6d. or 3s. I stole a
passage or two from it for EREWHON, meaning to let it go and never be
reprinted during my lifetime."
This must be taken with a grain of salt. It was Butler's habit
sometimes to entertain his friends and himself by speaking of his own
works with studied disrespect, as when, with reference to his own DARWIN
AND THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, which also is reprinted in this volume, he
described philosophical dialogues as "the most offensive form, except
poetry and books of travel into supposed unknown countries, that even
literature can assume." The circumstances which led to A FIRST YEAR
being written have been fully described by Mr. Festing Jones in his
sketch of Butler's life prefixed to THE HUMOUR OF HOMER (Fifield,
London, 1913, Kennerley, New York), and I will only briefly recapitulate
them. Butler left England for New Zealand in September, 1859, remaining
in the colony until 1864. A FIRST YEAR was published in 1863 in
Butler's name by his father, who contributed a short preface, stating
that the book was compiled from his son's journal and letters, with
extracts from two papers contributed to THE EAGLE, the magazine of St.
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