J. Buchan (John Buchan) Telfer

Born in 1830, John Buchan Telfer served in the Royal Navy and later became known as an author, translator, and man of wide-ranging interests. He took part in the Crimean War, received the Baltic Medal, and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1875.

His writing was shaped by travel and long periods abroad. In the 1870s he spent several years in the Russian Empire, journeyed through the Caucasus, and turned those experiences into The Crimea and Transcaucasia, a detailed travel narrative that helped introduce English-language readers to the region.

Telfer also wrote historical and biographical works, including books on the Chevalier d'Eon and Catherine the Great, and he translated earlier texts such as The Bondage and Travels of Johann Schiltberger. His work combines the curiosity of a traveler with the instincts of a Victorian compiler, preserving stories, places, and personalities that might otherwise have slipped from view.