Samuel Butler (novelist)
Samuel Butler was born on the 4th of December 1835 at the rectory in Langar, Nottinghamshire. His father Rev Thomas Butler had been a son of Dr Samuel Butler who served as headmaster of Shrewsbury School before becoming Bishop of Lichfield. The younger Samuel described his parents as brutal and stupid by nature. He recalled that from his earliest recollections he could call to mind no time when he did not fear him and dislike him. He wrote later that his father never liked him nor did he like his father. This antagonistic relationship shaped every aspect of his early education and future rebellion against authority.
His education began at home with frequent beatings which were common for the era. At age twelve he was sent to Shrewsbury where he endured hard life under headmaster Benjamin Hall Kennedy. He later drew Kennedy as Dr Skinner in his semi-autobiographical novel The Way of All Flesh. In 1854 he went up to St John's College Cambridge where he obtained a first in Classics in 1858. The graduate society of St John's is named the Samuel Butler Room in his honour today.
In September 1859 on the ship Roman Emperor Samuel Butler emigrated to New Zealand. He went there like many early British settlers of materially privileged origins to maximise distance between himself and his family. He lived as a sheep farmer on Mesopotamia Station and wrote about this experience in A First Year in Canterbury Settlement published in 1863. He made a handsome profit when he sold his farm but his chief achievement during the time consisted of drafts and source material for much of his masterpiece Erewhon.
In 1863 four years after Darwin published On the Origin of Species the editor of a New Zealand newspaper called The Press published a letter captioned Darwin among the Machines written by Butler but signed Cellarius. It compared human evolution to machine evolution prophesying that machines would eventually replace humans in supremacy over earth. The letter stated: In the course of ages we shall find ourselves the inferior race. This piece raised themes now debated by proponents of technological singularity such as computers evolving faster than humans and racing toward an unknowable future through explosive technological change. When Erewhon appeared anonymously in 1872 it caused speculation about its author until Butler revealed himself.
Butler accepted evolution but rejected Darwin's theory of natural selection. In his book Evolution Old and New published in 1879 he accused Darwin of borrowing heavily from Buffon Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck while playing down these influences and giving them little credit. Historian Peter J Bowler described Butler as a defender of neo-Lamarckian evolution. He noted that Butler began to see in Lamarckism the prospect of retaining an indirect form of design argument instead of creating from without God might exist within process of living development represented by its innate creativity.
Butler wrote four books on evolution including Life and Habit Unconscious Memory and Luck or Cunning As Main Means Of Organic Modification. His writings were criticised by scientists who pointed out that Butler admitted to be writing entertainment rather than science. They were not taken seriously by most professional biologists. George Romanes stated that Butler's views on evolution had no basis in science. Alfred Russel Wallace also reviewed Evolution Old and New negatively for Nature magazine. Despite this Gregory Bateson often mentioned Butler and saw value in some ideas calling him ablest contemporary critic of Darwinian evolution. Butler and Darwin argued fiercely in last years of Darwin's life over text of biography of Dr Erasmus Darwin which ended in complete personal estrangement.
His first significant male friendship was with young Charles Pauli son of German businessman in London whom Butler met in New Zealand. They returned to England together in 1864 and took neighbouring apartments in Clifford's Inn. Butler undertook to finance Pauli's study of law by paying him regular sum which continued long after friendship had cooled until Butler spent all savings. On Pauli's death in 1892 Butler shocked to learn Pauli benefited from similar arrangements with other men and died wealthy without leaving Butler anything in will. After 1878 Butler became close friends with Henry Festing Jones who gave up job as solicitor to be personal literary assistant and travelling companion at salary of £200 a year.
Butler developed theory that Odyssey came from pen of young Sicilian woman whose scenes reflected coast of Sicily especially territory of Trapani and nearby islands. He described evidence for this in The Authoress Of The Odyssey published in 1897 and in introduction footnotes to prose translation of Odyssey published in 1900. Robert Graves elaborated hypothesis in novel Homer's Daughter. In lecture entitled Humour Of Homer delivered at Working Men's College London in 1892 Butler argued Homer's deities in Iliad are like
humans but without virtue and must have desired listeners not take them seriously.
He translated Iliad in 1898 and wrote Shakespeare's Sonnets Reconsidered in 1899 proposing sonnets if rearranged tell story about homosexual affair. His other works included Alps And Sanctuaries Of Piedmont And Canton Ticino published in 1881 and Ex Voto published in 1888 which reflected close interest in art of Sacri Monti. These writings demonstrated his wide-ranging intellectual curiosity beyond fiction into theology philosophy and classical studies.
The semi-autobiographical novel The Way Of All Flesh did not appear in print until after death as he considered tone of satirical attack on Victorian morality too contentious at time. It was published after Butler's death by literary executor R A Streatfeild in 1903. This version altered Butler's text in many ways and cut important material. Manuscript edited by Daniel F Howard as Ernest Pontifex Or The Way Of All Flesh published for first time in 1964. The novel begun in
1870 and not touched after 1885 was so modern when published in 1903 that it may be said to have started new school particularly foreshadowing use of psychoanalysis in fiction through treatment of Ernest Pontifex.
Butler died on the 18th of June 1902 aged 66 in nursing home on St John's Wood Road London. By wish he was cremated at Woking Crematorium and by differing accounts ashes were dispersed or buried in unmarked grave. His financial problems resolved last 16 years of life following aunt's death in 1880 and father's death in 1886 which allowed him to lay out four roads named Bishop Canon Clifford And Alfred Streets.
Among science fiction writers Book Of Machines has canonical status originating conceit machines develop intelligent capacities enslave mankind. Frank Herbert's Dune features Butlerian Jihad ancient revolt against thinking machines resulting their prohibition named after Butler. English novelist Aldous Huxley acknowledged influence of Erewhon on novel Brave New World. Huxley's Utopian counterpart Island also refers prominently to Erewhon. Jacques Barzun asked could man do more to bewilder public. Henry Festing Jones wrote authoritative two-volume biography Samuel Butler Author Of Erewhon published 1919
reissued by HardPress Publishing 2013. Most recent biography Peter Raby's Samuel Butler: A Biography published 1991.
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Common questions
When was Samuel Butler born and where did he grow up?
Samuel Butler was born on the 4th of December 1835 at the rectory in Langar, Nottinghamshire. He grew up under an antagonistic relationship with his father Rev Thomas Butler which shaped every aspect of his early education.
What happened to Samuel Butler when he emigrated to New Zealand in September 1859?
Samuel Butler emigrated to New Zealand on the ship Roman Emperor in September 1859 to maximize distance from his family. He lived as a sheep farmer on Mesopotamia Station and wrote about this experience in A First Year in Canterbury Settlement published in 1863.
Why is Samuel Butler famous for his book Erewhon published in 1872?
Erewhon appeared anonymously in 1872 and caused speculation about its author until Butler revealed himself. The work contains drafts and source material developed during his time in New Zealand and includes themes now debated by proponents of technological singularity.
How did Samuel Butler react to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection?
Butler accepted evolution but rejected Darwin's theory of natural selection in his book Evolution Old and New published in 1879. He accused Darwin of borrowing heavily from Buffon Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck while playing down these influences and giving them little credit.
When was the novel The Way Of All Flesh finally published after Samuel Butler died?
The semi-autobiographical novel The Way Of All Flesh did not appear in print until after death as he considered tone of satirical attack on Victorian morality too contentious at time. It was published after Butler's death by literary executor R A Streatfeild in 1903.
All sources
23 references cited across the entry
- 3bookAn Illustrated Literary Guide to ShropshireGordon Dickins — Shropshire Libraries — 1987
- 6bookVictorian Shrewsbury, Studies in the History of a County TownShropshire Libraries — 1984
- 7bookDictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, Volume ISmith, Elder & Co. — 1912
- 8bookOxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 8Oxford University Press — 2004
- 14webSamuel Butler, or Sociobiology for Grown-UpsHoratio Morpurgo — Three Monkeys Online — May 2006
- 15encyclopediaThe Encyclopedia of PhilosophyT. A. Gouge — The Macmillan Company & The Free Press — 1967
- 19webObsessed with Handel: Samuel Butler's special collection9 December 2011
- 21journal"Erewhon" and the End of Utopian HumanismZemka, Sue — 2002
- 23journalA Definitive Edition of Ernest PontifexEdward S. Lauterbach — 20 February 1964