Essays on Life, Art and Science

Transcribed from the 1908 A. C. Fifield edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
by SAMUEL BUTLER
author of “erewhon,” “erewhon re-visited,” “the way of all flesh,” etc.
edited by R. A. STREATFEILD
LONDON A. C. FIFIELD 1908
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh.
Contents:
Introduction Quis Desiderio? Ramblings in Cheapside The Aunt, The Nieces, and the Dog How to make the best of life The Sanctuary of Montrigone A Medieval Girl School Art in the Valley of Saas Thought and Language The Deadlock in Darwinism
It is hardly necessary to apologise for the miscellaneous character of the following collection of essays. Samuel Butler was a man of such unusual versatility, and his interests were so many and so various that his literary remains were bound to cover a wide field. Nevertheless it will be found that several of the subjects to which he devoted much time and labour are not represented in these pages. I have not thought it necessary to reprint any of the numerous pamphlets and articles which he wrote upon the Iliad and Odyssey, since these were all merged in “The Authoress of the Odyssey,” which gives his matured views upon everything relating to the Homeric poems. For a similar reason I have not included an essay on the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which he printed in 1865 for private circulation, since he subsequently made extensive use of it in “The Fair Haven.”
Two of the essays in this collection were originally delivered as lectures; the remainder were published in The Universal Review during 1888, 1889, and 1890.
I should perhaps explain why two other essays of his, which also appeared in The Universal Review , have been omitted.