, Mary Butts’ unfinished memoir,
was published by Methuen in 1937. Early reviews in
Time and Tideand
The Listenerwere 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” (
CC, p.…
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 08 September 2024.]