Difference between revisions of "Hudibras"

Revision as of 14:32, 18 February 2014

by Samuel Butler

Hudibras
Title page from Hudibras, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.
Author	Samuel Butler
Editor	{{{editor}}}
Translator	{{{trans}}}
Published	London: Printed for John Baker, at the Black-Boy in Pater-noster-Row
Date	1710
Edition	{{{edition}}}
Language	English
Volumes	{{{set}}} volume set
Pages	3 pts. in 1 v. ([6], xii, 199, 167, 226, [2], 393-410, [18] p., [17] leaves of plates)
Desc.	(14 cm.)
Location	[[Shelf {{{shelf}}}]]
	[[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Samuel Butler (1613-1680) was a poet most famous for his work Hudibras, which he published in three parts, from 1663 to 1677.^[1] This book is a coy satire that “explicit[ly] ridicule[d] Puritan folly.”^[2] This poem was very popular during its time, and established Butler’s reputation for satire. The main character, Hudibras, is a knight that is ridiculed for his Presbyterian qualities, and the plot of the poem has echoes of the Restoration.^[3]

Butler is marked as an expressive, but neglected, writer known for his ideas about “nonconformist subversion, popish plotting, institutional corruption, and other social questions.”^[4] He wrote unpublished tracts on politics along with his poetry.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in original calf with raised bands and gilt titling to spine. Three parts in one small thick octavo with portrait engraved frontispiece and numerous other engraved plates throughout. Purchased from Stainbeck Road.

View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

References

1. ↑ Hugh de Quehen, “Butler, Samuel (bap. 1613, d. 1680)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) accessed 17 Sept 2013. Unless otherwise noted, all biographical details are from this source.
2. ↑ Ashely Marshall, "The Aims of Butler's Satire in Hudibras." Modern Philology 105, no. 4 (May 2008), p. 637, accessed September 19, 2013.
3. ↑ Ibid., p. 641.
4. ↑ de Quehen.

Illustration from Part II, page 73