Other editions of book Erewhon Revisited Twenty Years Later, Both by the Original Discoverer of the Country and by His Son

Erewhon includes include both of Samuel Butler's satirical "lost world" novels, set in the New Zealand-inspired mythical land of Erewhon (from 'Nowhere'). In Erewhon, Butler finds the freedom to ridicule aspects of British Victorian society, including religion, criminal punishment, and industrial society. Erewhon is a novel by Samuel Butler, published anonymously in 1872. The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist. In the novel, it is not revealed where Erewhon is, but it is clear that it is a fictional country. Butler meant the title to be read as the word Nowhere backwards, even though the letters "h" and "w" are transposed, therefore Erewhon is an anagram of nowhere. The book is a satire on Victorian society. The first few chapters of the novel dealing with the discovery of Erewhon are in fact based on Butler's own experiences in New Zealand where, as a young man, he worked as a sheep farmer on Mesopotamia Station for about four years (1860–1864), and explored parts of the interior of the South Island. Sometimes compared to Gulliver's Travels (1726), a classic novel by Jonathan Swift; the image of Utopia in this latter case also bears strong parallels with the self-view of the British Empire at the time. Samuel Butler (1835-1902) at Langar Rectory, Nottinghamshire, England, and was baptised on 17 December 1835. He was educated at Shrewsbury School from 1848 to 1854 and St John's College, Cambridge, from 1854 to 1858, when he graduated 12th in the Classical tripos, with first-class honours. But his impulse to escape the constraints of the church, education, law and the patriarchal family led him to decline ordination and persuade his somewhat imperious father to finance his emigration to New Zealand. He sailed on the Roman Emperor on 1 October 1859. Only a month before departure his preference had been for western Canada, and his passage to Lyttelton was originally booked on the Burmah, which disappeared without trace. Arriving at Lyttelton on 27 January 1860, Butler began 4½ years' activity which did much to develop his distinctive energy and irreverence of mind. Seeking unclaimed sheep country, he explored the mountain headwaters of four of Canterbury's rivers between March and May 1860. At the Bealey, only the lack of a companion stopped him from being the first European to reach Arthur's Pass. He attained an almost equal distinction in New Zealand exploration by discovering and crossing the Whitcombe Pass on 3 February 1861, during a series of expeditions above the Rangitata with John Holland Baker. This provided the basis of the journey 'over the range' in Erewhon, and the achievement is commemorated in names such as Butler Saddle (from where they first saw the pass beyond the Rakaia), Mt Butler and the Butler Range. Such resourcefulness and stamina were not out of character. He had been a leading cross-country runner at Shrewsbury, the school which pioneered that sport, a coxswain and coach at Cambridge, and a strenuous alpine walker.

Erewhon: or, Over the Range (e-re-whon) is a novel by Samuel Butler which was first published anonymously in 1872. The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist. In the novel, it is not revealed where Erewhon is, but it is clear that it is a fictional country. Butler meant the title to be read as "nowhere" backwards even though the letters "h" and "w" are transposed, as it would have been pronounced in his day (and still is in some dialects of English). The book is a satire on Victorian society. The first few chapters of the novel dealing with the discovery of Erewhon are in fact based on Butler's own experiences in New Zealand where, as a young man, he worked as a sheep farmer on Mesopotamia Station for about four years (1860–1864), and explored parts of the interior of the South Island and which he wrote about in his A First Year in Canterbury Settlement (1863).

Setting out to make his fortune in a far-off country, a young traveller discovers the remote and beautiful land of Erewhon and is given a home among its extraordinarily handsome citizens. But their visitor soon discovers that this seemingly ideal community has its faults - here crime is treated indulgently as a malady to be cured, while illness, poverty and misfortune are cruelly punished, and all machines have been superstitiously destroyed after a bizarre prophecy. Can he survive in a world where morality is turned upside down? Butler satirically describes a utopian society, using the civilization of ‘Erewhon’ (an anagram for ‘nowhere’) to satirize beliefs popular in the England of his day.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) used his satirical tale, Erewhon, to promote of his alternative interpretation of the evolution of species, which accorded cells a will and a capacity to shape their environment and to pass acquired habits on to its progeny. Butler satirises the injustices of Victorian England by means of a utopian society in which all the social mores and laws were the exact opposite of what they were in England, just as its ideas about evolution were different.

It may be readily understood that when once Europeans set foot upon this territory they were not slow to take advantage of its capabilities. Sheep and cattle were introduced, and bred with extreme rapidity; men took up their 50,000 or 100,000 acres of country, going inland one behind the other, till in a few years there was not an acre between the sea and the front ranges which was not taken up, and stations either for sheep or cattle were spotted about at intervals of some twenty or thirty miles over the whole country. The front ranges stopped the tide of squatters for some little time; it was thought that there was too much snow upon them for too many months in the year,—that the sheep would get lost, the ground being too difficult for shepherding,—that the expense of getting wool down to the ship’s side would eat up the farmer’s profits,—and that the grass was too rough and sour for sheep to thrive upon; but one after another determined to try the experiment, and it was wonderful how successfully it turned out. Men pushed farther and farther into the mountains, and found a very considerable tract inside the front range, between it and another which was loftier still, though even this was not the highest, the great snowy one which could be seen from out upon the plains. This second range, however, seemed to mark the extreme limits of pastoral country; and it was here, at a small and newly founded station, that I was received as a cadet, and soon regularly employed. I was then just twenty-two years old. I was delighted with the country and the manner of life. It was my daily business to go up to the top of a certain high mountain, and down one of its spurs on to the flat, in order to make sure that no sheep had crossed their boundaries. I was to see the sheep, not necessarily close at hand, nor to get them in a single mob, but to see enough of them here and there to feel easy that nothing had gone wrong; this was no difficult matter, for there were not above eight hundred of them; and, being all breeding ewes, they were pretty quiet.

Erewhon, written by legendary author Samuel Butler is widely considered to be one of the greatest classic and historical texts of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Erewhon is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, this gem by Samuel Butler is highly recommended. Published by Classic Books International and beautifully produced, Erewhon would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library.

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