respecting the
work.

The first began "Captain Burton, having neither agent nor publisher
for his forthcoming Arabian Nights, requests that all subscribers will
kindly send their names to him personally (Captain Burton, Trieste,
Austria), when they will be entered in a book kept for the purpose." It
was then mentioned that there would be ten volumes at a guinea apiece,
[415] each to be paid for on delivery, that 1,000 copies would be
printed, and that no cheaper edition would be issued. The second
dealt with the advantages of the work to students of Arabic. The third
consisted of an article welcoming the work from The Daily Tribune, New
York, written by G. W. S(malley). Burton posted about 20,000 of these
circulars at an expense of some L80, but received only 300 favourable
replies. Lady Burton, in dismay, then wrote to Mr. Payne begging for
advice. Several letters passed between them, and Mr. Payne sent her
the names of the subscribers to his own book and lists of other likely
persons. A second shower of circulars effected the desired purpose.
Indeed it did far more, for the number of favourable replies ultimately
rose to 2,000. But as we have seen, Burton had restricted himself to the
issue of 1,000. So he found that he had made precisely the same mistake
as Mr. Payne. However, it could not be remedied.

123. The Book of the Sword.

This year was published Burton's The Book of the Sword, which he
dedicated, appropriately, to the memory of his old friend Alfred Bates
Richards, who had died in 1876. It is a history of the sword in all
times and countries down to the Middle Ages, [416] with numerous
illustrations, the interest being mainly archaeological. Of "The Queen
of Weapons" he ever spoke glowingly. "The best of calisthenics," he
says, "this energetic educator teaches the man to carry himself like a
soldier. A compendium of gymnastics, it increases strength and activity,
dexterity, and rapidity of movement. The foil is still the best training
tool for the consensus of eye and hand, for the judgment of distance
and opportunity, and, in fact, for the practice of combat. And thus
swordsmanship engenders moral confidence and self-reliance, while it
stimulates a habit of resource."

124. The Lyrics of Camoens, 1884.

This same year, too, he published his translation of the Lyrics of
Camoens, in which, as will have been judged from the letters already
quoted, he had been assisted by Mr. John Payne,