Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot
Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot was a notable British Orientalist and translator.Biography
Arbuthnot's early career was spent as a civil servant in India; his last post was as Collector for the Bombay government. He was named after his grandfather, Field Marshal Sir John FitzGerald. His first name is sometimes spelled "Foster".
Arbuthnot was well versed in the ancient literature of India. He collaborated with his close friend Sir Richard Burton in the translations of two Sanskrit erotic texts, the Kama Sutra of Vatsayana and The Ananga Ranga, both privately printed by the Kama Shastra Society. He also wrote the books Arabic Authors, The Mysteries of Chronology, Early Ideas and Sex Mythology, Including an Account of the Masculine Cross , which attempts to trace the phallic origins of religious symbols. He edited the Rawżat aṣ-ṣafāʾ by Mīr-Khvānd, translated by the Orientalist Edward Rehatsek from 1891 to 1894.
It is largely due to his work that several of the masterpieces of Arabic, Persian and Indian literature first became available in English translation.
