The Samuel Butler Collection at Saint John's College Cambridge   By: Henry Festing Jones (1851-1928)

{Samuel Butler About 1866: p0.jpg}

THE SAMUEL BUTLER COLLECTION AT SAINT JOHN'S COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE

A Catalogue and a Commentary

BY HENRY FESTING JONES AND A. T. BARTHOLOMEW

CAMBRIDGE W. HEFFER & SONS LTD. 1921

It seems to me, the more I think of it, that the true life of anyone is not the one they live in themselves, and of which they are themselves conscious, but the life they live in the hearts of others. Our bodies and brains are but the tools with which we work to make our true life, which is not in the tool box and tools we ignorantly mistake for ourselves, but in the work we do with them; and this work, if it be truly done, lives more in others than in ourselves.

S. BUTLER, 1895.

[THIS EDITION IS LIMITED TO 750 COPIES]

Preface

The Butler Collection was not all given to St. John's at once. I sent up some pictures and some books in 1917; and at intervals I have sent more, always keeping a list of what has gone. Now that I have no more to send seems the proper time for a Catalogue to be issued, and it is made from the lists which I kept, and which were in part printed in The Eagle , put in order by A. T. Bartholomew and annotated by myself. I am responsible for the notes and am the person intended when "I" and "me" occur. Bartholomew is responsible for the classification, for verifying, for checking, and for the bibliographical part.

In time the collection will no doubt increase as new editions or translations of Butler's books appear and as further books are published referring to him. All such I intend to include in the collection; and I hope that other Butlerians will see fit to make additions to it.

I think that the notes give all necessary explanations; but I may perhaps say here that many of the pictures were made before Butler contemplated writing such a book as Alps and Sanctuaries . When he was preparing that book he went to the places therein described and made on the spot many black and white drawings for reproduction; but he found that this method would take too long, so he made others of the black and white drawings from oil and water colour sketches which he had done previously, and this is why some of the pictures are dated many years before the book was published.

Among the books, under Alps and Sanctuaries (p. 18), is Streatfeild's copy of that work; and under The Way of All Flesh (p. 21) is his copy of that book. Both these copies are said to have been "purchased." I bought them from the dealer to whom Streatfeild sold them when his health broke down and he moved from his rooms. I have no doubt that he would have given them to me if I had asked for them, but he was not in a condition to be troubled about business.

St. John's College has contributed 30 pounds towards the expenses of printing and publishing this catalogue. I offer them my most cordial thanks for their generosity. I am also deeply indebted to them for finding space in which to house the collection. I shrank from the responsibility of keeping it myself. I remembered also that an individual dies; even a family may become extinct; but St. John's College, we hope, will enjoy as near an approach to immortality as can be attained on this transient globe. I am sure that Butler would be pleased if he could know that during that period this collection will be preserved and will be accessible to all who wish to visit it.

H. F. J.

120, MAIDA VALE, W. 9, December , 1920.

Contents

I. PICTURES, SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS BY OR RELATING TO SAMUEL BUTLER . . . 1

II. BOOKS AND MUSIC WRITTEN BY BUTLER . . . 15

III. BOOKS, ETC., ABOUT BUTLER . . . 24

IV. BOOKS, ETC., RELATING TO BUTLER AND HIS SUBJECTS . . . 28

V. BOOKS, FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF SAMUEL BUTLER . . . 32