Articles
Richard Burton's ARABIAN NIGHTS by Stephen Jared - Part 3
Photo by Stephen Jared, courtesy of the Huntington Library.
In the nineteen teens, Henry Huntington obtained letters by Burton. A collector of art and rare books, Huntington was nephew to one of four responsible for the transcontinental railway in America. Around the turn of the last century, many wealthy east coast residents built lavish winter homes in Pasadena, California.
The Huntington Mansion in San Marino (a neighboring city to Pasadena) eventually became The Huntington Library. Today the library contains a substantial collection of rare books and art. They have letters and manuscripts by Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens and Henry David Thoreau. The library currently holds eight million manuscripts and half a million rare books.
Huntington's grandson amassed a sizable collection of material from Richard Francis Burton and T.E. Lawrence. Additionally, in recent history, the Royal Geographical Society felt they couldn't properly house their Burton library, and so they gave it all to the Huntington. Today, the Huntington holds the largest Burton collection in the world.
Photo by Stephen Jared, courtesy of the Huntington Library.
Access is restricted but an earnest researcher shouldn't have too difficult a time, as the current Curator of Literary Manuscripts, Sue Hodson, is remarkably kind.
Biographer Mary S. Lovell spent six weeks at the Huntington engaged in research for her 1999 release, A Rage to Live, A Biography of Richard and Isabel Burton. I reached out to Mary and, though I caught her hard at work, she generously afforded me a little time.
SJ: Prior to your book on the Burtons, you wrote a biography of Jane Digby. Was it her story that prompted interest in the Burtons? I know they were friends in Damascus.
ML: Yes. While I was researching her story I found Isabel's papers that were believed burnt.
SJ: And then you spent three years researching before writing A Rage to Live. There were fascinating revelations. What inspired such commitment on your part?
ML: Interest in Burton, and the fact that Isabel had been traduced by her earlier biographers. Also youth, I couldn't do it now. I don't have the energy.
SJ: Was Isabel ever alarmed by Burton's darkness? He was depressed a lot.
ML: I suspect he had some very deep depressions. Especially in South America when he thought he was washed up. How else can one explain that mad picture of him?
SJ: Great adventure stories often convey the idea that it's not the treasure that's important but the journey. Would Burton have agreed while he was alive?
ML: Burton was simply curious and loved to explore. Coupled with a genuine interest in what were new cultures to him. And yes, of course Isabel was alarmed by Burton's darkness. She tried to cover for him a great deal.
SJ: You mention a number of times that Burton was superstitious. After going to Harar, do you think Burton believed he broke the spell, or do you think he believed it was simply the advancement of colonization? I'm curious how a genius could be superstitious (unless he knew something about the universe we don't).
ML: Burton was a curious mixture. So was Isabel. They were products of their age. They didn't have knowledge we now have. He was open-minded about things that could not be explained, like ghosts.
Photo by Stephen Jared, courtesy of the Huntington Library.
SJ: What do you think of the movie Mountains of the Moon?
ML: I disliked the movie. Why on earth they portrayed Burton with an Irish accent was beyond me.
SJ: But didn't you feel Patrick Bergin captured that old world manliness mixed with intelligence and courage? I thought he was great, and thoroughly enjoy the film.
ML: I feel it sold him short, although I thought the role of Isabel was well acted.
SJ: Iain Glen played Speke in the film. He was great. He's great today on Game of Thrones. But he's naturally intelligent. It may have strengthened the drama in the film, but was it true to history? Your book portrays Speke as more of a small-minded, quiet, devious schemer. At what point did you begin to see him this way? Did you have any preconceived ideas about Speke before starting?
ML: I had no preconceived ideas about Speke before I wrote the book. I know the family - all charming. But the evidence just built up against Speke as I worked. That's how he came out in research.
SJ: I think the Arabian Nights meant a lot more to Burton than Kama Sutra. Would you agree?
ML: Yes.
SJ: I'll let you go, but am curious - what're you working on now?
ML: I am trying to get a dissertation on the Syrian conflict out by tomorrow (April 30, 2014) for a UN source, and then back to my present writing project 'The Riviera Set' which I have to finish by October.
A Rage to Live is a monumental work. Among many new insights found in Lovell's book is the much deeper portrait of Isabel. Lovell's research really paid off. Isabel comes to life not only as a wife but also as a courageous and capable partner to Burton's adventuring, and a partner to his writing. There's a story of them trekking from Damascus through the Syrian Desert to the ruins of Palmyra. Isabel faced sandstorms, Bedawi raiders, and days without water with a phrase she said many times to her husband: "I will follow you to the death." At this time she had been regularly contributing newspaper columns back home as "correspondent from Damascus." Isabel was only the fifth or sixth European woman to set eyes upon Palmyra. Writing of the experience, she said, "A more imposing sight I never looked upon. So gigantic, so extensive, so bare, so desolate ... this splendid city of the dead ... in its solitary grandeur. You feel as if you are wandering in some forgotten world."
THE 19TH CENTURY PAINTERS
Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904) was one of the 19th century's most successful artists. A French academic painter, mostly famous for his historical scenes, made multiple trips to the Orient. Having put his own eyes to the backdrop of Burton's adventures within the same era make him a perfect visual companion to the great explorer's life.
Edwin Lord Weeks (1849-1903) almost became a student of Gerome. He had applied, but while waiting for acceptance, found comfort at another Parisian Art Master's studio. Nevertheless, Weeks and Gerome certainly came to know each other. He also traveled extensively throughout North Africa and the Middle East. An American painter, Weeks mostly became known for his work in India. Though not too much had likely changed, forty years had gone by between the India of Burton's youth and the works Weeks created while there.
Gustave Bauernfeind (1848-1904) was a German Jew who settled in Jerusalem in 1898, traveled throughout Syria and Lebanon. During his lifetime he was the most popular Orientalist painter in Germany. As with so many academic artists, Modernism robbed him of his notoriety. His works were rediscovered in the 1980s.
Alphonse-Etienne Dinet (1861-1929) was a French painter who converted to Islam. He moved to southern Algeria in 1903. Like Burton, he became involved in translating Arabic literature. In the last year of his life he made the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Frederic Leighton (1830-1896) was one of the most famous British artists of the nineteenth century. He travelled widely making his first trip to Africa at the age of twenty-seven, visiting Algeria.. This was the beginning of a lifetime's involvement with North Africa and the Middle East. He and Burton were friends during the last twenty years of Burton’s life.
Click images to view larger versions.