Sir Richard F. Burton (1821–1890) stands as one of the most illustrious explorers and travel writers of the 19th century. His vivid tales of ventures across India, Arabia, Africa, and North America captured imaginations far and wide during his lifetime. Even beyond his earthly years, Burton's legacy endured through his remarkable translations, with his rendition of The Arabian Nights in 1885 securing his place in literary history long after he passed away in Trieste, Italy.

Born in Torquay, Devonshire, Burton was the son of Joseph Netterville Burton, a British army officer, and Martha Baker. From an early age, he was immersed in a tapestry of diverse cultures. By the age of nineteen, when he entered Trinity College at Oxford, he had already become a polyglot, acquainted with a multitude of languages and dialects.

After his expulsion from Oxford in 1842 for attending horse races, Burton embarked on a new chapter by joining the army of the East India Company, moving to India. By the time he departed India in 1849, he had mastered numerous regional languages. A study he was tasked with on the homosexual brothels of Karachi embroiled him in controversy with his superiors, compounded by a bout of cholera, which cast a shadow over his military career upon his return to England. Undeterred, Burton turned his experiences into his inaugural publication: Goa, and the Blue Mountains; or, Six Months of Sick Leave, a vivid account of Goa's native people, the Malabar Hindus, and the polyandry-practicing Todas of the mountains.

In 1852, Burton etched his name into history as the first Westerner to step foot in the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, a daring feat requiring him to don a meticulous disguise, as entry was forbidden to non-Muslims on pain of death. The tales of his daring escapades only heightened his fame in England, and his book chronicling this journey, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah, was met with great acclaim, considered one of his finest works even into the early 2000s.

Burton's adventurous spirit was undiminished by matrimony. In 1861, he wed Isabel Arundell, a woman of fortune and devout Catholic faith. Together, they continued to traverse the globe, with appointments in West Africa, Brazil, and Damascus. Eventually, they settled in Trieste, where Burton penned his most celebrated works: the extensive ten-volume A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, its six-volume companion Supplemental Nights, and the provocative The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, which he published anonymously due to its contentious nature.

Though an ardent devotee of cultural exploration, Burton harbored imperialist beliefs, deeming many customs he encountered superior to those of Britain. Yet, he unwaveringly upheld the notion of European superiority over African and Middle Eastern races throughout his life.

Knighted in 1886, Burton's illustrious journey came to an end four years later. Troubled by her husband's fascination with erotica, Isabel, his widow, incinerated several of his works. Nevertheless, a trove of Burton's writings endured, with posthumous publications such as The Jew, the Gypsy, and El Islam and Wanderings in Three Continents ensuring his voice continued to echo across the ages.

Born on March 19, 1821, in Torquay, Devonshire, Richard Francis Burton was the eldest son of Mary Baker and Colonel Joseph Netterton Burton. His father, an Irish officer, had just ended a rather uneventful military career by the time of Burton's birth. Seeking a change of scenery, the family moved to Tours, France, where young Richard's formative years were marked by frequent travels across the European continent. These travels afforded him the opportunity to become fluent in several European languages, setting the stage for his later linguistic...