Today, the achievements of the great Victorian explorer and linguist Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) may be more widely acknowledged than they were in his own time. The centennial of his death was marked in England and America with exhibits, conferences, and book-length studies of his life and work.

In this volume, eight leading scholars and book collectors present a remarkable composite picture of Burton's legacy: his adventures as an explorer of unknown lands and little-known cultures; his achievements as a geographer and translator; the mysteries of his relations with other explorers and of his personal life. The illustrations represent rare items in Burton's own library and the collections of Edwards H. Metcalf and Quentin Keynes.

Alan Jutzi is the Avery Chief Curator of Rare Books at the Huntington Library.