author
Kenneth R. H. (Kenneth Robert Henderson) Mackenzie
1833–1886
A self-taught Victorian writer and scholar, he moved easily between languages, travel writing, and the esoteric world of Freemasonry. Best remembered for his studies of ritual and symbolism, he brought a wide-ranging curiosity to everything he wrote.
1 Audiobook
Burmah and the Burmese
by Kenneth R. H. (Kenneth Robert Henderson) Mackenzie
About the author
Born in Deptford, England, in 1833, Kenneth Robert Henderson Mackenzie spent part of his childhood in Vienna, an experience that helped shape his gift for languages and his lifelong interest in other cultures. He became known as a linguist, orientalist, and autodidact, building a reputation more through restless learning than through formal academic pathways.
His writing ranged widely. Early on, he published Burmah and the Burmese, and later wrote on major public figures including Bismarck. He is most often associated, though, with Masonic and esoteric scholarship, especially The Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia, a reference work that remained influential in occult and Freemasonic circles.
Mackenzie died in 1886. Today he is remembered as one of those distinctly Victorian men of letters whose interests crossed borders between scholarship, translation, journalism, and secret-society lore.