Mary Butts, The Crystal Cabinet

Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Ed. by Andrew Radford, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Atasoy Emrah (University of Warwick), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1937 - c.

Places

United Kingdom (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Autobiography (literary)

Resources

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Recommended Reading

The Crystal Cabinet: My Childhood at Salterns

, Mary Butts’ unfinished memoir,

was published by Methuen in 1937. Early reviews in

Time and Tide

and

The Listener

were alert to the text’s generic sophistication and hybridity; how the sometimes-fragmentary design both reflected and disrupted traditions of formal autobiography, land-writing, reminiscence, elegy and swingeing social critique. The reference to William Blake’s poem of the same name in the book’s title proclaims what is for the author a crucial family link: Mary was the great-granddaughter of Blake’s close associate, correspondent, and principal patron Thomas Butts (1739-1845). This sense of connection to Blake’s visionary poetics, coupled with her vaunted derivation from “the most ancient blood in England” (

, p.…

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1618 words

Citation: Radford, Andrew. "The Crystal Cabinet". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 September 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41301, accessed 17 May 2024.]

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