Hudibras by Samuel Butler (London, 1694)
Michael van der Gucht, ‘Samuel Butler, 1612 – 1680. Poet; author of “Hudibras”’ (1739). Line engraving on paper. Courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland.
The Book of the Month for December 2024 is Hudibras by Samuel Butler (bap. 1613, d. 1680). The Edward Worth Library includes the 1694 edition of this book: Hudibras. The First Part. Written in the Time of the Great Wars. Corrected and Amended, With several Additions and Annotations. This edition was printed by Thomas Warren (fl. 1693–98) for Henry Herringman (1628–1704). For more information on Henry Herringman, his career, and the authors and texts he published, please visit the small exhibition: ‘Henry Herringman and the Book Trade in Late-Stuart England’.
Early Life & Writing
Samuel Butler was baptized in Strensham, Worcestershire in February 1613.[1] His parents were Mary (d. 1648) and Samuel Butler (d. 1626); Samuel was their fifth child of eight. The elder Samuel Butler was a yeoman and worked for Sir John Russell, presumably as a clerk. He leased the family’s home and farm in Strensham from Russell, but also owned a house and land in Barbourne.[2] The Butler family resided in their Barbourne home at the time of the father’s death in 1626. In his father’s will, Butler inherited a variety of books—including his Latin and Greek collections on law, logic, rhetoric, and philosophy—as well as some property at Barbourne.
At the time of his father’s death, Butler was attending the King’s School, Worcester. Following his education, he worked variously as a clerk, painter, and steward. He served as steward for the Countess of Kent for several years.[3] In the time following, he may have lived in Cople, Bedfordshire, working for Sir Samuel Luke (bap. 1603, d. 1670).[4] From sometime in 1661 until January 1662, Butler was steward to Richard Vaughn (1600?–86), earl of Carberry and lord president of Wales, at Ludlow Castle.
Butler’s earliest surviving poem was ‘A Ballad’, written as early as 1644. His earliest prose writing, ‘The case of King Charles I. Truly stated’, may have been written in 1649.[5] He wrote several tracts on the politics and events of 1659–60, which he did not publish. The first printed work that credited Buter as the author was A True and Perfect Copy of the Lord Roos his Answer to the Marquesse of Dorchester’s Letter in 1660.
Publication of Hudibras
Samuel Butler, Hudibras. The first part. Written in the time of the late wars (London, 1694). Part I title page.
Hudibras, Butler’s most well-known work, was a mock-epic that satirized Puritanism and radical religious factions during the seventeenth century. Hudibras: the First Part was licensed in November 1662 and first sold in 1663.[6] The epic was published in three parts, from 1663 until 1678. The work was an immediate success; five authorized editions were printed within the first year, as well as four pirated editions and four editions of a spurious second part.[7] The following year, Butler wrote a second part, which was licensed in November 1663. Two authorized editions of the Part II were printed and sold during that year. In 1674, Part I and Part II were printed as a collected volume, which included notes and revisions by Butler. The collected edition was well-received, and Part III was printed in 1678.
Before Butler’s death in 1680, no complete collected edition of Parts I, II, and III of Hudibras had been printed. Yadav notes: ‘The structural unity—or lack thereof—of the poem has … a historical dimension connected with publishing practices … as well as an internal dimension, having to do with both narrative structure and verse-form’; thus, ‘the “unity” of the poem [in its collected edition] will be fabricated for us, making the poem appear all of a piece regardless of its previous textual disarray’.[8] The complete poem, including all three parts, was issued for the first time in 1684. Henry Herringman published another collected edition in 1694: Hudibras. The First Part. Written in the Time of the Great Wars. Corrected and Amended, With several Additions and Annotations. The volume of Hudibras in the Worth Library is this Herringman edition.
Samuel Butler, Hudibras. The Second Part. By the Author of the First … (London, 1693). Part II title page.
The Worth Library’s edition of Hudibras exemplifies the textual disarray that Yadav describes. All three parts in the collected edition have their own title page and list different booksellers in each imprint: Henry Herringman, Thomas Bennett, Richard Bentley (bap. 1645, d. 1697), Francis Saunders, Jacob Tonson (1655/6–1736), Richard Chiswell (1640–1711), Thomas Sawbridge (fl. 1669–92), George Wells (fl. 1677–87), and Thomas Horne (fl. 1686–1711). Thomas Warren is the only noted printer. Parts I and II of this edition are paginated continuously, while Part III has a separate pagination and register; this suggests that it may have been issued separately. The various booksellers and issues represented in this volume attest to Hudibras’ lengthy and complicated publication history. The popularity and demand for the text resulted in many different editions and reprintings, the involvement of many different publishers and booksellers, and the creation of hybrid volumes and collected editions.
Samuel Butler, Hudibras. The Third and Last Part … (London, 1694). Licensing note, Part III title page verso.
Herringman’s edition of Hudibras includes a note on the title page verso of Part III: ‘Licensed and Entered according to the Act of Parliament for Printing’.[9] The note likely references the Licensing Act of 1662 or its subsequent renewals. This act was the central regulatory framework for the printing and book trade in seventeenth-century England. It mandated that all books be licensed by official authorities and registered with the Stationers’ Company to control the dissemination of seditious, heretical, or otherwise subversive material.[10] The act was established shortly after the Restoration of Charles II (1630–85) to reinstitute controls on the press, which had lapsed during the Interregnum. It granted the Stationers’ Company the exclusive right to print and distribute materials while empowering officials, such as the Surveyor of the Press, to suppress unlicensed works. This regulatory framework was instrumental in maintaining royal and Anglican authority, particularly against the dissenting voices that had gained prominence during the Puritan Commonwealth.
While the Licensing Act expired in 1679, its principles were often upheld through subsequent regulations, and licensing requirements were sporadically enforced into the 1690s. By 1694, the lack of a new act to replace the Licensing Act left the enforcement of printing laws unstable, which may explain the significance of explicitly noting compliance in Hudibras. Parts I and II of Hudibras were also published earlier than Part III (originally in 1663 and 1664, respectively) and may have already been registered or exempted from additional licensing requirements by the 1694 edition. Part III, published in 1678, was written under a stricter regulatory environment, necessitating compliance with licensing laws. Placing the note here may have been a way to ensure Part III adhered to the prevailing legal standards. By including the licensing notice, the publisher might have been seeking to reassert copyright protection for Part III under the terms of the Stationers’ Company or related legal mechanisms. This was common in the seventeenth century as publishers often needed to reaffirm ownership over their texts in light of evolving regulations.[11] In the Worth’s 1694 edition, this may also suggest that Part III was issued separately from Parts I and II.
The Poem
Hudibras is set during the English Civil War (1642–51) and the years that followed, and ‘emphasizes the debased actions of man in the midst of civil conflict at almost every turn in the poem’.[12] The story follows a Presbyterian knight, Sir Hudibras, who embarks on a journey with his squire, an Independent named Ralpho. The pair argue over religious questions and, ‘in a series of grotesque adventures, are shown to be ignorant, wrongheaded, cowardly, and dishonest’.[13] Through these characters and their repeated defeat and humiliation, the poem satirizes religious extremism, political opportunism, and human folly. Hudibras is often compared to Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote (1605), with both protagonists parodying the chivalric ideals of earlier eras. In addition to his satirical critique of Puritanism and political dissent, Wasserman argues that Hudibras ‘is a satire on all mankind, not just one segment of it; its hero is the embodiment of ignorance as well as Presbyterianism; and his squire, Ralph, represents knavery as well as sectarian Independence’.[14]
The Hogarth image depicts Ralpho and ‘Hudibras Sallying Forth’ at the beginning of Part I of Hudibras.[15] In this first part, Sir Hudibras and Ralpho embark on their journey and encounter ‘a bear‐baiting mob who, after a comic skirmish, imprison them in the stocks’.[16] During this fight, Hudibras and Ralpho are notably defeated by a woman, Trulla. Wasserman describes her as a ‘fierce virago-bear-baiter, with greater physical strength and courage than either Hudibras or her male counterparts’.[17] She wins Hudibras’ sword, forces him to the ground, and afterward, to wear her petticoat—ultimately emasculating the knight. Hudibras and Ralpho are subsequently punished and restrained in stocks. Through Trulla—and her strength, skill, and common sense—Butler inverts the subordinate and inferior role of women that was assumed during this period. This emphasized the poem’s satirical elements for Restoration readers and criticized the heroic and romantic literature popular during this time.
William Hogarth, ‘Small Illustrations to Butler’s ‘Hudibras’: Hudibras Vanquished by by Trulla’ (1726). Etching and engraving on paper. Courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland.
In Part II, Hudibras and Ralpho are helped by a widow—whom Hudibras would like to marry for her jointure. She has the ironic opportunity to rescue the knight from the stocks, continuing Butler’s reversal of heroic conventions. The widow releases Hudibras and Ralpho under the condition that Hudibras ‘[undergo] a whipping for her sake’.[18] Hudibras agrees to this condition, but afterward, wishes to break the oath. He decides to consult Sidrophel, an astrologer, who Hudibras subsequently assaults and leaves for dead.[19]
Hudibras and Ralpho also witness a skimmington during Part II—a village procession intended to shame and ridicule ‘a woman or her husband in cases where the one was unfaithful to, or ill-treated, the other’.[20] Hudibras attempts to defend the victim of the skimmington, seeing the woman’s ridicule as ‘an attack on Presbyterianism and on the Commonwealth wives … Hudibras worships the ladies of the Commonwealth because he feels that while their husbands and his compatriots were nurturing the underbelly of rebellion, the Commonwealth wives were stuffing the “inner” bellies of the rebels’.[21] Hudibras is pelted with eggs for his involvement, drawing the brunt of the mob’s derision.
Samuel Butler, Hudibras. The Third and Last Part … (London, 1694). Part III title page.
In Part III, Hudibras returns to the widow and claims to have fulfilled his promise. The widow knows the truth, however, and argues with Hudibras. During their argument, a group of demon-like figures arrive. They force Hudibras to confess his dishonesty and his intentions with the widow, revealing him as cowardly and deceitful. Hudibras seeks a lawyer, who advises Hudibras to gain the widow’s fortune through a lawsuit. The poem concludes with ‘The Ladies Answer to the Knight’, in which the widow delivers a sharp and eloquent rejection of Hudibras. The poem ends with her final couplet:
‘Let Men usurp th’ unjust Dominion,
As if they were the better Women.’[22]
In epic and romantic traditions, knights often perform heroic deeds to prove their worth and win the favour of a lady. Hudibras’ attempts, and ultimate failure, to gain favour through ostentatious, self-serving gestures are emblematic of the empty moral posturing that Butler critiques throughout the poem. The widow’s dismissal underscores the futility of such behaviour. Her refusal of the conventional heroic role as a lady destabilizes and satirizes the heroic genre. The widow embodies a skeptical and rational voice, challenging Hudibras’ pretensions and the broader hypocrisy of Puritanical ideologies.
Conclusion
Butler’s Hudibras demonstrates the tastes of the Restoration era and offers insight into its society and culture. Its indictment of Puritans ‘on moral grounds and … merciless ridicule of all their ways—remained the classic anti-Puritan statement throughout much of the eighteenth century’.[23] Thus, the poem exemplifies the skepticism toward religious zeal and embrace of wit and satire as cultural tools during this period. In printing a 1694 collected edition, Herringman capitalized on the text’s earlier reputation and reception. His reprinting increased the text’s popularity and readership in the latter part of the Restoration period and helped to ensure its place in the literary canon. Its inclusion in the Worth collection demonstrates the tastes of late seventeenth-century readers and an appreciation for the political, cultural, and literary significance of the work.
Text: Ms Hannah Mattsen, Fourth Year Student, English Literature, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Sources
Beer, E. S. de., ‘The Later Life of Samuel Butler’, The Review of English Studies, 4, no. 14 (1928), 159–66.
Birch, Dinah (ed.), ‘Hudibras,’ The Oxford Companion to English Literature.
Butler, Samuel, Hudibras. The first part. Written in the time of the late wars … (London, 1694).
Encyclopædia Britannica, ‘Hudibras’, Britannica Academic.
Oxford English Dictionary, ‘skimmington (n.), sense 2.a’, Oxford English Dictionary.
Treadwell, Michael, ‘The stationers and the printing acts at the end of the seventeenth century’, in John Barnard and D. F. McKenzie (eds), The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain (Cambridge, 2002), pp 755–776.
Quehen, Hugh de, ‘Butler, Samuel (bap. 1613, d. 1680)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Quintana, Ricardo, ‘Samuel Butler: A Restoration Figure in a Modern Light’, ELH: English Literary History, 18, no. 1 (1951), 7–31.
Seidel, Michael A., ‘Patterns of Anarchy and Oppression in Samuel Butler’s Hudibras’, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 5, no. 2 (1971), 294–314.
Thorson, James L., ‘The Publication of ‘Hudibras’’, The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 60, no. 4 (1966), 418–38.
Wasserman, George R., ‘Hudibras and Male Chauvinism’, Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 16, no. 3 (1976), 351–61.
Yadav, Alok, ‘Fractured Meanings: ‘Hudibras’ and the Historicity of the Literary Text’, ELH: English Literary History, 62, no. 3 (1995), 529–49.
[1] Quehen, Hugh de, ‘Butler, Samuel (bap. 1613, d. 1680)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Yadav, Alok, ‘Fractured Meanings: ‘Hudibras’ and the Historicity of the Literary Text’, ELH: English Literary History, 62, no. 3 (1995), 531.
[9] Butler, Samuel, Hudibras. The Third and Last Part … (London, 1694), title page verso.
[10] Treadwell, Michael, ‘The stationers and the printing acts at the end of the seventeenth century’, in John Barnard and D. F. McKenzie (eds), The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain (Cambridge, 2002), pp 755–776.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Seidel, Michael A, ‘Patterns of Anarchy and Oppression in Samuel Butler’s Hudibras’, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 5, no. 2 (1971), 302.
[13] Encyclopædia Britannica, ‘Hudibras’, Britannica Academic.
[14] Wasserman, George R., ‘Hudibras and Male Chauvinism’, Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 16, no. 3 (1976), 351.
[15] Hogarth’s ‘Small Illustrations to Butler’s ‘Hudibras’’ were used in later, eighteenth-century editions of Hudibras; they are not included in the Worth Library volume of Hudibras (London, 1694).
[16] Birch, Dinah (ed.), ‘Hudibras,’ The Oxford Companion to English Literature.
[17] Wasserman, ‘Hudibras and Male Chauvinism’, 354.
[18] Birch, ‘Hudibras’.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Oxford English Dictionary, ‘skimmington (n.), sense 2.a’, Oxford English Dictionary.
[21] Seidel, ‘Patterns of Anarchy and Oppression …’, 310.
[22] Butler, Hudibras. The Third and Last Part …, p. 254.
[23] Quintana, Ricardo, ‘Samuel Butler: A Restoration Figure in a Modern Light’, ELH: English Literary History, 18, no. 1 (1951), 7.