Andrew Archibald Paton

Andrew Archibald Paton (19 March 1811, in Edinburgh – 5 April 1874) was a British diplomat, orientalist, and author of travel books and novels.

Biography At the age of twenty-five he landed at Naples, and walked thence, with staff and knapsack, to Vienna. Thereafter travelling up and down among the Eastern European states, and also in Syria and Egypt, he acquired an accurate and extensive insight into the manners, customs, and political life of the East, which, with descriptions of the countries themselves, he communicated to the public in an interesting series of books. Paton's book Researches on the Danube and the Adriatic mentions the significance given by the people of Ragusa to the mathematician Marino Ghetaldi. Paton's literary work is of interest for his book on the life and work of Stendhal and published correspondence with Sir Austen Henry Layard.

Henry James wrote an unfavourable, unsigned review in The Nation for Paton's book on Stendhal.

On 27 April 1852 Paton married Eliza Calvert at Saint Anne Soho, Westminster, London; they had a daughter Eliza Rebecca Anne Paton.

Selected publications 1843-72: letters (20) to Sir Austen Layard 1844 The modern Syrians; or, Native Society in Damascus, Aleppo, and the mountains of the Druses, from notes made in those parts during the years 1841.2-3 1845 : Servia, Youngest Member of the European Family or, a residence in Belgrade and travels in the Highlands and Woodlands of the Interior, during the years 1843 and 1844. 1849 : Highlands and islands of the Adriatic : including Dalmatia, Croatia, and the southern provinces of the Austrian Empire 1851 : The Goth and the Hun, or, Transylvania, Debreczin, Pesth, and Vienna, in 1850 1851 : The mamelukes: a romance of life in grand Cairo .. (Volume 1) 1851 : The mamelukes: a romance of life in grand Cairo .. (Volume 2) 1851 : The mamelukes: a romance of life in grand Cairo .. (Volume 3) 1855 : The Bulgarian, the Turk, and the German 1860 : Melusina, a new Arabian night's entertainment 1861 : Researches on the Danube and the Adriatic : or, Contributions to the modern history of Hungary and Transylvania, Dalmatia and Croatia, Servia and Bulgaria 1863 : A history of the Egyptian revolution, from the period of the Mamelukes to the death of Mohammed Ali; from Arab and European memoirs, oral tradition, and local research 1867 : Sketches of the ugly side of human nature 1870 : A history of the Egyptian revolution, from the period of the Mamelukes to the death of Mohammed Ali; from Arab and European memoirs, oral tradition, and local research (Volume 1) 1870 : A history of the Egyptian revolution, from the period of the Mamelukes to the death of Mohammed Ali; from Arab and European memoirs, oral tradition, and local research (Volume 2) 1874 : Henry Beyle (otherwise de Stendahl); a critical and biographical study aided by original documents and unpublished letters from the private papers of the family of Beyle