Greek Proverbs.

Unpublished Burton manuscript. Unpublished autograph manuscript of Burton's projected 'Greek Proverbs', consisting of 182 proverbs in Greek, with English translations and explanatory notes.

This is one of the few manuscripts which survived Lady Isabel Burton's frantic burning of her husband's work in the immediate aftermath of his death. Lady Burton lists all the surviving manuscripts in her possession at the time that she wrote her autobiography of her husband, The Life of Captain Sir Richard F Burton, in 1893 and this work appears in the list. Penzer agrees that this is the same as the 'Materials for a book of Greek Proverbs (Greek Anthology)' in the list and is part of the known canon of Richard Burton's unpublished works. Upon Lady Burton's death her sister Mrs Fitzgerald once again put much of the Buton's accumulated library to the flames, both published and unpublished, in a 'mad fit of wantonness'. It is remarkable that this manuscript has survived two such indiscriminate bonfires.

Burton was a complex man who sought to understand the cultures of other nations without any of the typical British Victorian superiority. He was deeply interested in religious rituals, in large part due to the juxtaposition between his own spiritual ambivalence and his wife's firm Catholicism, and investigated Jewish, Orthodox Christian, and Islamic practices. His most famous investigation in this sphere was of course his surreptitious journey to Mecca, but he also sought to understand other rituals surrounded by secrecy. While acting as British Consul in Damascus his attempts to witness and interrogate hidden or mystified practices landed him in hot water with both the Greek Christian and Jewish communities living in the city. His interest in the forbidden also led him to research the sexual aspect of historic cultures. He was the first to produce English translations of the Kama Sutra, the full The Thousand Nights and a Night, and The Perfumed Garden, the sequel The Scented Garden being the primary victim of Isabel's burning due to its explicit nature, as well as interrogating the ancient Greek custom of Pederasty in his 'Terminal Essay' which remained for decades the longest and frankest discussion of homosexuality ever published. Burton's scientific approach, despite sometimes leading him astray, produced unique insights into the cultures he investigated across a wide array of subject areas.

Some of the Greek proverbs in this work are from Burton's own encounters: proverb 7, for example, Burton describes as 'said to a fool - why I know not'. This work, however, is not just a record of his encounter with the Greek language. There are purchase slips of Greek language books loosely inserted, suggesting that he was widening his research in an attempt to produce an exhaustive work. This work stands testament to Burton's broad approach to investigating cultures, Greek being one of which he was most fond, and is a lasting piece of evidence of the multifaceted nature of Burton and his interests.

Also loosely inserted is: a manuscript letter by Dr Georgio G. Cavadia to Burton (when Consul at Trieste), dated 1879, referring to Burton's projected work on Greek and Slav proverbs, and offering him information on Greek proverbs; a manuscript purchase slip of several books on Greek language, mythology and geography; a slip advertising a book with the contents 'Greek Pronunciation' underlined; and a page of manuscript Greek in Burton's hand which appears to accompany the introduction in the first volume of the manuscript.

52pp autograph manuscript in two volumes, 4to (24.2 x 18.3 cm); contains 182 proverbs in Greek, with English translations and explanatory notes, written on rectos only, except for addenda by Burton written on some versos, 3pp related notes by Burton loosely inserted; contemporary blue wrappers, titles to upper covers in Burton's hand, together with 3pp ALS addressed to Burton by G. G. Cavadia, in Italian, dated Cephalonia, 1879; housed in black cloth slipcase, gilt lettering to spine.

Penzer p.182; Lady Burton (Life), II, pp.454-455.