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Andrew Archibald Paton FRGS[1] (19 March 1811, in Edinburgh – 5 April 1874) was a British diplomat, orientalist, and author of travel books and novels.[2]
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.[2]
From 1839 to 1843 he was employed in Egypt and then Syria. In 1843 he was appointed acting consul-general in Serbia. In 1858 he became vice-consul at Missolonghi in Greece. In 1859 he was transferred to Lübeck and in May 1862 appointed consul at Ragusa and at Bocca di Cattaro.[2]
His book Highlands and Islands of the Adriatic gives an interesting account of Signor Arnieri, the principal land owner of the island of Korčula.[3] Paton's book Researches on the Danube and the Adriatic mentions the significance given by the people of Ragusa to the mathematician Marino Ghetaldi.[4] 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.[5][6]
On 27 April 1852 Paton married Eliza Calvert at Saint Anne Soho, Westminster, London; they had a daughter Eliza Rebecca Anne Paton.
