author
F. F. Arbuthnot
1833–1901
A British orientalist and translator, he spent years in the Indian Civil Service before devoting himself to bringing Arabic and Sanskrit literature to English readers. His books and collaborations helped introduce many Victorian readers to texts that were little known in Britain at the time.
1 Audiobook
Arabic Authors A Manual of Arabian History and Literature
by F. F. Arbuthnot
About the author
Born in Belgaum in the Bombay Presidency on May 21, 1833, Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot was educated in Europe and then entered the Indian Civil Service. He spent much of his working life in Bombay and later returned to England, where his interests in Asian languages and literature became the focus of his writing and translation work.
Arbuthnot is remembered as an orientalist, linguist, and translator with a strong interest in Arabic and Indian literary traditions. He wrote Arabic Authors: A Manual of Arabian History and Literature and collaborated closely with Sir Richard Francis Burton on translations connected with the Kama Shastra Society, including English versions of the Kama Sutra and Ananga Ranga.
He was also involved with the Royal Asiatic Society and helped revive the Oriental Translation Fund in the 1890s. Arbuthnot died in London on May 25, 1901, leaving behind a body of work that reflects both scholarly curiosity and the complicated Victorian-era appetite for translating and circulating Asian classics.