F.F. Arbuthnot

F.F. Arbuthnot was the publishing name of Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, a British scholar, translator, and civil servant interested in Arabic, Persian, and Indian writing. Born in 1833, he spent much of his early career in India and later helped revive the Oriental Translation Fund in 1891. William Heinemann released Arabic Authors: A Manual of Arabian History and Literature in 1890. The book offers a chronological introduction to political history, poetry, prose, scholarship, and storytelling, moving from early Arabia through major caliphates and literary centers. Later chapters discuss prominent writers and the transmission of works such as the Arabian Nights. Arbuthnot designed the survey for general English readers when access to translated material was limited. Darf Publishers issued a facsimile edition in 1986, preserving its structure and historical viewpoint. Arabic Authors belongs to Arbuthnot's broader effort to bring Asian literary traditions into English-language study, alongside editorial and translation projects and his books Persian Portraits and The Mysteries of Chronology.