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A Man had a wife the fame of whose beauty was spread abroad and his neighbours said: “Indeed this man must be happy for he has more good luck that the king as he possesses the Queen of Beauty as his bedfellow”. Now it so happened that within his own house this man knew no … Read more

Joris-Karl Huysmans was a French writer writing mainly in the 19th century. He wrote a trilogy  of books centering on Durtal who undergoes the change from a dissolute disaffected youth who at one time participates in a black mass (supposed to be based on a real life experience) to a conversion to catholic mysticism.  This … Read more

Burton was a prolific writer. A complete list of the published works of Sir Richard Burton has been compiled and can be seen on the Burtoniana site Sir Richard Burton – Published Works – Digitized Major Works Minor Works My thanks to the webmaster of the Burtoniana site for allowing me to link to this … Read more

There have been many translations of the 1001 Arabian Nights, the unique collection of tales has undergone many changes and additions since they were first fell upon in the West. Burton’s version was designed for a specific range of rather upper class connoisseurs. There were originally ten volumes with a further six supplementary volumes bound in … Read more

The first Sir Richard Burton book I owned was bought from a disreputable book and magazine shop on Tib Street, Manchester in 1961. It’s probably still there but more than likely rebranded as an ‘Adult Shop’. At the time I would have been twelve with a keen interest in both chemistry and the occult. The … Read more

Aleister Crowley was a notorious occultist, mountaineer and all round bete noir of late Victorian and Edwardian England. He died in obscurity in an Eastbourne boarding house in 1947. His enjoyable ‘auto-hagiography’ – ‘The Confessions of Aleister Crowley’ are dedicated to Sir Richard Burton. It may we be that Crowley modelled himself to some extent on Burton … Read more