| A British explorer, writer, and translator, Sir Richard Francis Burton gained fame for his travels in Arabia and Africa. In 1853 Burton disguised himself as an Arab in order to enter and explore the holy Islamic shrines at Mecca, which were forbidden to Europeans. Burton also provided one of the best-known English translations of Arabian Nights (1885-1888), a 16-volume collection of stories from western Asia. Queen Victoria knighted Burton in 1886. |