Arthur John Butler: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Latest revision as of 03:25, 23 September 2023

Arthur John Butler (21 June 1844 – 26 February 1910), was an English scholar, editor, and mountaineer, professor of Italian language and literature at University College London.^[1]

Apart from his work on Dante and other Italian poets, Butler translated books from German and French, including the memoirs of Bismarck, Thiébault, and Marbot, and work by Sainte-Beuve. He also contributed to the Cambridge Modern History and the Dictionary of National Biography and in the 1890s was editor of the Alpine Journal.

Early life

Butler was born at Putney, the son of the Rev. William John Butler (1818–1894), later Dean of Lincoln, by his marriage to Emma Barnett (1813–1894), a daughter of George Henry Barnett, a banker, of Glympton Park, Woodstock. Butler was the eldest of at least five children. His sisters were Grace Harriet (born 1847), Edith Emma (1851–1936), and Mary Avice (1855–1938), while his brother was William George (1849–1938). Their grandfather John La Forey Butler (1786–1848), was a banker in the firm of H. & I. Johnstone, and their uncle Henry Barnett was also a banker, as well as being a Conservative member of parliament.^[2] Both Butler parents were supporters of the High Church Tractarian movement. In 1848, William John Butler founded the Community of St Mary the Virgin.^[3]^[4]

Brought up at Wantage, where his father was Vicar, in 1853 Butler won a scholarship to St Andrew's College, Bradfield, but in 1857 he migrated to Eton, after which he gained a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1867 he graduated eighth in the Classical Tripos and was also a junior optime in the mathematical tripos.^[3]

Life and work

In 1869 Butler became a Fellow of Trinity, but in 1870 he was appointed a Board of Education examiner. He worked in the Education office in Whitehall until 1887, then joined the publishers Rivington and Co. as a partner, later moving to Cassell & Company as chief editor. In 1894 he became an assistant commissioner for secondary education and from 1898 until his death was professor of Italian language and literature at University College London. From 1899 on he also did much editorial work at the Public Record Office.^[3]

Butler contributed much to the study of Dante's Divine Comedy. A prose translation of Purgatory, with notes, was published in 1880, followed by Paradise (1885) and Hell (1892), then a translation of Scartazzini's Companion to Dante (1893), and Dante: his Times and his Work (1895).^[3]

Moving on to other writers, Butler translated and edited the Memoirs of Baron de Marbot (1892),^[3] some correspondence of Cavour (1894),^[5] Select Essays of Sainte-Beuve (1895), the Memoirs of Baron Thiébault (1896), Friedrich Ratzel's The History of Mankind (1896), and Bismarck: the Man and the Statesman (1898), from Bismarck's Gedanken und Erinnerungen.^[3]^[6] He worked at the Public Record Office from 1899 until his death, editing calendars of foreign papers from the year 1577. Four such volumes appeared between 1901 and 1909.^[3]^[4] He also wrote two chapters for the third volume of The Cambridge Modern History (1904), 'The Wars of Religion in France' and 'The End of the Italian Renaissance'.^[7]

Butler's final work, completed just before his death, was The Forerunners of Dante (1910), a selection from early Italian poets.^[3]

In December 1901, Butler received the degree D.Litt. from Brasenose College, Oxford.^[8]

Family life

On 6 April 1875 Butler married Mary Caroline, a daughter of William Gilson Humphry, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields. They had one son and six daughters.^[3] The children of the marriage included Frances Mary (1876–1926), who became a headmistress, William Martin (1882–1919), who died in France while serving as a Major in the Royal Engineers, Margaret Dorothy (1884–1973), Rhoda (1887–1979), and Mary Caroline (born 1891).^[2]

The family lived at Wood End, Weybridge, where Butler died in February 1910. He was buried at Wantage, his childhood home.^[3]

Alpinist

From his schooldays Butler was a keen climber. He first attempted routes in the Ötztal Alps in 1874, and in 1886 he joined the Alpine Club. From 1890 to 1893 he edited the club's Alpine Journal. He was also one of the "Sunday Tramps" group created by Leslie Stephen in 1882.^[3]

Butler's concept of mountaineering was less competitive than that of some others. In several of his articles he looked down upon what his biographer called "the fuss made about peak-climbing".^[9]

References

^ "Butler, Arthur John". Who's Who. Vol. 59. 1907. p. 264.
^ ^a ^b The Genealogy of the Barnett Family^[usurped] at kittybrewster.com, accessed 26 June 2013
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k A. T. Quiller-Couch, revised by Nilanjana Banerji, 'Butler, Arthur John (1844–1910)', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUP, 2007)
^ ^a ^b Obituary: Mr. Arthur John Butler from The Times, 28 February 1910, at Wikisource
^ Count Cavour and Madame de Circourt, Some Unpublished Correspondence, edited by Count Nigra, translated by Arthur John Butler (London: Cassell, 1894)
^ Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman, translated by A. J. Butler, in two volumes (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1898)
^ The Wars of Religion in France and The End of the Italian Renaissance at uni-mannheim.de, accessed 25 June 2013
^ "University intelligence". The Times. No. 36631. London. 6 December 1901. p. 7.
^ Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch, Memoir of Arthur John Butler (1917), p. 118

External links

[1] "Butler, Arthur John". Who's Who. Vol. 59. 1907. p. 264.

[barnett-2] The Genealogy of the Barnett Family^[usurped] at kittybrewster.com, accessed 26 June 2013

[odnb-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k A. T. Quiller-Couch, revised by Nilanjana Banerji, 'Butler, Arthur John (1844–1910)', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUP, 2007)

[times-4] Obituary: Mr. Arthur John Butler from The Times, 28 February 1910, at Wikisource

[5] Count Cavour and Madame de Circourt, Some Unpublished Correspondence, edited by Count Nigra, translated by Arthur John Butler (London: Cassell, 1894)

[6] Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman, translated by A. J. Butler, in two volumes (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1898)

[7] The Wars of Religion in France and The End of the Italian Renaissance at uni-mannheim.de, accessed 25 June 2013

[8] "University intelligence". The Times. No. 36631. London. 6 December 1901. p. 7.

[9] Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch, Memoir of Arthur John Butler (1917), p. 118

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2013}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
-'''Arthur John Butler''' (21 June 1844 – 26 February 1910), was an English scholar, editor, and mountaineer, professor of [[Italian language]] and [[Italian literature|literature]] at [[University College, London]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Butler, Arthur John|magazine=Who's Who|year=1907|volume= 59|page=264|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yEcuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA264}}</ref>
+'''Arthur John Butler''' (21 June 1844 – 26 February 1910), was an English scholar, editor, and mountaineer, professor of [[Italian language]] and [[Italian literature|literature]] at [[University College London]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Butler, Arthur John|magazine=Who's Who|year=1907|volume= 59|page=264|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEcuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA264}}</ref>
-Apart from his work on [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] and other Italian poets, Butler translated books from [[German language|German]] and French, including the memoirs of [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]], [[Paul Thiébault|Thiébault]], and [[Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot|Jean de Marbot]], and work by [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve|Sainte-Beuve]]. He also contributed to the [[The Cambridge Modern History|Cambridge Modern History]] and the [[Dictionary of National Biography]] and in the 1890s was editor of the ''[[Alpine Journal]]''.
+Apart from his work on [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] and other Italian poets, Butler translated books from [[German language|German]] and French, including the memoirs of [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]], [[Paul Thiébault|Thiébault]], and [[Marcellin Marbot|Marbot]], and work by [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve|Sainte-Beuve]]. He also contributed to the [[The Cambridge Modern History|Cambridge Modern History]] and the [[Dictionary of National Biography]] and in the 1890s was editor of the ''[[Alpine Journal]]''.
 ==Early life==
-Butler was born at [[Putney]], the son of the Rev. William John Butler (1818–1894), later [[Dean of Lincoln]], by his marriage to Emma Barnett (1813–1894), a daughter of George Henry Barnett, a banker, of [[Glympton Park]], [[Woodstock]]. Butler was the eldest of at least five children. His sisters were Grace Harriet (born 1847), Edith Emma (1851–1936), and Mary Avice (1855–1938), while his brother was William George (1849–1938). Their grandfather John La Forey Butler (1786–1848), was a banker in the firm of H. & I. Johnstone, and their uncle [[Henry Barnett (banker)|Henry Barnett]] was also a banker, as well as being a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] member of parliament.<ref name=barnett>[http://www.kittybrewster.com/ancestry/barnett.htm The Genealogy of the Barnett Family] at kittybrewster.com, accessed 26 June 2013</ref> Both Butler parents were supporters of the [[High Church]] [[Oxford Movement|Tractarian movement]]. In 1848, William John Butler founded the [[Community of St Mary the Virgin]].<ref name=odnb>[[Arthur Quiller-Couch|A. T. Quiller-Couch]], revised by Nilanjana Banerji, '[[s:Butler, Arthur John (DNB12)|Butler, Arthur John (1844–1910)]]', in ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' (OUP, 2007)</ref><ref name=times>[[s:The Times/1910/Obituary/Arthur John Butler|Obituary: Mr. Arthur John Butler from ''The Times'', February 28, 1910]], at Wikisource</ref>
+Butler was born at [[Putney]], the son of the Rev. [[William John Butler]] (1818–1894), later [[Dean of Lincoln]], by his marriage to Emma Barnett (1813–1894), a daughter of George Henry Barnett, a banker, of [[Glympton Park]], [[Woodstock, Oxfordshire|Woodstock]]. Butler was the eldest of at least five children. His sisters were Grace Harriet (born 1847), Edith Emma (1851–1936), and Mary Avice (1855–1938), while his brother was William George (1849–1938). Their grandfather John La Forey Butler (1786–1848), was a banker in the firm of H. & I. Johnstone, and their uncle [[Henry Barnett (banker)|Henry Barnett]] was also a banker, as well as being a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] member of parliament.<ref name=barnett>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20020804062744/http://www.kittybrewster.com/ancestry/barnett.htm The Genealogy of the Barnett Family]}} at kittybrewster.com, accessed 26 June 2013</ref> Both Butler parents were supporters of the [[High Church]] [[Oxford Movement|Tractarian movement]]. In 1848, William John Butler founded the [[Community of St Mary the Virgin]].<ref name=odnb>[[Arthur Quiller-Couch|A. T. Quiller-Couch]], revised by Nilanjana Banerji, '[[s:Butler, Arthur John (DNB12)|Butler, Arthur John (1844–1910)]]', in ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' (OUP, 2007)</ref><ref name=times>[[s:The Times/1910/Obituary/Arthur John Butler|Obituary: Mr. Arthur John Butler from ''The Times'', 28 February 1910]], at Wikisource</ref>
 Brought up at [[Wantage]], where his father was Vicar, in 1853 Butler won a scholarship to [[St Andrew's College, Bradfield]], but in 1857 he migrated to [[Eton College|Eton]], after which he gained a scholarship at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]. In 1867 he graduated eighth in the [[Classical Tripos]] and was also a [[junior optime]] in the [[mathematical tripos]].<ref name=odnb/>
 ==Life and work==
-In 1869 Butler became a [[Fellow]] of Trinity, but in 1870 he was appointed a [[Board of Education]] examiner. He worked in the Education office in [[Whitehall]] until 1887, then joined the publishers [[Rivington (publishers)|Rivington and Co.]] as a partner, later moving to Cassell & Company as chief editor. In 1894 he became an assistant commissioner for secondary education and from 1898 until his death was professor of [[Italian language]] and [[Italian literature|literature]] at [[University College, London]]. From 1899 on he also did much editorial work at the [[Public Record Office]].<ref name=odnb/>
+In 1869 Butler became a [[Fellow]] of Trinity, but in 1870 he was appointed a [[Board of Education (United Kingdom)|Board of Education]] examiner. He worked in the Education office in [[Whitehall]] until 1887, then joined the publishers [[Rivington (publishers)|Rivington and Co.]] as a partner, later moving to Cassell & Company as chief editor. In 1894 he became an assistant commissioner for secondary education and from 1898 until his death was professor of [[Italian language]] and [[Italian literature|literature]] at [[University College London]]. From 1899 on he also did much editorial work at the [[Public Record Office]].<ref name=odnb/>
 [[File:Portrait de Dante.jpg|thumb|140px|Dante]]
 Butler contributed much to the study of [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]''. A prose translation of ''Purgatory'', with notes, was published in 1880, followed by ''Paradise'' (1885) and ''Hell'' (1892), then a translation of [[Giovanni Andrea Scartazzini|Scartazzini]]'s ''Companion to Dante'' (1893), and ''Dante: his Times and his Work'' (1895).<ref name=odnb/>
-Moving on to other writers, Butler translated and edited the ''Memoirs'' of [[Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot|Baron de Marbot]] (1892),<ref name=odnb/> some correspondence of [[Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour|Cavour]] (1894),<ref>''Count Cavour and Madame de Circourt, Some Unpublished Correspondence'', edited by Count Nigra, translated by Arthur John Butler (London: Cassell, 1894)</ref> ''Select Essays'' of [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve|Sainte-Beuve]] (1895), the ''Memoirs'' of [[Paul Thiébault|Baron Thiébault]] (1896), [[Friedrich Ratzel]]'s ''The History of Mankind'' (1896), and ''Bismarck: the Man and the Statesman'' (1898), from [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]]'s ''Gedanken und Erinnerungen''.<ref name=odnb/><ref>''Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman'', translated by A. J. Butler, in two volumes (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1898)</ref> He worked at the Public Record Office from 1899 until his death, editing calendars of foreign papers from the year 1577. Four such volumes appeared between 1901 and 1909.<ref name=odnb/><ref name=times/> He also wrote two chapters for the third volume of ''[[The Cambridge Modern History]]'' (1904), 'The Wars of Religion in France' and 'The End of the Italian Renaissance'.<ref>[http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh301.html The Wars of Religion in France] and [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh314.html The End of the Italian Renaissance] at uni-mannheim.de, accessed 25 June 2013</ref>
+Moving on to other writers, Butler translated and edited the ''Memoirs'' of [[Marcellin Marbot|Baron de Marbot]] (1892),<ref name=odnb/> some correspondence of [[Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour|Cavour]] (1894),<ref>''Count Cavour and Madame de Circourt, Some Unpublished Correspondence'', edited by Count Nigra, translated by Arthur John Butler (London: Cassell, 1894)</ref> ''Select Essays'' of [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve|Sainte-Beuve]] (1895), the ''Memoirs'' of [[Paul Thiébault|Baron Thiébault]] (1896), [[Friedrich Ratzel]]'s ''The History of Mankind'' (1896), and ''Bismarck: the Man and the Statesman'' (1898), from [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]]'s ''Gedanken und Erinnerungen''.<ref name=odnb/><ref>''Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman'', translated by A. J. Butler, in two volumes (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1898)</ref> He worked at the Public Record Office from 1899 until his death, editing calendars of foreign papers from the year 1577. Four such volumes appeared between 1901 and 1909.<ref name=odnb/><ref name=times/> He also wrote two chapters for the third volume of ''[[The Cambridge Modern History]]'' (1904), 'The Wars of Religion in France' and 'The End of the Italian Renaissance'.<ref>[http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh301.html The Wars of Religion in France] and [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh314.html The End of the Italian Renaissance] at uni-mannheim.de, accessed 25 June 2013</ref>
 Butler's final work, completed just before his death, was ''The Forerunners of Dante'' (1910), a selection from early Italian poets.<ref name=odnb/>
-In December 1901, Butler received the degree [[D.Litt.]] from [[Brasenose College, Oxford]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=University intelligence |day_of_week=Friday |date=6 December 1901 |page_number=7 |issue=36631| }}</ref>
+In December 1901, Butler received the degree [[D.Litt.]] from [[Brasenose College, Oxford]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=University intelligence |date=6 December 1901 |page=7 |issue=36631}}</ref>
 ==Family life==
@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 ==Alpinist==
-From his schooldays Butler was a keen climber. He first attempted routes in the [[Ötztal Alps]] in 1874, and in 1886 he joined the [[Alpine Club (UK)|Alpine Club]]. From 1890 to 1893 he edited the Club's ''[[Alpine Journal]]''. He was also one of the "Sunday Tramps" group created by [[Leslie Stephen]] in 1882.<ref name=odnb/>
+From his schooldays Butler was a keen climber. He first attempted routes in the [[Ötztal Alps]] in 1874, and in 1886 he joined the [[Alpine Club (UK)|Alpine Club]]. From 1890 to 1893 he edited the club's ''[[Alpine Journal]]''. He was also one of the "Sunday Tramps" group created by [[Leslie Stephen]] in 1882.<ref name=odnb/>
 Butler's concept of mountaineering was less competitive than that of some others. In several of his articles he looked down upon what his biographer called "the fuss made about [[Peak bagging|peak-climbing]]".<ref>Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch, ''Memoir of Arthur John Butler'' (1917), p. 118</ref>
@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 ==External links==
-* {{Gutenberg author | id=Butler,+Arthur+John | name=Arthur John Butler}}
+* {{Gutenberg author | id=33066| name=Arthur John Butler}}
 * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Arthur John Butler |sopt=t}}
 {{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Arthur John}}
 [[Category:1844 births]]
@@ Line 49: / Line 50: @@
 [[Category:Academics of University College London]]
 [[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
-[[Category:English historians]]
+[[Category:19th-century English historians]]
 [[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
 [[Category:People educated at Bradfield College]]
+[[Category:20th-century English historians]]
+[[Category:Translators of Dante Alighieri]]

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	Germany United States France BnF data Japan Australia Portugal Netherlands Poland Vatican Israel
Academics	CiNii
People	Trove
Other	IdRef SNAC