Butler, Samuel

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Butler, Samuel (1612–80). Poet and satirist. Few records of Butler's life survive, but after education at Worcester he served as clerk or secretary to a succession of noble families, gaining easy access to libraries. His commonplace books, however, say much about his ideas and opinions: in many respects a Baconian, with a practical and realistic outlook though temperamentally gloomy unless stimulated by claret, he was deeply conscious of the self-deception, hypocrisy, and folly of mankind. His scepticism found outlet in satire, where even the newly founded Royal Society was mocked. Publication of the burlesque Hudibras (1662) brought a brief period of fame before he relapsed into comparative obscurity again. Although the legend of his poverty and neglect was probably exaggerated, it was not until 1677 that a royal pension was forthcoming, and he died poor and disappointed.

A. S. Hargreaves

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