Mary Butts
Encyclopedia
Mary Frances Butts was a British
modernist
writer. Her work found recognition in important literary magazines such as The Bookman
and The Little Review
, as well as from some of her fellow modernists, T. S. Eliot
, H.D.
and Bryher
. After her death, her works fell into obscurity until they began to be republished in the 1980s.
Butts was a student of the author and occultist Aleister Crowley
, and as one of several students who worked with him on his Magick (Book 4)
in 1912, she was given co-authorship credit.
, Dorset
. Her father, Captain Frederick John Butts, died in 1905, after which she had a boarding school education in St Andrews
. She studied at Westfield College
, but did not complete a degree there. In the first years of World War I
she was living in London, England, undertaking social work for the London County Council
in Hackney Wick
, and in a lesbian
relationship. She then met modernist poet John Rodker
, whom she was to marry, at that time hiding in Dorking
with fellow poet Robert Trevelyan.
During the early 1920s
Butts was mostly in Paris, France. She was friends there with artist, poet, and film-maker Jean Cocteau
, who illustrated her book Imaginary Letters. Her first novel, Ashe of Rings (1925), was published by Robert McAlmon
.
Butts spent about twelve weeks in mid-1921 at Aleister Crowley
's Abbey of Thelema
in Sicily
; she found the practices there shocking, and came away with a drug habit. In 1922 and 1923 she with Cecil Maitland spent periods near Tyneham
, Dorset
, and her novels of the 1920s make much of the Dorset landscape. She settled in Cornwall
in 1932.
in Cornwall
, but the marriage had failed by 1934.
. Her biography, by N. Blondel, appeared in 1998.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
writer. Her work found recognition in important literary magazines such as The Bookman
The Bookman (London)
The Bookman was a monthly magazine published in London from 1891 until 1934 by Hodder & Stoughton. It was a catalogue of their current publications that also contained reviews, advertising and illustrations....
and The Little Review
The Little Review
The Little Review, an American literary magazine founded by Margaret Anderson, published literary and art work from 1914 to 1929. With the help of Jane Heap and Ezra Pound, Anderson created a magazine that featured a wide variety of transatlantic modernists and cultivated many early examples of...
, as well as from some of her fellow modernists, T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, H.D.
H.D.
H.D. was an American poet, novelist and memoirist known for her association with the early 20th century avant-garde Imagist group of poets such as Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington...
and Bryher
Bryher
Bryher was the pen name of the novelist, poet, memoirist, and magazine editor Annie Winifred Ellerman. She was born in September 1894 in Margate. Her father was the shipowner and financier John Ellerman, who at the time of his death in 1933, was the richest Englishman who had ever lived...
. After her death, her works fell into obscurity until they began to be republished in the 1980s.
Butts was a student of the author and occultist Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
, and as one of several students who worked with him on his Magick (Book 4)
Magick (Book 4)
Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4 is widely considered to be the magnum opus of 20th century occultist Aleister Crowley, the founder of Thelema...
in 1912, she was given co-authorship credit.
Life
Butts was born in PoolePoole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. Her father, Captain Frederick John Butts, died in 1905, after which she had a boarding school education in St Andrews
St Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
. She studied at Westfield College
Westfield College
Westfield College was a small college situated in Kidderpore Avenue, Hampstead, London, and was a constituent college of the University of London from 1882 to 1989. The college originally admitted only women as students and became coeducational in 1964. In 1989, Westfield College merged with Queen...
, but did not complete a degree there. In the first years of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
she was living in London, England, undertaking social work for the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
in Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick is an area straddling the boundary between the London Borough of Hackney and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London. It is an inner-city development situated 5 miles northeast of Charing Cross...
, and in a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
relationship. She then met modernist poet John Rodker
John Rodker
John Rodker was a British writer, modernist poet, and publisher of some of the major modernist figures. He was born in Manchester into a Jewish immigrant family, who moved to London while he was still young.-Career:...
, whom she was to marry, at that time hiding in Dorking
Dorking
Dorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...
with fellow poet Robert Trevelyan.
During the early 1920s
1920s
File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...
Butts was mostly in Paris, France. She was friends there with artist, poet, and film-maker Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
, who illustrated her book Imaginary Letters. Her first novel, Ashe of Rings (1925), was published by Robert McAlmon
Robert McAlmon
Robert Menzies McAlmon was an American author, poet and publisher.-Life:McAlmon was born in Clifton, Kansas, the youngest of ten children of an itinerant Presbyterian minister....
.
Butts spent about twelve weeks in mid-1921 at Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
's Abbey of Thelema
Abbey of Thelema
The Abbey of Thelema refers to a small house which was used as a temple and spiritual centre founded by Aleister Crowley and Leah Hirsig in Cefalù, Sicily in 1920....
in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
; she found the practices there shocking, and came away with a drug habit. In 1922 and 1923 she with Cecil Maitland spent periods near Tyneham
Tyneham
Tyneham is a ghost village in south Dorset, England, near Lulworth on the Isle of Purbeck. It remains a civil parish.-Location:The village is situated northeast of Worbarrow Bay on the Jurassic Coast, about south of Wareham and about west of Swanage. It is part of the Lulworth Estate. Tyneham is...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, and her novels of the 1920s make much of the Dorset landscape. She settled in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in 1932.
Family
In 1918 she married John Rodker, and gave birth to a daughter, Camilla Elizabeth. They divorced in 1927, Butts having much earlier left Rodker for a relationship with Cecil Maitland. In 1930 she married William Park "Gabriel" Atkin (1897–1937), a homosexual artist. After time in London and Newcastle, they moved to SennenSennen
Sennen is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Sennen village is situated approximately eight miles west-southwest of Penzance....
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, but the marriage had failed by 1934.
Scholarship on Mary Butts
Butts' papers are held at the Beinecke Library at Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. Her biography, by N. Blondel, appeared in 1998.
Published works
- 1912 Magick (Book 4), by Aleister CrowleyAleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
, Butts given co-authorship credit - 1923 Speed the Plough and other Stories
- 1925 Ashe of Rings
- 1928 Armed with Madness
- 1928 Imaginary Letters
- 1932 Death of Felicity Taverner
- 1932 Traps for Unbelievers
- 1932 Several Occasions
- 1932 Warning to Hikers
- 1933 The Macedonian
- 1935 Scenes from the Life of Cleopatra
- 1937 The Crystal Cabinet: My Childhood at Salterns, autobiography
- 1938 Last Stories