The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, Volume 2

Burton, Isabel, Lady, 1831-1896Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5
Word count
1.8M words
Chapters
178

Tags

English Originals General Biography Human GeographyHistorical ReappraisalPortrait GalleryLegendary LivesAdventure JourneyExplorerEastern TravelogueExotic CultureColonial EraCross-Cultural View

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, volume 2 (of 2) by Lady Isabel BurtonAuthor: Burton, Isabel, Lady, 1831-1896,Language: English, Class: G: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation, Release Date: Jun 5, 2017

Editor's review

This is the second and final volume of Lady Isabel Burton's biography of her husband, Sir Richard Burton. Unlike conventional biographies of explorers, it is written by a wife and fellow traveller, combining close observation of his African expeditions, diplomatic posts and gift for languages with personal recollection and defence, and so has both documentary value and emotional warmth. This volume continues the chronology of the first, letting readers sense the atmosphere of nineteenth-century British exploration and colonial diplomacy, and how a Victorian woman wrote and defended her husband's public image. The prose is late nineteenth-century English biography, with long sentences and dense proper names, and calls for some historical background. As a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook, it suits research reading or admirers of biographical literature rather than beginners seeking a best-selling life.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read volume 1 first or consult a chronology of Burton's life before starting this volume to avoid gaps in the cast of characters
  2. Keep a map and a list of proper names at hand, marking African and diplomatic locations as you read
  3. Read selectively by chapter theme, prioritizing the exploration and diplomacy sections
  4. Note the author's defensive tone toward her husband and compare it with third-party sources

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96
  97. 97
  98. 98
  99. 99
  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
  103. 103
  104. 104
  105. 105
  106. 106
  107. 107
  108. 108
  109. 109
  110. 110
  111. 111
  112. 112
  113. 113
  114. 114
  115. 115
  116. 116
  117. 117
  118. 118
  119. 119
  120. 120
  121. 121
  122. 122
  123. 123
  124. 124
  125. 125
  126. 126
  127. 127
  128. 128
  129. 129
  130. 130
  131. 131
  132. 132
  133. 133
  134. 134
  135. 135
  136. 136
  137. 137
  138. 138
  139. 139
  140. 140
  141. 141
  142. 142
  143. 143
  144. 144
  145. 145
  146. 146
  147. 147
  148. 148
  149. 149
  150. 150
  151. 151
  152. 152
  153. 153
  154. 154
  155. 155
  156. 156
  157. 157
  158. 158
  159. 159
  160. 160
  161. 161
  162. 162
  163. 163
  164. 164
  165. 165
  166. 166
  167. 167
  168. 168
  169. 169
  170. 170
  171. 171
  172. 172
  173. 173
  174. 174
  175. 175
  176. 176
  177. 177
  178. 178

FAQ

Can I read volume 2 without having read volume 1? Yes, but with some difficulty. This volume continues the chronology of the first, and many people and events have earlier context; starting here can leave you confused about places, relationships and sequence. It is best to read volume 1 first, or at least consult a chronology of Burton's life and a summary of key events before beginning this volume.
Is this a complete biography or an abridgement? According to the title and the sources, this is the second volume of a two-volume biography, the latter half of the whole work, not a standalone abridgement. It covers the later part of the subject's life and must be read with the first volume for a complete picture.
How does the author's role as wife affect the biography? Isabel Burton was both the subject's wife and his fellow traveller and literary executor, so the narrative carries a clear personal perspective and a defensive intent. This enriches the biography with domestic detail and emotion, but may also favour the subject in controversial matters, so it is best read critically.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Burton, Isabel, Lady, 1831-1896 Author

Lady Isabel Burton (1831–1896) is the author of volumes 1 and 2 of The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, a biography of her husband, the explorer and Orientalist Richard F. Burton; both volumes are held in this collection. Public information about her is limited, and little is known for certain about her detailed life or education. Judging from the work, she drew on her firsthand knowledge as his wife to organize his manuscripts, letters, and travels, writing in a plain and attentive style that values materials and details and combines a family perspective with historical documentary value. The two-volume biography has long been regarded as a foundational source for the study of Richard F. Burton and reflects the style of nineteenth-century British travel writing and biography.