“Consolatory” Writing: Literary and Non-Literary Works of Consul Richard Burton
17 February 2026
Lecture by Riccardo Cepach
A new event in the lecture series promoted by the Cultural Association “Manlio Cecovini Study Society” is scheduled for Tuesday 17 February at 6.00 pm. At the Antico Caffè San Marco in Trieste, Riccardo Cepach will give a lecture entitled “‘Consolatory’ Writing: Literary and Non-Literary Works of Consul Richard Burton.”
A singular figure, until recently almost forgotten in Trieste yet the object of passionate interest among enthusiasts worldwide, Richard Burton is remembered—when he is remembered at all—more for his exploits as an explorer (the “pilgrimage” to Mecca, the expeditions in search of the sources of the Nile, the journey to the stronghold of Harar, to equatorial Africa of the head-hunters) or for his complete translations of The Thousand and One Nights and the Kamasutra, than for his original scientific and literary works. And yet Burton was an extraordinary polymath, the author of over forty publications devoted to a wide range of subjects, from anthropology to geography, from archaeology to history, from economics to botany, biology, fencing techniques, and even verse poetry.
THE SPEAKER – A native of Trieste, with a PhD in Italian Studies, and the author of numerous books, essays and articles, as well as conferences, exhibitions and audiovisual projects on literary topics, Riccardo Cepach is the creator and director of the LETS Museum – Literature Trieste (https://lets.trieste.it), which houses the Svevo Museum, the Joyce Museum and the Saba Museum. He has collaborated on the development of Trieste’s cultural itineraries (www.triestemetro.eu), with particular responsibility for the literary route. He is the artistic director of the festivals “Bloomsday. A Celebration of Joyce” and “Happy Birthday, Svevo.”
He contributed to the success of the ambitious European project Ulysses European Odyssey (https://ulysseseurope.eu) and has repeatedly focused on the explorer and orientalist Richard Francis Burton, on whom he also wrote and directed a documentary (The Lion and the Lioness. The Life of Sir Richard Burton and His Wife Isabel, 2010). Among his publications are: Quanto hai lavorato per me, caro Fortuna! Lettere e amicizia fra Umberto Saba e Aldo Fortuna (MGS Press, 2007); Guarire dalla cura. Italo Svevo e la medicina (Museo Sveviano, 2008); Alla peggio andrò in biblioteca. I libri ritrovati di Italo Svevo (Biblohaus, 2013). In 2023, the centenary year of Zeno’s Conscience, La Funzione S. e altri esperimenti di critica sveviana was published by Cesati, and Ultima Sigaretta. Italo Svevo e il buon proposito by Acquario.
For further information about the events, please write to manliocecovini@studysociety.it.
A new event in the lecture series promoted by the Cultural Association “Manlio Cecovini Study Society” is scheduled for Tuesday 17 February at 6.00 pm. At the Antico Caffè San Marco in Trieste, Riccardo Cepach will give a lecture entitled “‘Consolatory’ Writing: Literary and Non-Literary Works of Consul Richard Burton.”
A singular figure, until recently almost forgotten in Trieste yet the object of passionate interest among enthusiasts worldwide, Richard Burton is remembered—when he is remembered at all—more for his exploits as an explorer (the “pilgrimage” to Mecca, the expeditions in search of the sources of the Nile, the journey to the stronghold of Harar, to equatorial Africa of the head-hunters) or for his complete translations of The Thousand and One Nights and the Kamasutra, than for his original scientific and literary works. And yet Burton was an extraordinary polymath, the author of over forty publications devoted to a wide range of subjects, from anthropology to geography, from archaeology to history, from economics to botany, biology, fencing techniques, and even verse poetry.
THE SPEAKER – A native of Trieste, with a PhD in Italian Studies, and the author of numerous books, essays and articles, as well as conferences, exhibitions and audiovisual projects on literary topics, Riccardo Cepach is the creator and director of the LETS Museum – Literature Trieste (https://lets.trieste.it), which houses the Svevo Museum, the Joyce Museum and the Saba Museum. He has collaborated on the development of Trieste’s cultural itineraries (www.triestemetro.eu), with particular responsibility for the literary route. He is the artistic director of the festivals “Bloomsday. A Celebration of Joyce” and “Happy Birthday, Svevo.”
He contributed to the success of the ambitious European project Ulysses European Odyssey (https://ulysseseurope.eu) and has repeatedly focused on the explorer and orientalist Richard Francis Burton, on whom he also wrote and directed a documentary (The Lion and the Lioness. The Life of Sir Richard Burton and His Wife Isabel, 2010). Among his publications are: Quanto hai lavorato per me, caro Fortuna! Lettere e amicizia fra Umberto Saba e Aldo Fortuna (MGS Press, 2007); Guarire dalla cura. Italo Svevo e la medicina (Museo Sveviano, 2008); Alla peggio andrò in biblioteca. I libri ritrovati di Italo Svevo (Biblohaus, 2013). In 2023, the centenary year of Zeno’s Conscience, La Funzione S. e altri esperimenti di critica sveviana was published by Cesati, and Ultima Sigaretta. Italo Svevo e il buon proposito by Acquario.
For further information about the events, please write to manliocecovini@studysociety.it.
