Edward Dundas Butler
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Edward Dundas Butler was a linguist, translator and senior librarian at the Department of Printed Books, British Museum.Czigány, L. Butler, Edward Dundas (1842–1919), linguist and librarian. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 23 May. 2021, from https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-52382.


Biography

Butler was born on 15 October 1842 at 6 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, the son of Thomas Butler and his wife, Jane Isabella, née North. He attended the Blue Coat School after which, in 1859 at the age of seventeen, he joined the department of printed books at the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
as a transcriber. In 1867 he transferred to the new Department of Maps and was promoted to second in command two years later. In 1880 he was promoted again and moved back to the main library where he oversaw additions to the map collection, prepared the map catalogue for printing, and catalogued general works in the so-called ‘difficult languages’, which, in his case, included Hungarian, Finnish, and Romanian. This stimulated an interest in the literature written in these eastern European languages, encouraged by the Keeper of Printed Books, Thomas Watts (1811–1869), who laid a special emphasis on acquiring material in neglected languages. Butler proved himself an able translator from Hungarian and Finnish in particular. His translations included a collection of poems and fables from the Hungarian (1877) as well as a longer piece by
János Arany János Arany (; archaic English: John Arany; 2 March 1817 – 22 October 1882) was a Hungarian poet, writer, translator and journalist. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare of ballads" – he wrote more than 102 ballads that have been transl ...
(1881). He was also responsible for the first history of Finnish literature in English, translated from the 1896 Finnish original of B. F. Godenhjelm, son of the painter
Berndt Godenhjelm Berndt Abraham Godenhjelm (March 30, 1799 - 14 December 1881) was a Finnish people, Finnish painter. Personal life Godenhjelm was born in Mäntyharju. His parents were the county surveyor Adolf Fredrik Godenhjelm and Maria Elizabeth Argillander. ...
. He also contributed to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...
(9th edn, 1875–89) as well as to miscellaneous periodicals, and as a result of his literary activity, in 1879 he was elected as a corresponding member of the
Kisfaludy Society The Kisfaludy Society (Hungarian: ''Kisfaludy Társaság'') was a literary society in Pest, founded in 1836 and named after Károly Kisfaludy, who had died in 1830. It held monthly meetings and was a major force in Hungarian literary life, giving ...
and two year later became an external member of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...
.


Personal life

He married German born Franziska Carolina Hedwig (1857-1900) and they had five children, Hedwig, Edward, Frank, Gerard and Hilda. Butler died of heart failure on 11 February 1919 at his home, 66 Whitehall Park,
Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
and is buried with his wife and two of his children on the western side of
Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Edward Dundas 1842 births 1919 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Hungarian–English translators Finnish–English translators Romanian–English translators