LIBER'S NOTE BOOK

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 235, 28 June 1919, Page 11

LIBER'S NOTE BOOK

A Life of ."Erewhon" Butler, .. . ■ I am afraid that when Snmuel Butler, of "Erewhon" fame,, was "sheep -farming in Canterbury,'.iiv' the far-away sixties, but few of his • fellow-colonists- ever dreamt that, their eccentric, retiring fel-low-past'oralist' was a .li.tcrary. genius. Yet-such Butler is adjudged nowadays, and, as any good bookseller will tell you, his-works have a steady nml increasing saie in (lie Dominion. Quite a number of my hooky frieiids have waxed enthusiastic over what; they have recommended to mo as- a "real iind"; Butler's "Note Books," published two or three years ago by Jlr. Filield. Now, at lf.st, ijo I notice, we are to have a full-dress official biography of Butler. The book, which is to appear some time during the approaching English autumn, has been-written by Jlr. Henry '•Vesting Jones,- \vlio for.. : many years was a great personal friend' of Butler," and whom the latter: appointed as .his literary executor. The book i-i In lie" published by stno.millans. A couple of years or so ago Gilbert Caiman, the clever young English novelist, ..wrote * , "critical siudv" of Butler for a series of literary biographies published by Martin Keeker, 'i'hero is also an interesting "Sketch of the Life of Samuel llutler," contributed liv Jlr. Vesting' ."(ones as a preface to Mr. Fi Hold's edition of "The Humour of Homer and Other Essays,'' -tiid the "Brief Biographical Statement" which prefaces tlie same publisher's edition of tluv "Note Books"'.is also worthy "of attention.' But the first full-length biographical portrait, will appear ■in Mi\ "Jones's, forthcoming volume, which 1. shall,await with much interest'. ' Meanwhile. ..if anyone wants to get at the real Butler,'• lot him turn to "The Note Books," one of llic best

"dipping books" .1 have ever met with. Personally..-.-! should not call .Butler a genius, but. ho is one of the most, "meaty? and original writersl know. Those who only know him by "Erewhon" (in mv opinions greatly over-rated hook) should' rend that remarkable novel, "Thri YYaj* of All Flesh," the ossayS'i'and, best of all, "Tin* Note Books." . .Butler's excessive employment of irony ihiiy irritate some venders, but. he is one of the most suggestive-of writers,'and as a Victorian years ahead ,of his own period as a.social philosopher. . • ' . ' . "Buzz! . Buzz!" • . iii,"Grub Street Gossip," the < ditor' of that excellent • literary magazine—once war .is ; over,-an<l So I am Bind to see in.reality as.w-.'ll ft-S-.iu name— "The Book Monthly" asks; ■ • What exactly, does "Buz?.! Buzzi" mean, and where does it 1 come from? Apparently it.is- Uientri<-,al,>and : !t'cives the title to a repent .book about : ilie stagfe. 'Apparently, also, it .- is ■ crecpins from, the • stage ■ihto. the slan£ : ;'ofr, : tlve streets, so'.'what does it mean? ■- Ijeally the'above is' .':.aii " extraordinary to appear, iti'.a high-class liter.riry magazine," nnd' : 'that,:'too, in this year of'-graconineteen hm'udral and nineteen. !Sui:elv-'Mr. James Milne, the editor, who writes so'ple'ashnjly upon the new -books of the .day,'.must' liavp.. forgotten his 'TipV'liini'-ftbV'Wli ."Hamlet" .(.Vet 11, .Scene 2), and ..ho .will' iiml the .fallowing/— '.- v., ; . \. PoloniiisY \Tho actors aire' £ome hither, .. -nis":tord; - Hamlet: Buz, , buz! ■True, the-'of "Hiinil.et" has (in the' Cambridge;!edition) but , one z, but it ia clearly this quotation' which the -author of the "recent Ijppk about the stage" mentioned Book .Monili--ly" liad-iit lhiiid wlieii lie'chose "Buzz! Buzz!" for a titl& : . "Buzz" has, however, "in..-the .history of slang, a sccond .meaning, signifying the draining of a bowl by a roystorer. ■ For instnnce, in "Vanity Fair", (chapter .11). I .iimWhat lamusing scamp, /Kau'dou-. Crawley, remarking to the butler, Bowls, ■ Got some more port. Howls, old boy, whilst I buzz this bottle, liere. . . . LA'cco'riliiig to that''amusing,''if in places linedifving, work. "Groses Dictionary;of the Vulgar Tongue" (1785 edition), . \ to'huzza, one is to challenge liim to pour out . all the -wine in* the bottle into ■'his glass, undertaking to drink it should, it ■ prove more than the .stass would hold; etc. etc. ' Whilst in Farmer and Henley's "Slang and Its Analogues." a veritable encyclopaedia of slang, 1 find that "'buzz'' is given yet a third meaning: To pick pockcts: tjic victim is engaged in conversation by. a confederate whilst the Buzzer is committing the robbery:.