Samuel Butler against the Professionals
Rethinking Lamarckism 1860–1900

David Gillott

Studies In Comparative Literature 32

Legenda

16 March 2015  •  208pp

ISBN: 978-1-909662-25-4 (hardback)  •  RRP £80, $110, €95

ModernEnglishFictionPhilosophy


In the wake of the 2009 Darwin bicentenary, Samuel Butler (1835-1902) is becoming as well known for his public attack on Darwin's character and the basis of his scientific authority as for his novels Erewhon and The Way of All Flesh. In the first monograph devoted to Butler's ideas for over twenty years, David Gillott offers a much-needed reappraisal of Butler's work and shows how Lamarckian ideas pervaded the whole of Butler's wide-ranging ouevre, and not merely his evolutionary theory. In particular, he argues that Lamarckism was the foundation on which Butler's attempt to undermine professional authority in a variety of disciplines was based. Samuel Butler against the Professionals provides new insight into a fascinating but often misunderstood writer, and on the surprisingly broad application of Lamarckian ideas in the decades following publication of the Origin of Species.

David Gillott is Associate Research Fellow in the Department of English and Humanities, Birkbeck, University of London.

Reviews:

  • ‘Gillott’s book provides a convincing and well-structured analysis of the work of the novelist, art historian and amateur scientist Samuel Butler in the late nineteenth-century British context, focus- ing in particular on his research on art and literature.’ — Cristiano Turbil, British Journal for the History of Science 49.2, 2006, 300-01

Bibliography entry:

Gillott, David, Samuel Butler against the Professionals: Rethinking Lamarckism 1860–1900, Studies In Comparative Literature, 32 (Legenda, 2015)

First footnote reference: 35 David Gillott, Samuel Butler against the Professionals: Rethinking Lamarckism 1860–1900, Studies In Comparative Literature, 32 (Legenda, 2015), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Gillott, p. 47.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

Bibliography entry:

Gillott, David. 2015. Samuel Butler against the Professionals: Rethinking Lamarckism 1860–1900, Studies In Comparative Literature, 32 (Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Gillott 2015: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Gillott 2015: 21.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)


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