New-York tribune., 1913-06-28

THE NOTEBOOKS OF SAMUEL BUT
LER. Selections arranged ana edlted
by Henry Testing Jones. With pho-
tog%ravure 10 % portrait by Emery Walker
from a photograph taken by Alfred
Cathie in 1898. 12mo, PIP. XII, 45S'
Mitchell Kennerley.
The revival Of Samuel Butler is
splendid affair. Butler, many know
now. was a remarkable man. He died
near London in 1902. II is extraordi-
nary, but II Is true. that only Few
years ago quite the most able and the
most distinguished of American critics
had never heard of him. In the preface
to q reprint Of THE Way Of All Flesh
published about that time, Bernard
Shaw. who takes credit to himself for
so many things, took the credit for
introducing 10 the world this neglected
contributor to English literature. The
American edition Of this reprinted work
at first made its way slowly here. Mr..
Shaw, however, who had made some
use Of Buffers thought before he made
him any return. was doubtless Of SER
vice in advertising him 10 the general
attention Of the literary public. The
Way Of All Flesh" at length produced
in its flt audience a keen cuEositC con-
cerning the man who had written It..
There were then reissues OF the
Swiftian satires, "Erewhon" and Ere
whom Revisited" the manuscripts CT
which works are in the British
Museum. Mr.. Huneker. we learned, out
of the copiousness Of his reading ond
peculiar information maintained at
this time that among Buffers most In
teresting writings was an obscure af-
fair. to which he referred as THE Note
Books Of Samuel Butler" FIVE bound
volumes Of closely written manuscript
notes. with the contents dated and in
dexed, and more than enough unbound
and unindexed sheets 20 make a sixth
large volume. Now at last. we have
this volume Of representative selections
from this mass Of material left by
Butler at his death. To the society Of
Butterflies these notes are of curious
interest as the ore from which he
drew the metal Of his finished thought.
Butler, traveller, educated for the
ministry. student and composer Of
music, New Zealand sheep farmer.
painter, student, in particular. Of the
theory Of evolution, of literature, ply
siology, philosophy and Of the art Of
photography. contributor to various
| journals, pamphleteer, translator Of the
'Iiad" and the odyssey" man Of
| business and Of reflection, novelist and
satirist. early in life began to carry a
note book. "Ones thoughts" he says,
fly so fast that one must shoot them;
it is no use trying to put salt on their
tails" SO "he bagged as many as he
could hit and preserved them; and he
! became an expert marksman," COM
ments his present editor. He did not
copy his notes into his books. We are
told;
When he had written and rewritten a
! note and spoken II and repeated IL in con-
versation II became a part of him. +.
| But ne cOuld not nave Testated note
! from memory If he had not learnt IL BY
writing II. so that 1t may be said that he
/ did use the notes for his books, though
not precisely in the way he originally in
tended. And the constant rewriting and
recOnsidering were useful also by forcing
! him 10 settle exactly what he thought and
| 10 state II as clearly and tersely as pos
sible In this way the making Of the
notes must have had an influence on the
! formation Of his style-thOugh here again
he had no such idea in his mind when
writing them.
Butler differed from the conception
OF man held by Sir Thomas Browne,
which found expression in the sonorous
statement to the effect that he begins
to die when he is born. He considered
rather that a man spends his life in
being born. His life is his birth
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