Month 10 (April 2012)
This month I have been mostly... Accounting for personal taste
I’m keen to finish cataloguing everything in the boxed collection by June, so that in year two of the project I can focus on the books and pictures. This month I’ve been working on section XI – Butler’s personal effects. What a fun assortment of items! In addition to his passport, pocket magnifying glass and pewter candlesticks, lots of Butler’s artist’s equipment survives, including a used watercolour paint box with a set of brushes, and the camping stool he would sit on when sketching outdoors. Butler’s own artworks certainly display more merit than some of the cheap souvenirs he brought back from Italy; evidently the industry for tourist tat was no more sophisticated in the 1880s than it is today!
Items in section XI - Butler's sheepbrand, paintbox and bookstraps
My highlights from this section of the collection have to be Butler’s account books and ledgers, in which he conscientiously kept track of his finances using the ‘double entry’ accounting system. This is the real stuff of biography: autograph records of where he went, how he travelled, who he did business with, what he was prepared to invest in, how much he was prepared to lend or borrow – even what he had for supper, with the ingredients candidly listed under the heading of ‘butcher’ or ‘greengrocer’. It’s fascinating stuff (especially if you’re nosey, as I am)! On the right you can see the pages of a ledger where Butler’s assistant, Alfred Cathie, recorded the expenditure and income relating to Butler’s photographic pursuits. You might notice that Alfred’s handwriting is exceptionally neat; Butler’s own accounting, especially in some of his earlier ‘cash books’, appears slightly more creative.
XI/3/2 - Accounts ledger, in Alfred Cathie's hand
Following on from some conversations at the Butler Day in March, I’ve created a new Butler Community page on the website. The idea is to bring together details of anybody currently working on Samuel Butler, so that academics and researchers can find out about others with similar interests, and form new contacts or even collaborations. If you’re working on Butler and would like to be included in the list, please get in touch!
