John Everett Butt, FBA (12 April 1906 – 22 November 1965) was an English literary scholar, known for his work on Alexander Pope. He was Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

from 1959 to 1965.

Biography

The son of a doctor, he attended

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

and Merton College, Oxford, switching from medicine to English language and literature and graduating in 1928.Donald W. Nichol
"Butt, John Everett"
''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (online ed., Oxford University Press, 2018). Retrieved 24 March 2021. Butt was employed as an assistant lecturer at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

in 1929 and then briefly as an assistant librarian at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1930, before being appointed in that year to a lectureship in English at Bedford College, London. He remained there until 1946, though his tenure was interrupted by temporary appointments at the

Ministry of Home Security The Ministry of Home Security was a British government department established in 1939 to direct national civil defence, primarily tasked with organising air raid precautions, during the Second World War. The Ministry for Home Security was headed ...

and the Home Office during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In 1946, he was elected Professor of English Language and Literature at

King's College, Newcastle Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

, then part of Durham University. He remained there until taking up the Regius Professorship of Rhetoric and English Literature at the

in 1959, in which post he remained until his death in 1965 at the age of 59."Butt, Prof. John Everett"
''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'' (online ed., Oxford University Press, 2007). Retrieved 24 March 2021. Butt's contributions to academia began with his first published article on

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

in 1928. Four years later, he was appointed general editor of Methuen's Twickenham edition of the '' Works of Alexander Pope'', an 11-volume series published between 1939 and 1969. A condensed version was edited by Butt himself as ''The Poems of Alexander Pope'' (1963) and he edited other versions of ''An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot'' and ''Imitations of Horace''. He also translated some of

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

's works, and authored ''Augustans and Romantics, 1689–1830'' (1940), ''The Augustan Age'' (1950), and ''Dickens at Work'' (1957). With

Kathleen Tillotson Kathleen Mary Tillotson CBE (3 April 1906 – 3 June 2001) was a British academic and literary critic, professor of English and distinguished Victorian scholar. Her various works on Elizabethan literature have accumulated significance in the lit ...

, he was from 1958 editor of the

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Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

series and was an influence on '' The Letters of Charles Dickens'' project which began in the year of his death. He had been undertaking work on the mid-18th-century volume of '' The Oxford History of English Literature'', which was continued by Geoffrey Carnall. He was editor of ''

The Review of English Studies ''The Review of English Studies'' is an academic journal published by Oxford University Press covering English literature and the English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earli ...

'' (1947–54) and gave the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

's Warton Lecture in 1954; he was elected a fellow of the academy in 1961 and was the subject of a posthumous

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, published in 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butt, John Everett 1906 births 1965 deaths English literature academics Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of Bedford College, London Academics of Durham University Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the British Academy