Still getting caught up on old book jots; here’s one from October, 2021:

I just finished reading Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton by Edward Rice (1990), a biography of the Victorian-era explorer, writer, linguist, and translator.

This book is a long and detailed account of his life. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the book is the historical and social context provided by Rice, which helps the reader feel immersed in Burton’s world. The contextualizing helps to better understand the episodes of Burton’s life and some of his attitudes and beliefs. It also helps the reader come to a better understanding of the past in general, as it both creates an intelligible historic atmosphere and touches upon many larger events in various parts of the world.

Burton lived an unusual life with much wandering and much writing.

Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands … The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood … A journey, in fact, appeals to Imagination, to Memory, to Hope, — the three sister Graces of our moral being. — Richard Francis Burton