Page 143 - Expanded Media & the MediaPlex

Expanded Media - and the MediaPlex 143/206
Ernest Edwards: Richard Francis Burton c1845
For those who love good science fiction, Burton features fictionally as a central character in Philip José Farmer’s brilliant RiverWorld series 1977-1983. And Burton was an archetype of the poly- lingual, multi-talented Victorian adventurer and explorer. Marcel Theroux, in a Guardian article (May 2020), described him: “Burton, who was born in Torquay in 1821, lived a life of barely credible derring-do, which he recorded in dozens of books and articles. He was particularly interested in the contrast between Victorian prudery and the attitudes of other cultures towards sex and sexual morality. He translated various books of erotica into English. This and his general irascibility made him a controversial figure and hampered his subsequent career as a diplomat. However, a series of army postings gave him the chance for more travel and the time to work on his literary endeavours: the most famous of which is his multi-volume translation of One Thousand And One Nights.”