Butler, Samuel, 1835-1902

Samuel Butler was an English novelist, essayist, and critic. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, and after a time in New Zealand as a sheep farmer, returned to England in 1864 where he established himself as both a painter and a writer. His satire Erewhon (1872) foreshadowed the collapse of the Victorian illusion of progress. His autobiographical novel, The way of all flesh (1903), is generally considered his masterpiece and is a story about Butler's escape from the suffocating moral atmosphere of his homelife. He had an avid interest in Darwinism after reading Darwin's Origin of species (1859), contributing books and articles on the subject. Besides his novels, he also wrote art criticism, satirical poetry, science, philosophy, and music.

From the description of Samuel Butler letters, galley proof and fragments, 1887-1900. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 60677980

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