MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Other Fiction Butler, Samuel: The Way of All Flesh, v1. 25 Sept 2007

Patricia · 09-26-2007, 05:13 PM

I was curious to see what Samuel Butler did actually write in Chapter 77, so visited the University library on my way home from work.

All of the recent editions have

‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have lost at all.’

It seems that Butler arranged to have the novel published posthumously by his friend R A Streatfeild (as explained in the Preface to my version). Streatfeild made extensive changes to the manuscript, leading to the version that we have today.

However, in 1964, Daniel F Howard, of Rutgers University, revisited the manuscript and edited a new and complete version, using Butler’s original title: ‘Ernest Pontifex, or The Way of All Flesh’.’ He claims that, ‘the text of this version is taken directly from the British Museum; nothing has been silently omitted or added except an occasional mark of punctuation which the sense demands.’ [p.xxiii]

I turned to the passage in question and it definitely reads as given in my (and the PG) version. Moreover, there is a footnote informing us that, ‘Overton perverts Tennyson’s famous sentiment, “’Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all” (“In Memoriam”, 27: 15-16).’[p. 297.]

[Quotations from Samuel Butler, ‘Ernest Pontifex, or The Way of All Flesh’ Edited, with an Introduction and Notes by Daniel F Howard, Rutgers University, Methuen, London, 1965.]

From this, we may conclude that Butler intended the inversion. Streatfeild , or later editors may mistakenly have amended the passage so that it frequently appears in an incorrect version today.

I never expected to find myself arguing for the merits, or otherwise of a single word. I had also, perhaps mistakenly, thought that other people might be interested in the books that I created. However, given the criticisms, I am now wondering whether it is worth bothering to share these works.

09-26-2007, 05:13 PM	#6
Patricia Reader Posts: 11,504 Karma: 8720163 Join Date: May 2007 Location: South Wales, UK Device: Sony PRS-500, PRS-505, Asus EEEpc 4G	I was curious to see what Samuel Butler did actually write in Chapter 77, so visited the University library on my way home from work. All of the recent editions have ‘Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have lost at all.’ It seems that Butler arranged to have the novel published posthumously by his friend R A Streatfeild (as explained in the Preface to my version). Streatfeild made extensive changes to the manuscript, leading to the version that we have today. However, in 1964, Daniel F Howard, of Rutgers University, revisited the manuscript and edited a new and complete version, using Butler’s original title: ‘Ernest Pontifex, or The Way of All Flesh’.’ He claims that, ‘the text of this version is taken directly from the British Museum; nothing has been silently omitted or added except an occasional mark of punctuation which the sense demands.’ [p.xxiii] I turned to the passage in question and it definitely reads as given in my (and the PG) version. Moreover, there is a footnote informing us that, ‘Overton perverts Tennyson’s famous sentiment, “’Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all” (“In Memoriam”, 27: 15-16).’[p. 297.] [Quotations from Samuel Butler, ‘Ernest Pontifex, or The Way of All Flesh’ Edited, with an Introduction and Notes by Daniel F Howard, Rutgers University, Methuen, London, 1965.] From this, we may conclude that Butler intended the inversion. Streatfeild , or later editors may mistakenly have amended the passage so that it frequently appears in an incorrect version today. I never expected to find myself arguing for the merits, or otherwise of a single word. I had also, perhaps mistakenly, thought that other people might be interested in the books that I created. However, given the criticisms, I am now wondering whether it is worth bothering to share these works.