Chapter 18 Arabist and Consul in Damascus
Sir Richard Burton and the Problematic Nature of His Translation of The Thousand and One Nights
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Abstract
Sir Richard Burton is famous for his feats of exploration and his translation of the Arabian Nights. He was British consul in Damascus from 1868 to 1871 and during his brief tenure of that post he attracted much criticism from the Ottoman authorities, the Jews of Damascus, other British diplomats and the Foreign Office in London. Though he had interested himself in the topography and antiquities of Syria during his consulship, he had shown no interest at all in Arabic literature or manuscripts. It is clear that when he arrived in Damascus his Arabic was still poor. It is also clear that when he began to translate the Arabian Nights in 1884 his knowledge of that language was remained poor and the translation he produced was heavily dependent on the earlier one by John Payne.