1941 Sir Richard Burton's Wife Isabel Arundell Illustrated Biography First Edit.
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1941 SIR RICHARD BURTON'S WIFE ISABEL ARUNDELL ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY FIRST EDIT.. From 1941, a rare first edition, Sir Richard Burton's Wife, by Jean Burton, a biography of Isabel Arundell. Isabel Burton (née Arundell; 20 March 1831 – 22 March 1896), later known as Lady Burton, was an English writer, explorer and adventurer. From 1941, a rare first edition, Sir Richard Burton's Wife, by Jean Burton, a biography of Isabel Arundell. First edition on the copyright page. Sized 8x5 inches, 378 pages plus an index. Isabel Burton (née Arundell; 20 March 1831 – 22 March 1896), later known as Lady Burton, was an English writer, explorer and adventurer. She was the wife and partner of the explorer, adventurer, and writer Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890). Isabel Burton was an intelligent, resourceful and devout woman, but is always seen in the shadow of her husband, one of the most famous of all Victorians. She was a strong supporter and advocate for her husband and assisted him in many of his most significant writings. He credited her with being his most ardent supporter. He encouraged her to write and she wrote a number of books, including a history of their travels in Syria and Palestine, as well as an autobiography, published posthumously. Some scholars believe that Richard Francis Burton himself wrote under her name, though this is unclear. Isabel Burton is perhaps best known for burning his papers and manuscripts after his death, including his revised translation of The Perfumed Garden, which was to be called The Scented Garden, and of which the largest part consisted of the usually unpublished final chapter dealing with pederasty, plus Burton's extensive (and comprehensive) notes on the subject. It has been summed up: His wife, fearful lest her husband be thought vicious because he collected data on what Victorian England called vice, at once burned the projected new edition of The Perfumed Garden he had been annotating. She then wrote a biography of Burton in which she tried to fashion this Rabelaisian scholar-adventurer into a good Catholic, a faithful husband, and a refined and modest man. Afterward she burned almost all of his 40-year collection of diaries and journals. The loss to history and anthropology was monumental; the loss to Burton’s biographers, irreparable.
