BURTON, Richard Francis (1821–1890)

A handsome 1914 edition of Richard Francis Burton’s philosophical poem The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî, here published with a foreword by Roger Ingpen.

Burton originally presented the poem as a translation from the work of the fictitious Persian poet Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî, supposedly rendered into English by his “friend and pupil.” In reality the work was entirely Burton’s composition, allowing him to explore questions of religion, mortality, scepticism, self-cultivation and the search for meaning behind the protective veil of a fictional Eastern authorship.

First published in a very small edition in 1880, The Kasîdah became one of Burton’s most personal literary works. Its form and philosophical tone draw upon Persian and Arabic poetic traditions while also engaging with contemporary nineteenth-century debates concerning belief, science and human destiny. Penzer notes that fewer than 200 copies of the original edition were probably produced, with fewer than 100 sold.