Edmund Butterworth (1772–1814)

Butterworth held the post of writing master and accountant at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, the institution in which John James Ruskin enrolled in 1795 at age ten. Butterworth was appointed to the post in August 1780 on the merits of “the elegance of his penmanship” and “his success as a teacher”, having previously taught writing and arithmetic since 1773 at Dumfries Academy (Steven, History of the High School of Edinburgh, 128; app. 6, p. 120). He proudly advertised his office on the title page of his first‐published copybook, The Universal Penman; or The Beauties of Writing Delineated, which appeared in 1784 according to the Scottish Book Trade Index, and printed in Edinburgh “for the Author & G. Robinson” (Heal, English Writing‐Masters, 25, 193). John James would not have been instructed personally by Butterworth, since the master resigned in August 1793 (Steven, History of the High School of Edinburgh, app. 6, p. 120).

Butterworth must have brought unusual distinction to the post of writing master. Since the earliest days of the Royal High School, the class in writing had been considered optional at this institution devoted primarily to study of classics; and in 1704 the school authorities felt compelled to intervene in order to assure that the writing master was “properly countenanced”, by urging the Latin masters to “use their best endeavours to get more constant employment to . . . the teacher of writing”. The prestige of the post had not improved later in the century, when Butterworth was appointed to succeed an “eccentric person” who had deserted the school. Instruction in writing included basic arithmetic until 1827–28, when greater dignity was bestowed on this part of the curriculum by combining its study with mathematics. This reform was part of an expansion and liberalization of the overall curriculum, although writing and arithmetic remained optional classes, allowing for students to obtain this instruction elsewhere (Steven, History of the High School of Edinburgh, 80–81, 128, 227).

Butterworth designed his copybook, The Universal Penman; or The Beauties of Writing Delineated, according to its title page, for the “improvement of youth” and “amusement of the curious” (Heal, English Writing‐Masters, 193). The main title, The Universal Penman, was shared with that of an older, well‐known copybook by George Bickham (1684–1758) (see Ruskinʼs Handwriting). Nonetheless, another edition of Butterworthʼs text was published in 1799 in London by Laurie and Whittle (p. 25). As was typical for publication of copybooks (see Becker, Practice of Letters, xiii), this firm was a print publisher specializing in maps, charts, and other pictorial prints. Laurie and Whittle also maintained a Hibernian connection, the firm being headed by the Scottish engraver, Robert Laurie (1755?–1836), who developed a method of printing colored mezzotints (Clayton and McConnell, “Laurie, Robert (1755?–1836”).

According to Heal, English Writing‐Masters, Butterworth produced six additional titles by 1799–1801, with the book that Ruskin is said to have used, the Young Arthmeticianʼs Instructor, appearing in 1805 (dated 1815, however, by the Scottish Book Trade Index). In addition, the “firm” of Butterworth & Son—carried forward by George Butterworth, in George Street, —produced “several copy‐books from 1800–1827 and possibly later” (Heal, English Writing‐Masters, 25, 193; “George Butterworth”). Thus, the firm remained in business in 1827, the year in which John James purchased a publication by Butterworth in response to John's first use of pen and ink. Van Akin Burd identified that publication as Young Arthmeticianʼs Instructor and James Dearden followed suit (Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 168 n. 1; The Library of John Ruskin, 59 [no. 407]). Evidence does not support identification of a specific title, however, John James having summarized the purchase in his accounts for 1827 as “Writing Butterworth 7/6” (John James Ruskin, Account Book, RF MS 28 [1827–45], 2r). In fact, on the basis of that abbreviation of the title, along with the fact that John busied his pen at this time mainly in writing poetry and letters to his father, a different title by Butterworth seems a likelier candidate for John James Ruskinʼs purchase—namely, Young Writers Instructor (1816) (see “Edmund Butterworth” and see The Ruskin Family Handwriting).