Arthur John Butler: Difference between revisions
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Butler contributed much to the study of [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]. 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/> |
Butler contributed much to the study of [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]. 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/> |
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Moving on to other writers, Butler translated and edited the ''Memoirs'' of [[Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot|Baron de Marbot]] (1892), ''Select Essays'' of [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve|Sainte-Beuve]] (1895), ''Memoirs of Baron Thiébault'' (1896), [[Friedrich Ratzel]]'s ''The History of Mankind'' (1896), and ''Bismarck: the Man and the Statesman'' (1898). 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/> |
Moving on to other writers, Butler translated and edited the ''Memoirs'' of [[Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot|Baron de Marbot]] (1892), ''Select Essays'' of [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve|Sainte-Beuve]] (1895), ''[[Paul Thiébault|Memoirs of Baron Thiébault]]'' (1896), [[Friedrich Ratzel]]'s ''The History of Mankind'' (1896), and ''Bismarck: the Man and the Statesman'' (1898). 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/> |
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His final work, completed just before his death, was ''The Forerunners of Dante'' (1910), a selection from early Italian poets.<ref name=odnb/> |
His final work, completed just before his death, was ''The Forerunners of Dante'' (1910), a selection from early Italian poets.<ref name=odnb/> |
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Revision as of 15:28, 25 June 2013
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.
Early life
Butler was born at Putney, the eldest child of the Rev. William John Butler (1818–1894), later Dean of Lincoln, by his marriage to Emma, a daughter of George Henry Barnett, a banker, of Glympton Park, Woodstock. Both parents were supporters of the High Church Tractarian movement. In 1848, his father founded the Community of St Mary the Virgin.[1][2]
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.[1]
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.[1]
Butler contributed much to the study of Dante. 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).[1]
Moving on to other writers, Butler translated and edited the Memoirs of Baron de Marbot (1892), Select Essays of Sainte-Beuve (1895), Memoirs of Baron Thiébault (1896), Friedrich Ratzel's The History of Mankind (1896), and Bismarck: the Man and the Statesman (1898). 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.[1][2]
His final work, completed just before his death, was The Forerunners of Dante (1910), a selection from early Italian poets.[1]
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, and lived at Wood End, Weybridge. Butler died there in February 1910 and was buried at Wantage, his childhood home.[1]
Alpinist
From his schooldays Butler was a keen climber. He first attempted the Ötzthal 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.[1]
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".[3]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h 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, February 28, 1910, at Wikisource
- ^ Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch, Memoir of Arthur John Butler (1917), p. 118
See also
- Works by Arthur John Butler at Wikisource
- Butler, Arthur John, DNB biography by "Q" at Wikisource