Alban Butler (October 24 NS, 1710 - St-Omer, France May 15, 1773), English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer, was born at Appletree Northamptonshire. October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 68 days remaining. ... // Events April 10 - The worlds first copyright legislation became effective, Britains Statute of Anne Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Births January 3 - Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1773 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Hagiography is the study of saints. ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ...

He was educated at the English college, Douai, where on his ordination to the priesthood in 1735 he held successively the chairs of philosophy and divinity. He labored for some time as a missionary priest in Staffordshire, held several positions as tutor to young Roman Catholic noblemen, and was finally appointed president of the English seminary at St Omer, where he remained till his death. Douai is a city and commune in the north of France in the département of Nord, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ... Saint-Omer, a town and commune of Artois in northern France, sous-préfecture of the Pas-de-Calais département, 42 miles west-north-west of Lille on the railway to Calais. ...

Butler's great work, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints ("Butler's Lives"), the result of thirty years study (first published in four volumes, London, 1756-1759), has passed through many editions and translations (best edition, including valuable notes, Dublin, 12 vols. 1779-1780). It is a popular and compendious reproduction of the Acta Sanctorum, exhibiting great industry and research, and is in all respects the best compendium of Acta in English. Acta Sanctorum (Acts of the Saints) is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saints feast day. ...

In 1745 Butler was commissioned to act as tutor and guide to George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and his two brothers, James and Thomas Talbot, both afterwards Catholic bishops, on the Grand Tour. On his return he acted as Catholic mission priest in his native Midlands. He acted as chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk, whose nephew and heir, the Hon. Edward Howard, Butler accompanied to Paris as tutor. While he was in Paris, Butler completed his Lives. The Earl of Shrewsbury is the senior Earl on the Roll in the Peerage of England (the more senior Earldom of Arundel being held by the Duke of Norfolk). ... In the 18th century, the Grand Tour was a kind of education for wealthy British noblemen. ...

See An Account of the Life of A. B. by C. B., i.e. by his nephew Charles Butler (London, 1799); and Joseph Gillows Bibliographical Dictionary of English Catholics, vol. i. Charles Butler (August 14, 1750 - June 2, 1832), British lawyer and miscellaneous writer, was born in London. ...

Notes on the first edition of 1756-1759: This edition was printed initially in 4 octavo volumes, with no stated publisher or author's name. However they were so thick that they were usually bound in more volumes than that. There were actually 6 title pages since Vol. 3 and Vol. 4 both have a "part II" issued thus: vol. I, vol. II, vol. III, vol. III part II, vol. IV, and vol. IV part II. Each "volume" contained three months of the liturgical calendar's Saints' lives. Vol. I also had a copperplate engraving with figures of the Roman devices of torture used, and a 2 page explanation of their use. (only found in the first edition.) Charles Butler's assertion that "all the notes" were left out of the first edition at the suggestion of Bishop Challoner is exaggerated. There are many useful, and even extended notes in the first edition, but not to the extent that they appear in the second, and succeeding editions. Lowndes suggests that there was a 1745 quarto first edition, but this is incorrect, and we suspect that he was thinking of Challoner's "Britania Sancta" which was printed that year in two Quarto volumes, and deals with all of the Saint's lives from the British Isles.

One modern abridged Concise Edition is: ISBN 0060692995

A modern complete edition (1995–2000) is also available in 12 volumes, organized by month and feast day:

• The January volume is ISBN 0814623778.
• February ISBN 0814623786
• March ISBN 0814623794
• April ISBN 0814623808
• May ISBN 0814623816
• June ISBN 0814623824
• July ISBN 0814623832
• August ISBN 0814623840
• September ISBN 0814623859
• October ISBN 0814623867
• November ISBN 0814623875
• December ISBN 0814623883

External link

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Alban Butler

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain. The 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) is the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...