Cite book | author=Burton, Richard | year=1856 |title=First footsteps in East Africa or, An Exploration of Harar |location =  London, England | publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans | edition=1st| pages =  | url=https://archive.org/details/firstfootstepsi00burtgoog/page/n511 | access-date =  }} For a further presentation of this material at Burtoniana.org, see [http://burtoniana.org/books/1856-First%20Footsteps%20in%20East%20Africa/1856-FirstFootstepsVer2.htm this link].</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2025}}

Following this expedition, Burton prepared to set out in search of the source of the [[Nile]], accompanied by Speke and a number of African porters and expedition guides.{{cn|date=May 2025}} The [[Royal Indian Navy|Indian Navy]] schooner {{ship|HCS|Mahi|834|6}} transported them to [[Berbera]] on 7 April 1855.{{cn|date=May 2025}} While the expedition was camped near [[Berbera]], they were attacked by a group of [[Somali people|Somali]] warriors from the [[Isaaq]] clan; the British estimated the number of attackers at 200.{{cn|date=May 2025}} In the ensuing fight, Speke was wounded in eleven places before he managed to escape, while Burton was impaled with a javelin, the point entering one cheek and exiting the other, leaving a permanent scar.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Burton was forced to escape with the weapon still transfixing his head.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Burton subsequently wrote that the Somalis were a "fierce and turbulent race".<!--THE FOLLOWING SOURCE provides the quote, but no material preceding it.--><ref>{{cite news | author = Howden, Daniel | date = 2 December 2010 | title = Somalia's Last Poets Sing of a Country on the Brink | newspaper = [[The Independent (London)|The Independent]] | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/somalias-last-poets-sing-of-a-country-on-the-brink-2148791.html | access-date = 15 May 2025}}</ref> However, the failure of this expedition (which also resulted in the [[Blockade of Berbera (1855–1856)|second blockade of Berbera]]) was viewed harshly by the British authorities, and a two-year investigation was set up to determine to what extent Burton was culpable for this disaster.{{cn|date=May 2025}} While he was largely cleared of any blame, his career prospects were damaged.{{cn|date=May 2025}} He described the attack in ''First Footsteps in East Africa'' (1856).<ref name=er/>{{rp|257–264}}<ref name=BurtonFirstFootsteps1856/>{{rp|449-458}}

After recovering from his wounds in [[London]], Burton travelled to [[Constantinople]] during the [[Crimean War]], seeking an [[Officer (armed forces)|officer's commission]]. He received one from [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] William Ferguson Beatson as the [[chief of staff]] for [[Beatson's Horse]], an irregular [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman cavalry unit]] stationed in [[Gallipoli]]. Burton returned to England after an incident which implicated him as the instigator of a [[mutiny]] among the unit, damaging his reputation and disgracing Beatson.<ref name=er/>{{rp|265–271}}{{verification needed|date=May 2025}}<!--All material in the paragraph must be here.-->

===Exploring the African Great Lakes===

In 1856, the Royal Geographical Society funded another expedition for Burton and Speke, "and exploration of the then utterly unknown [[African Great Lakes|Lake regions of Central Africa]]." They would travel from [[Zanzibar]] to [[Ujiji]] along a caravan route established in 1825 by an Arab ivory and slave merchant. The Great Journey commenced on 5 June 1857 with their departure from Zanzibar, where they had stayed at the residence of [[Atkins Hamerton]], the British consul,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moorehead |first1=Alan |title=The White Nile |pages=16–17|date=1960 |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |location=London}}</ref> their caravan consisting of Baluchi mercenaries led by Ramji, 36 porters, eventually a total of 132 persons, all led by the caravan leader Said bin Salim. From the beginning, Burton and Speke were hindered by disease, malaria, fevers and other maladies, at times both having to be carried in a hammock. Pack animals died, and natives deserted, taking supplies with them. Yet, on 7 November 1857, they made it to [[Kazeh]], and departed for Ujiji on 14 December. Speke wanted to head north, sure they would find the source of the Nile at what he later named [[Victoria Nyanza]], but Burton persisted in heading west.<ref name=er/>{{rp|273–297}}

[[File:Burton and Speke Monument in Ujiji.jpg|thumb|Monument commemorating Burton and Speke's arrival in Ujiji]]
The expedition arrived at [[Lake Tanganyika]] on 13 February 1858. Burton was awestruck by the sight of the magnificent lake, but Speke, who had been temporarily blinded, was unable to see the body of water. By this point much of their surveying equipment was lost, ruined or stolen, and they were unable to complete surveys of the area as well as they wished. Burton was again taken ill on the return journey; Speke continued exploring without him, making a journey to the north and eventually locating the great [[Lake Victoria]], or Victoria Nyanza, on 3 August. Lacking supplies and proper instruments, Speke was unable to survey the area properly but was privately convinced that it was the long-sought source of the Nile. Burton's description of the journey is given in ''Lake Regions of Equatorial Africa'' (1860). Speke gave his own account in ''The Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile'' (1863).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/Speke/nile.htm|title= The Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile|author= Speke, John Hanning|website= wollamshram.ca|access-date= 19 July 2020}}</ref><ref name=er/>{{rp|298–312,491–492,500}}

Burton and Speke made it back to Zanzibar on 4 March 1859, and left on 22 March for Aden. Speke immediately boarded the {{HMS|Furious|1850|6}} for London, where he gave lectures, and was awarded a second expedition by the Society. Burton arrived in London on 21 May, discovering "My companion now stood forth in his new colours, an angry rival."  Speke additionally published ''What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile'' (1863), while Burton's ''Zanzibar; City, Island, and Coast'' was eventually published in 1872.<ref name=er/>{{rp|307,311–315,491–492,500}}

Burton then departed on a trip to the United States in April 1860, eventually making it to [[Salt Lake City]] on 25 August. There he studied [[Mormonism]] and met [[Brigham Young]]. Burton departed San Francisco on 15 November for the voyage back to England, where he published ''The City of the Saints and Across the Rocky Mountains to California''.<ref name=er/>{{rp|332–339,492}}

====Burton and Speke====
{{redirect|Burton and Speke|the novel by William Harrison|Burton and Speke (novel)}}
[[File:lake tanganyika.jpg|thumb|Burton was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika]]

A prolonged public quarrel followed, damaging the reputations of both Burton and Speke. Some biographers have suggested that friends of Speke (particularly [[Laurence Oliphant (1829–1888)|Laurence Oliphant]]) had initially stirred up trouble between the two.<ref>[[#Carnochan|Carnochan]], pp. 77–78 cites Isabel Burton and Alexander Maitland</ref> Burton's sympathizers contend that Speke resented Burton's leadership role. [[Tim Jeal]], who has accessed Speke's personal papers, suggests that it was more likely the other way around, Burton being jealous and resentful of Speke's determination and success. "As the years went by, [Burton] would neglect no opportunity to deride and undermine Speke's geographical theories and achievements".<ref>[[#Jeal|Jeal]], p. 121.</ref>

Speke had earlier proven his mettle by trekking through the mountains of [[Tibet]], but Burton regarded him as inferior as he did not speak any Arabic or African languages. Despite his fascination with non-European cultures, some have portrayed Burton as an unabashed imperialist convinced of the historical and intellectual superiority of the white race, citing his involvement in the [[Anthropological Society of London]], an organisation which supported [[scientific racism]].<ref>[[#Jeal|Jeal]], p. 322.</ref><ref>[[#Kennedy|Kennedy]], p. 135.</ref> Speke appears to have been kinder and less intrusive to the Africans they encountered and reportedly fell in love with an African woman on a later expedition.<ref>[[#Jeal|Jeal]], pp. 129, 156–166.</ref>

The two men travelled home separately. Speke returned to London first and presented a lecture at the [[Royal Geographical Society]], claiming [[Lake Victoria]] as the source of the Nile. According to Burton, Speke broke an agreement they had made to give their first public speech together. Apart from Burton's word, there is no proof that such an agreement existed, and most modern researchers doubt that it did. Tim Jeal, evaluating the written evidence, says the odds are "heavily against Speke having made a pledge to his former leader".<ref>[[#Jeal|Jeal]], p. 111.</ref> Speke undertook a second expedition, along with Captain [[James Augustus Grant|James Grant]] and [[Sidi Mubarak Bombay]], to prove that Lake Victoria was the true source of the Nile. Speke, in light of the issues he was having with Burton, had Grant sign a statement saying, among other things, "I renounce all my rights to publishing&nbsp;... my own account [of the expedition] until approved of by Captain Speke or [the Royal Geographical Society]".<ref>[[#Lovell|Lovell]], p. 341.</ref>

On 16 September 1864, Burton and Speke were scheduled to debate the source of the Nile at a meeting of the [[British Association for the Advancement of Science]]. On the day before the debate, Burton and Speke sat near each other in the lecture hall. According to Burton's wife, Speke stood up, said "I can't stand this any longer," and abruptly left the hall. That afternoon Speke went hunting on the nearby estate of a relative. He was discovered lying near a stone wall, felled by a fatal gunshot wound from his hunting shotgun. Burton learned of Speke's death the following day while waiting for their debate to begin. A jury ruled Speke's death an accident. An obituary surmised that Speke, while climbing over the wall, had carelessly pulled the gun after himself with the muzzle pointing at his chest and shot himself. Alexander Maitland, Speke's only biographer, concurs.<ref>[[#Kennedy|Kennedy]], p. 123.</ref>

===Diplomatic service and scholarship (1861–1890)===
[[File:Edwards Richard Burton 1864 slnsw.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Captain Richard Burton, 1864]]
[[File:Richard-Francis-Burton-by-Lock-&-Whitfield,-1876.png|thumb|Burton in 1876]]

On 22 January 1861, Burton and Isabel Arundel married in a quiet Catholic ceremony, although he did not adopt the Catholic faith at this time. Shortly after this, the couple were forced to spend some time apart when he formally entered the [[Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service|Diplomatic Service]] as [[consul (representative)|consul]] on the island of Fernando Po, now [[Bioko]] in Equatorial Guinea. This was not a prestigious appointment; because the climate was considered extremely unhealthy for Europeans, Isabel could not accompany him. Burton spent much of this time exploring the coast of West Africa, documenting his findings in ''Abeokuta and The [[Cameroon mountains|Cameroons Mountains]]: An Exploration'' (1863), and ''A Mission to [[Gelele]], King of [[Dahomey|Dahome]]'' (1864). He described some of his experiences, including a trip up the [[Congo River]] to the [[Yellala Falls]] and beyond, in his 1876 book ''Two trips to gorilla land and the cataracts of the Congo''.<ref>Richard Francis Burton, ''Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo'', 2 vols. (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, 1876).</ref><ref name=er/>{{rp|349–381,492–493}}

The couple were reunited in 1865 when Burton was transferred to [[Santos (São Paulo)|Santos]] in Brazil. Once there, Burton travelled through Brazil's central highlands, canoeing down the [[São Francisco River]] from its source to the falls of [[Paulo Afonso]].<ref>Wright (1906), [https://web.archive.org/web/20080820044340/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97zw/chapter13.html#section54 vol. 1, p. 200] .</ref> He documented his experiences in ''The Highlands of Brazil'' (1869).<ref name=er/>{{rp|387=395,492}} In 1868 and 1869, he made two visits to the war zone of the [[Paraguayan War]], which he described in his [[Siege of Humaitá#Further reading: open access links|''Letters from the Battlefields of Paraguay'']] (1870).<ref>''Letters from the Battlefields of Paraguay'', the Preface.</ref> In 1868, he was appointed as the British consul in [[Damascus]], an ideal post for someone with Burton's knowledge of the region and customs.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=23447 |date=4 December 1868 |page=6460}}</ref> According to [[Ed Rice]], "England wanted to know what was going on in the [[Levant]]," another chapter in [[The Great Game]]. Yet, the Turkish governor Mohammed Rashid 'Ali Pasha feared anti-Turkish activities, and was opposed to Burton's assignment.<ref name=er/>{{rp|395–399,402,409}}

In Damascus, Burton made friends with [[Abdelkader al-Jazairi]], while Isabel befriended [[Jane Digby]], calling her "my most intimate friend." Burton also met [[Charles F. Tyrwhitt-Drake]] and [[Edward Henry Palmer]], collaborating with Drake in writing ''Unexplored Syria'' (1872).<ref name=er/>{{rp|402–410,492}} However, the area was in some turmoil at the time, with considerable tensions between the Christian, Jewish and Muslim populations. Burton did his best to keep the peace and resolve the situation, but this sometimes led him into trouble. On one occasion, he claims to have escaped an attack by hundreds of armed horsemen and camel riders sent by Mohammed Rashid Pasha, the Governor of Syria. He wrote, "I have never been so flattered in my life than to think it would take three hundred men to kill me."<ref>[[#Burton1893|Burton (1893)]], Vol. 1, p. 517.</ref> Burton eventually suffered the enmity of the Greek Christian and Jewish communities.  Then, his involvement with the [[Shadhilis|Sházlis]], a Sufi Muslim order among whom was a group that Burton called "Secret Christians longing for baptism", which Isabel called "his ruin."  He was recalled in August 1871, prompting him to send a telegram to Isabel: "I am recalled. Pay, pack, and follow at convenience."<ref name=er/>{{rp|412–415}}

Burton was reassigned in 1872 to the port city of [[Trieste]] in [[Austria-Hungary]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=23889 |date=20 September 1872 |page=4075}} {{dead link|date=April 2018}}</ref> A "broken man", Burton was never particularly content with this post, but it required little work, was far less dangerous than Damascus (as well as less exciting), and allowed him the freedom to write and travel.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsT9iVjjPvAC&q=superseded+pay+pack+&pg=PT43|title=The Life of Sir Richard Burton|first=Thomas|last=Wright|date=1 January 1906|publisher=Library of Alexandria|via=Google Books|isbn=9781465550132}}</ref> In 1863, Burton co-founded the [[Anthropological Society of London]] with Dr. [[James Hunt (speech therapist)|James Hunt]]. In Burton's own words, the main aim of the society (through the publication of the periodical ''Anthropologia'') was "to supply travellers with an organ that would rescue their observations from the outer darkness of manuscript and print their curious information on social and sexual matters". On 13 February 1886, Burton was appointed a Knight Commander of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] (KCMG) by [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25559 |date=16 February 1886 |page=743}}</ref>

He wrote a number of travel books in this period that were not particularly well received. His best-known contributions to literature were those considered risqué or even pornographic at the time, which were published under the auspices of the Kama Shastra society. These books include ''The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana'' (1883) (popularly known as the [[Kama Sutra]]), ''[[The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night]]'' (1885) (popularly known as [[The Book of One Thousand and One Nights|The Arabian Nights]]), ''[[The Perfumed Garden]] of the Shaykh Nefzawi'' (1886) and ''The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night'' (seventeen volumes 1886–98). Published in this period but composed on his return journey from Mecca, ''[[The Kasidah]]''<ref name="Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî' 1870"/> has been cited as evidence of Burton's status as a Bektashi [[Sufi]]. Deliberately presented by Burton as a translation, the poem and his notes and commentary on it contain layers of Sufic meaning that seem to have been designed to project Sufi teaching in the West.<ref>''The Sufis'' by [[Idries Shah]] (1964) p. 249ff</ref> ''"Do what thy manhood bids thee do/ from none but self expect applause;/ He noblest lives and noblest dies/ who makes and keeps his self-made laws"'' is ''The Kasidah'''s most-quoted passage. As well as references to many themes from Classical Western myths, the poem contains many laments that are accented with fleeting [[imagery]] such as repeated comparisons to ''"the tinkling of the Camel bell"'' that becomes inaudible as the animal vanishes in the darkness of the desert.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi |date=1880 |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6036/6036-h/6036-h.htm}}</ref>

Other works of note include a collection of Hindu tales, [[Baital Pachisi|''Vikram and the Vampire'']] (1870); and his uncompleted history of [[swordsmanship]], ''The Book of the Sword'' (1884). He also translated ''[[The Lusiads]]'', the Portuguese national epic by [[Luís de Camões]], in 1880 and, the next year, wrote a sympathetic biography of the poet and adventurer. The book ''The Jew, the Gipsy and el Islam'' was published posthumously in 1898 and was controversial for its criticism of Jews and for its assertion of the existence of [[Blood libel against Jews|Jewish human sacrifices]]. Burton's investigations into this had [[Damascus affair|provoked hostility from the Jews of Damascus]]. The manuscript of the book included an appendix discussing the topic in more detail, but by the decision of his widow, it was not included in the book when published.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Paxman|first=Jeremy|date=2015-05-01|title=Richard Burton, Victorian explorer|url=https://www.ft.com/content/357140e4-eeaf-11e4-a5cd-00144feab7de |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/357140e4-eeaf-11e4-a5cd-00144feab7de |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|access-date=2021-02-12|website=www.ft.com|language=en-GB}}</ref>

===Death===
[[File:Sir Richard Burton's Tomb.jpg|thumb|Richard Burton's tomb at Mortlake, south west London, June 2011]]
[[File:Richard Francis Burton Enscriptions.jpg|thumb|Close up of inscription on the tomb]]

Burton died in [[Trieste]] early on the morning of 20 October 1890 of a [[heart attack]]. His wife Isabel persuaded a priest to perform the last rites, although Burton was not a Catholic, and this action later caused a rift between Isabel and some of Burton's friends. It has been suggested that the death occurred very late on 19{{Nbsp}}October and that Burton was already dead by the time the last rites were administered. On his religious views, Burton called himself an atheist, stating he was raised in the [[Church of England]], which he said was "officially [his] church".<ref>Wright (1906) "Some three months before Sir Richard's death," writes Mr. P. P. Cautley, the Vice-Consul at Trieste, to me, "I was seated at Sir Richard's tea table with our clergy man, and the talk turning on religion, Sir Richard declared, 'I am an atheist, but I was brought up in the Church of England, and that is officially my church.{{'"}}</ref>

Isabel never recovered from the loss. After his death, she burned many of her husband's papers, including journals and a planned new translation of ''[[The Perfumed Garden]]'' to be called ''The Scented Garden'', for which she had been offered six thousand guineas and which she regarded as his "magnum opus". She believed she was acting to protect her husband's reputation, and that she had been instructed to burn the manuscript of ''The Scented Garden'' by his spirit, but her actions were controversial.<ref>Wright (1906), [https://web.archive.org/web/20080629023323/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97zw/chapter38.html vol. 2, pp. 252–254] .</ref> However, a substantial quantity of his written materials have survived, and are held by the [[Huntington Library]] in [[San Marino, California]], including 21 boxes of his manuscripts, 24 boxes of correspondence, and other material.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://catalog.huntington.org/record=b1707757 |title=Sir Richard Francis Burton papers, 1846-2003 (bulk 1846-1939) |website=Huntington Library |access-date=2021-10-18}}</ref>

Isabel wrote a biography in praise of her husband.<ref>[[#Burton1893|Burton (1893)]]</ref>

The couple are buried in [[Mausoleum of Sir Richard and Lady Burton|a tomb in the shape of a Bedouin tent]], designed by Isabel,<ref name="Cherry and Pevsner">{{cite book | title=The Buildings of England – London 2: South | publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |last1=Cherry, B. |last2=Pevsner, N. |year=1983 | location=London | page=513 | isbn=978-0140710472| title-link=The Buildings of England | author2-link=Nikolaus Pevsner }}</ref> in the cemetery of [[St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church Mortlake]] in southwest London.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Burton |first=Isabel |date=10 December 1890 |title=Sir Richard Burton |pages=2 |work=Morning Post |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/R3215423390/BNCN?u=rtl_ttda&sid=bookmark-BNCN&xid=1b7e774d |via=British Library Newspapers}}</ref> The coffins of Sir Richard and Lady Burton can be seen through a window at the rear of the tent, which can be accessed via a short fixed ladder. Next to the [[lady chapel]] in the church, there is a memorial [[stained-glass window]] to Burton, also erected by Isabel; it depicts Burton as a medieval knight.<ref name="Unchartered">{{cite book |author1=Boyes, Valerie  |author2=Wintersinger, Natascha |name-list-style=amp |publisher=[[Museum of Richmond]] | title =Encountering the Uncharted and Back – Three Explorers: Ball, Vancouver and Burton|pages=9–10 |date=2014 }}</ref> Burton's personal effects and a collection of paintings, photographs and objects relating to him are in the Burton Collection at [[Orleans House Gallery]], [[Twickenham]].<ref name="De Novellis">{{cite web | url=https://artuk.org/search/search/search/keyword:richmond-upon-thames-borough-art-collection- | title=More about Richmond upon Thames Borough Art Collection | work=[[Art UK]] | access-date=15 December 2012 | author=De Novellis, Mark | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Among these is a small quartz stone from [[Mesopotamia]], inscribed in supposed [[Kufic]] script, which has thus far resisted decipherment by experts.<ref name="orl1">{{cite web |title=What am I? |url=https://www.orleanshousegallery.org/news/2018/10/what-am-i/ |website=Orleans House Gallery |access-date=8 January 2023 |date=8 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="ran1">{{cite web |last1=Randall |first1=T.K. |title=Ancient talisman inscription remains a mystery |url=https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/322570/ancient-talisman-inscription-remains-a-mystery |website=Unexplained mysteries: Archaeology & History |access-date=8 January 2023 |date=October 20, 2018}}</ref>

==Kama Shastra Society==
Burton had long had an interest in sexuality and some erotic literature. However, the [[Obscene Publications Act 1857]] had resulted in many jail sentences for publishers, with prosecutions being brought by the [[Society for the Suppression of Vice]]. Burton referred to the society and those who shared its views as ''[[Mrs Grundy]]''. A way around this was the private circulation of books among the members of a society. For this reason Burton, together with [[Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot]], created the Kama Shastra Society to print and circulate books that would be illegal to publish in public.<ref name=grant>Ben Grant, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3993841 "Translating/'The' “Kama Sutra”"], ''Third World Quarterly'', Vol. 26, No. 3, Connecting Cultures (2005), 509–516</ref>

One of the most celebrated of all his books is his translation of ''[[The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night]]'' (commonly called ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|The Arabian Nights]]'' in English after early translations of [[Antoine Galland]]'s French version) in [[List of stories within The Book of One Thousand and One Nights|ten volumes]] (1885), with seven further volumes being added later. The volumes were printed by the Kama Shastra Society in a subscribers-only edition of one thousand with a guarantee that there would never be a larger printing of the books in this form. The stories collected were often sexual in content and were considered pornography at the time of publication. In particular, the ''Terminal Essay'' in volume 10 of the ''Nights'' contained a 14,000-word essay entitled "[[Pederasty]]" (Volume 10, section IV, D), at the time a synonym for homosexuality (as it still is, in modern French). This was and remained for many years the longest and most explicit discussion of homosexuality in any language. Burton speculated that male homosexuality was prevalent in an area of the southern latitudes named by him the "[[Sotadic zone]]".<ref>{{cite web|title=Sir Richard Francis Burton Explorer of the Sotadic Zone|url=http://paganpressbooks.com/jpl/BURTON.HTM|work=Pagan Press|access-date=16 June 2012|author=Pagan Press|year=1982–2012}}</ref>

Perhaps Burton's best-known book is his translation of ''[[Kama Sutra|The Kama Sutra]]''. It is untrue that he was the translator since the original manuscript was in ancient [[Sanskrit]], which he could not read. However, he collaborated with [[Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot]] on the work and provided translations from other manuscripts of later translations. The Kama Shastra Society first printed the book in 1883 and numerous editions of the Burton translation are in print to this day.<ref name=grant/>

His English translation from a French edition of the Arabic erotic guide ''[[The Perfumed Garden]]'' was printed as ''The Perfumed Garden of the Cheikh Nefzaoui: A Manual of Arabian Erotology'' (1886). After Burton's death, [[Isabel Burton|Isabel]] burnt many of his papers, including a manuscript of a subsequent translation, ''[[The Scented Garden]]'', containing the final chapter of the work, on [[pederasty]]. Burton all along intended for this translation to be published after his death, to provide an income for his widow.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080818133622/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/isabel/romance/chapter38.html The Romance of Lady Isabel Burton (chapter 38)]  by Isabel Burton (1897) (URL accessed 12 June 2006)</ref>

{{Quote box

| title = '''Burton's languages'''

| quote  = By the end of his life, Burton had mastered at least 26 languages, or possibly up to 40 depending on how dialects are classified.<ref>McLynn, Frank (1990), ''Of No Country: An Anthology of the Works of Sir Richard Burton'', [[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner's]], pp. 5–6.</ref>

1. English<br>
2. French<br>
3. [[Occitan language|Occitan]]<br>
:a. [[Gascon dialect|Gascon]]/[[Béarnese dialect]]
4. Italian
:a. [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan Italian]]
5. [[Romani language|Romani]]<br>
6. [[Latin]]<br>
7. [[Classical Greek]]<br>
8. [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]]<br>
9. [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]<br>
:a. [[Urdu]]
10. [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]<br>
11. [[Marathi language|Marathi]]<br>
12. [[Arabic]]<br>
13. [[Persian language|Persian (Farsi)]]<br>
14. [[Pushtu]]<br>
15. [[Sanskrit]]<br>
16. [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]<br>
17. Spanish<br>
18. German<br>
19. [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]]<br>
20. [[Swahili language|Swahili]]<br>
21. [[Amharic]]<br>
22. [[Fang language|Fan]]<br>
23. [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]]<br>
:a. Egba
24. [[Asante dialect|Asante]]<br>
25. [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]<br>
26. [[Aramaic]]<br>
27. Many other West African & Indian dialects
| width = 20%
 
| align = left
 
}}

==Scandals==
[[File:ST-Burton.jpg|thumb|Burton in later life]]

Burton's writings are unusually open and frank about his interest in sex and [[Human sexuality|sexuality]]. His travel writing is often full of details about the sexual lives of the inhabitants of areas he travelled through. Burton's interest in sexuality led him to make measurements of the lengths of the penises of male inhabitants of various regions, which he includes in his travel books. He also describes sexual techniques common in the regions he visited, often hinting that he had participated, hence breaking both sexual and racial [[taboo]]s of his day. Many people at the time considered the Kama Shastra Society and the books it published scandalous.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCh8EIv7b04C&pg=PP1 |title=The highly civilized man: Richard Burton and the Victorian world |author=Kennedy, D. |date=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674025523 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England |oclc=647823711}}</ref>

Biographers disagree on whether or not Burton ever experienced homosexual sex (he never directly acknowledges it in his writing). Rumours began in his army days when [[Charles James Napier]] requested that Burton go undercover to investigate a male [[brothel]] reputed to be frequented by British soldiers. It has been suggested that Burton's detailed report on the workings of the brothel led some to believe he had been a customer.<ref>Burton, Sir Richard (1991) ''Kama Sutra'', Park Street Press, {{ISBN|0-89281-441-1}}, p. 14.</ref> There is no documentary evidence that such a report was written or submitted, nor that Napier ordered such research by Burton, and it has been argued that this is one of Burton's embellishments.<ref>[[#Godsall|Godsall]], pp. 47–48.</ref>

A story that haunted Burton up to his death (recounted in some of his obituaries) was that, during his journey to Mecca disguised as a Muslim, he came close to being discovered one night when he lifted his robe to urinate rather than squatting as an Arab would. It was said that he was seen by an Arab and, to avoid exposure, killed him. Burton denied this, pointing out that killing the boy would almost certainly have led to his being discovered as an impostor. Burton became so tired of denying this accusation that he took to baiting his accusers, although he was said to enjoy the notoriety and even once laughingly claimed to have done it.<ref>[[#Lovell|Lovell]], pp. 185–186.</ref><ref name=Rice1990>{{cite book|last=Rice|first=Edward|title=Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography|year=2001|orig-year=1990|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0306810282|pages=136–137}}</ref> A doctor once asked him: "How do you feel when you have killed a man?", Burton retorted: "Quite jolly, what about you?". When asked by a priest about the same incident Burton is said to have replied: "Sir, I'm proud to say I have committed every sin in the [[Ten Commandments|Decalogue]]."<ref>Brodie, Fawn M. (1967). ''The Devil Drives: A Life of Sir Richard Burton'', W.W. Norton & Company Inc.: New York 1967, p. 3.</ref> [[Stanley Lane-Poole]], a Burton detractor, reported that Burton "confessed rather shamefacedly that he had never killed anybody at any time."<ref name=Rice1990/>

These allegations coupled with Burton's often irascible nature were said to have harmed his career and may explain why he was not promoted further, either in army life or in the diplomatic service. As an obituary described: "...he was ill fitted to run in official harness, and he had a [[Lord Byron|Byronic]] love of shocking people, of telling tales against himself that had no foundation in fact."<ref>[http://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/Athenaeum/at3287.htm Obituary in Athenaeum] No. 3287, 25 October 1890, p. 547.</ref> [[Ouida]] reported: "Men at the FO [Foreign Office]&nbsp;... used to hint dark horrors about Burton, and certainly justly or unjustly he was disliked, feared and suspected&nbsp;... not for what he had done, but for what he was believed capable of doing."<ref>''Richard Burton'' by [[Ouida]], article appearing in the Fortnightly Review June (1906) quoted by [[#Lovell|Lovell]]</ref>

==Sotadic Zone==
[[Image:Sotadic Zone.PNG|thumb|330px|The "Sotadic Zone" of Burton encompassed the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] coastlines of Southern Europe and North Africa, the entire region of the [[Levant]], larger areas of the Middle East and Asia, and all of the Americas.]]

Burton theorized about the existence of a Sotadic Zone in the closing essay of his English translation of ''[[The Arabian Nights]]'' (1885–1886).<ref name="Reyes 2012">{{cite book |last=Reyes |first=Raquel A. G. |editor1-last=Reyes |editor1-first=Raquel A. G. |editor2-last=Clarence-Smith |editor2-first=William G. |year=2012 |title=Sexual Diversity in Asia, c. 600–1950 |chapter=Introduction |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uP57zh13BqQC&pg=PA1 |location=[[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon, Oxfordshire]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |series=Routledge contemporary Asia series |volume=37 |pages=1–3 |isbn=978-0-415-60059-0}}</ref><ref name="Markwell 2008">{{cite journal|last=Markwell|first=Kevin|year=2008|title=The Lure of the "Sotadic Zone"|url=https://glreview.org/article/article-678/|journal=[[The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide]]|volume=15|issue=2}} Excerpted and reprinted with permission from {{cite book|last1=Waitt|first1=Gordon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9v84NxERpjQC|title=Gay Tourism: Culture and Context|last2=Markwell|first2=Kevin|publisher=[[Haworth Press]]|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7890-1602-7|location=New York City}}</ref> He asserted that there exists a geographic-climatic zone in which [[sodomy]] and [[pederasty]] (sexual intimacy between older men and young pubescent/adolescent boys) are [[Endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]],<ref name="Reyes 2012"/><ref name="Markwell 2008"/> prevalent,<ref name="Reyes 2012"/><ref name="Markwell 2008"/> and celebrated among the indigenous inhabitants and within their cultures.<ref name="Markwell 2008"/> The name derives from [[Sotades]],<ref name="Markwell 2008"/> a [[3rd century BC|3rd-century BC]] [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] [[Ancient Greek literature|poet]] who was the chief representative of a group of Ancient Greek writers of obscene, and sometimes [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|pederastic]], [[Ancient Greek comedy|satirical poetry]]; these homoerotic verses are preserved in the ''[[Greek Anthology]]'', a collection of poems spanning the [[Classical Greece|Classical]] and [[Byzantine Greece|Byzantine]] periods of [[Greek literature]].

Burton first advanced his Sotadic Zone concept in the "Terminal Essay",<ref>(§1., D)</ref> contained in Volume 10 of his English translation of ''[[The Arabian Nights]]'', which he called ''[[The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night]]'', published in England in 1886.<ref name="Reyes 2012"/><ref>{{cite book|title=The Book of the Thousand Nights and A Night|year=1886|publisher=Burton Society (Private printing)|location=s.l.|title-link=The Book of the Thousand Nights and A Night}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
===Fiction===
{{Conservatism UK}}
*In the novel ''[[Nostromo]]'' (1904) by [[Joseph Conrad]], the character Martin Decoud is believed to be partly modelled after Don Juan Decoud,{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} the editor of the newspaper ''El Liberal'', described in Burton’s ''Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay'' (1870). 
* In the short story "[[The Aleph (short story)|The Aleph]]" (1945) by Argentine writer [[Jorge Luis Borges]], a manuscript by Burton is discovered in a library. The manuscript contains a description of a mirror in which the whole universe is reflected.
* The [[Riverworld]] series of science fiction novels (1971–83) by [[Philip José Farmer]] has a fictional and resurrected Burton as a primary character.
* [[William Harrison (author)|William Harrison's]] ''Burton and Speke'' is a 1984 novel about the two friends/rivals.<ref>William Harrison, ''Burton and Speke'' (New York: [[St. Martin's Press]], 1984), {{ISBN|978-0-312-10873-1|}}.</ref>
* ''The World Is Made of Glass: A Novel'' by [[Morris West]]<ref>(Coronet Books, 1984), {{ISBN|0-340-34710-4}}.</ref> tells the story of Magda Liliane Kardoss von Gamsfeld in consultation with Carl Gustav Jung; Burton is mentioned on pp.&nbsp;254–7 and again on p.&nbsp;392.
* ''Der Weltensammler''<ref>2006, translated as ''The Collector of Worlds'' [2008].</ref> by the Bulgarian-German writer [[Iliya Troyanov]] is a fictional reconstruction of three periods of Burton's life, focusing on his time in India, his pilgrimage to Medina and Mecca, and his explorations with Speke.
* Burton is the main character in the "Burton and Swinburne" [[steampunk]] series by [[Mark Hodder]] (2010–2015): ''[[The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack]]''; ''The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man''; ''Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon''; ''The Secret of Abdu El Yezdi''; ''The Return of the Discontinued Man''; and ''The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats''. These novels depict an alternate world where Queen Victoria was killed early in her reign due to the inadvertent actions of a time-traveller acting as [[Spring-Heeled Jack]], with a complex constitutional revision making Albert King in her place.
* Though not one of the primary characters in the series, Burton plays an important historical role in the ''Area 51'' series of books by [[Bob Mayer (author)|Bob Mayer]] (written under the pen name Robert Doherty).
* Burton and his partner Speke are recurrently mentioned in one of [[Jules Verne]]'s ''[[Voyages Extraordinaires]]'', the 1863 novel ''[[Five Weeks in a Balloon]]'', as the voyages of Kennedy and Ferguson are attempting to link their expeditions with those of [[Heinrich Barth]] in west Africa.
* In the novel ''The Bookman's Promise'' (2004) by [[John Dunning (detective fiction author)|John Dunning]], the protagonist buys a signed copy of a rare Burton book, and from there Burton and his work are major elements of the story. A section of the novel also fictionalizes a portion of Burton's life in the form of recollections of one of the characters.
* Burton and Speke appear as characters in the historical novel ''The Romantic'' by [[William Boyd (writer)|William Boyd]] (2022).

===Drama===
* In the BBC mini-series ''[[The Search for the Nile]]'' (1971), Burton is portrayed by actor [[Kenneth Haigh]].
* The film ''[[Mountains of the Moon (film)|Mountains of the Moon]]'' (1990) (starring [[Patrick Bergin]] as Burton) relates the story of the Burton–Speke exploration and subsequent controversy over the source of the Nile. The script was based on Harrison's novel.
* In the Canadian film ''[[Zero Patience]]'' (1993), Burton is portrayed by John Robinson as having had "an unfortunate encounter" with the [[Fountain of Youth]] and living in present-day [[Toronto]]. Upon discovering the ghost of the famous [[Gaëtan Dugas|Patient Zero]], Burton attempts to exhibit the finding at his Hall of Contagion at the [[Natural history museum|Museum of Natural History]].
* In the American TV show ''[[The Sentinel (TV series)|The Sentinel]]'', a monograph by Sir Richard Francis Burton is found by one of the main characters, Blair Sandburg, and is the origin of his concept of Sentinels and their roles in their respective tribes.

===Film documentaries===
* In ''The Victorian Sex Explorer'', Rupert Everett documents Burton's travels. Part of the Channel Four (UK) 'Victorian Passions' season. First Broadcast on 9 June 2008.<!--<ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/V/victorian-passions/|work=Channel 4|publisher=Channel 4|access-date=16 June 2012|author=Staff|year=2012}}</ref>-->

==Chronology==
{{hidden begin|ta1=center|border=1px #aaa solid|expanded=y|style=width:810px|title=Timeline of Richard Francis Burton's life (1821–1890)}}
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  mark:(line,white)
  at:1821 text:"1821: Born in Torquay, Devon, United Kingdom."
  at:1840 text:"1840: Enrolls in Trinity College, Oxford."
  at:1842 text:"1842: Expelled from Oxford and joins the army."
  at:1851 text:"1851: Meets Isabel Burton (then Isabel Arundell), his future wife. Publishes first book."
  at:1853 text:"1853: Travels to Meccah and Medina disguised as a pilgrim."
  at:1854 text:"1854: Meets John Hanning Speke."
  at:1855 text:"1855: Burton and Speke attacked and wounded while exploring Berbera."
  at:1856 text:"1856: Burton serves in the army in the Crimean War and becomes engaged to Isabel Arundell."
  at:1858 text:"1858: Burton and Speke explore the Central African lakes, locating Lake Tanganyika (Speke locates Lake Victoria)."
  at:1860 text:"1860: Travels to America, visiting Salt Lake City and California."
  at:1861 text:"1861: Marries Isabel Burton and becomes consul to Fernando Po (Bioko)."
  at:1865 text:"1865: Appointed consul to Santos."
  at:1869 text:"1869: Appointed consul to Damascus."
  at:1873 text:"1873: Appointed consul to Trieste."
  at:1883 text:"1883: Translates the Kama Sutra with Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot."
  at:1884 text:"1884: Translates The Arabian Nights."
  at:1886 text:"1886: Awarded KCMG (Knight Commander of St Michael and St George)."
  at:1890 text:"1890: Dies of a heart attack in Trieste on October 19 or 20."

  width:30 fontsize:S textcolor:black
  from:1826 till:1839 color: gray   $right text:"1826–1839: Burton family travel through Europe, spending time in France and Italy."
  from:1842 till:1849 color: gray  $right text:"1842–1849: Serves in the army in India."

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{{hidden end}}

==Works and correspondence==
{{Main article|Richard Francis Burton bibliography}}

Burton published over 40 books and countless articles, monographs and letters. A great number of his journal and magazine pieces have never been catalogued. Over 200 of these have been collected in PDF facsimile format at burtoniana.org.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.burtoniana.org/minor/minor_works.htm|title=Shorter Works by Richard Francis Burton}}</ref>

Brief selections from a variety of Burton's writings are available in [[Frank McLynn]]'s ''Of No Country: An Anthology of Richard Burton'' (1990; New York: [[Charles Scribner's Sons]]).

==See also==
* [[Selim Aga]]
* [[Mausoleum of Sir Richard and Lady Burton]]
* [[List of polyglots]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book |author=Cust, R.N. |year=1895 |location=London |publisher=Trübner & Co. |chapter=Sir Richard Burton |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_RhYYAAAAYAAJ#page/n97/mode/2up |title=Linguistic and oriental essays: written from the year 1861 to 1895 |pages=80–82}}
* {{cite book |last= Brodie |first= Fawn M.|author-link1= Fawn M. Brodie |title= The Devil Drives: A Life of Sir Richard Burton  |publisher= [[W. W. Norton & Company]] |location= New York |year= 1967 |isbn= 978-0-907871-23-1 |url= https://archive.org/details/devildriveslifeo0000brod |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|ref=Burton1893|last=Burton|first=Isabel|author-link=Isabel Burton|title=The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton KCMG, FRGS|publisher=[[Chapman and Hall]]|location=London|year=1893|volume=1 and 2|url=http://burtoniana.org/biography/1893-Isabel-Life/index.html}}
* {{cite book|ref=Carnochan|last=Carnochan|first=W.B.|title=The Sad Story of Burton, Speke, and the Nile; or, Was John Hanning Speke a Cad: Looking at the Evidence|year=2006|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford|isbn=978-0-8047-5325-8|page=160|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KJeNMUHZSpIC&q=The+Sad+Story+of+Burton,+Speke,+and+the+Nile}}
* {{cite book|last=Edwardes|first=Allen|author-link=Allen Edwardes|title=Death Rides a Camel|publisher=The Julian Press|location=New York|year=1963}}
* {{cite book|last=Farwell|first=Byron|author-link=Byron Farwell|title=Burton: A Biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|location=New York|year=1963|isbn=978-0-14-012068-4}}
* {{cite book|ref=Godsall|last=Godsall|first=Jon R|title=The Tangled Web – A life of Sir Richard Burton|publisher=Matador Books|location=London|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scwb2eRzsFYC|isbn=978-1906510-428}}
* [[Michael Hastings (playwright)|Hastings, Michael]] (1978), ''Sir Richard Burton. A Biography'', Hodder & Stoughton, London.
* Hitchman, Francis (1887), ''Richard F. Burton, K.C.M.G.: His Early, Private and Public Life with an Account of his Travels and Explorations'', Two volumes; London: Sampson and Low.
* {{cite book|ref=Jeal|last=Jeal|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Jeal|title=Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure|year=2011|publisher=Faber & Faber|location=London|isbn=978-0-300-14935-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PYwFisNvzJ0C}}
* {{cite book|ref=Kennedy|last=Kennedy|first=Dane|title=The Highly Civilized Man: Richard Burton and the Victorian World|year=2005|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-674-01862-4}}
* {{cite book|ref=Lovell|last=Lovell|first=Mary S.|author-link=Mary S. Lovell|title=A Rage to Live: A Biography of Richard & Isabel Burton|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|location=New York|year=1998|isbn=978-0-393-04672-4|url=https://archive.org/details/ragetolivebiogra00love}}
* McDow, Thomas F. '[http://cssaame.dukejournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/30/3/491 Trafficking in Persianness: Richard Burton between mimicry and similitude in the Indian Ocean and Persianate worlds]'. [[Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East]] 30.3 (2010): 491–511. {{ISSN|1089-201X}}
* {{cite book|last=[[Frank McLynn|McLynn, Frank]]|title=From the Sierras to the Pampas: Richard Burton's Travels in the Americas, 1860–69|publisher=Century|location=London|year=1991|isbn=978-0-7126-3789-3}}
* {{cite book|last=McLynn|first=Frank|title=Burton: Snow on the Desert|publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray Publishing]]|location=London|year=1993|isbn=978-0-7195-4818-5|url=https://archive.org/details/burtonsnowuponde00mcly}}
* Newman, James L. (2009), ''Paths without Glory: Richard Francis Burton in Africa'', Potomac Books, Dulles, Virginia; {{ISBN|978-1-59797-287-1}}.
* {{cite book|last=Moorehead|first=Alan|author-link=Alan Moorehead|title=The White Nile|year=1960|publisher=Harper & Row|location=New York|isbn=978-0-06-095639-4|page=448|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBDHGXK1CKcC}}
* {{cite book|last=Ondaatje|first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher Ondaatje|title=Journey to the Source of the Nile|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|location=Toronto|year=1998|isbn=978-0-00-200019-2|url=https://archive.org/details/journeytosourceo00onda}}
* {{cite book|last=Ondaatje|first=Christopher|title=Sindh Revisited: A Journey in the Footsteps of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton|url=https://archive.org/details/sindhrevisitedjo00onda|url-access=registration|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|location=Toronto|year=1996|isbn=978-1-59048-221-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Rice|first=Edward|title=Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: The Secret Agent Who Made the Pilgrimage to Makkah, Discovered the Kama Sutra, and Brought the Arabian Nights to the West|publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]]|location=New York|year=1990}}
* {{cite book|last=Seigel |first=Jerrold|title=Between Cultures: Europe and Its Others in Five Exemplary Lives |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |year=2016|isbn=978-0-8122-4761-9}}
* Sparrow-Niang, Jane (2014). ''Bath and the Nile Explorers: In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Burton and Speke's encounter in Bath, September 1864, and their 'Nile Duel' which never happened. ''Bath: [[Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution]]. {{ISBN|978-0-9544941-6-2}}
* {{Cite journal | last1 = Wisnicki | first1 = Adrian S. | year = 2008 | title = Cartographical Quandaries: The Limits of Knowledge Production in Burton's and Speke's Search for the Source of the Nile | journal = History in Africa | volume = 35 | pages = 455–79 | doi=10.1353/hia.0.0001| s2cid = 162871275 }}
* Wisnicki, Adrian S. (2009). "Charting the Frontier: Indigenous Geography, Arab-Nyamwezi Caravans, and the East African Expedition of 1856–59". ''Victorian Studies'' 51.1 (Aut.): 103–37.
* {{cite book|last=Wright|first=Thomas|title=The Life of Sir Richard Burton|publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]]|location=New York|year=1906|volume=1 and 2 |url=https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97zw/complete.html|isbn=978-1-4264-1455-8|access-date=1 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304155026/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97zw/complete.html|archive-date=4 March 2011|url-status=dead}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last= Millard |first= Candice |title= River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile |publisher= Doubleday |location= New York |date= 2022 |type= Hardback |isbn= 978-0385543101}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Richard Francis Burton}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{EB1911 poster|Burton, Sir Richard Francis}}
{{wikisource author}}
* [http://burtoniana.org Complete Works of Richard Burton at burtoniana.org]. Includes over 200 of Burton's journal and magazine pieces.
* {{Gutenberg author |id=898 | name=Sir Richard Francis Burton}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Richard Francis Burton}}
* {{Librivox author |id=3163}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}<!-- This template generates a listing that is inappropriate here. 2019-12-09 --> – index to world holdings of Burton archival materials
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11764/ ''The Penetration of Arabia'' by David George Hogarth (1904)] – discusses Burton in the second section, "The Successors"
* [http://www.sirrichardburtonmuseum.co.uk/ Capt Sir Richard Burton Museum] (sirrichardburtonmuseum.co.uk), "located in a private residence in central St Ives, Cornwall UK"
* {{LCAuth|n80057204|Sir Richard Francis Burton|172|ue}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Richard Francis}}
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