ORIGINS OF MODERNITY

theology & witchcraft

Butler, Samuel (1612-1680)
Hudibras. Part 2.
Hudibras : the second part / by the author of the first.
London : Printed by T.R. for John Martyn and James Allestry, 1664.

The second part of Samuel Butler's famous burlesque Hudibras is an elaborate satire on magic. The hero, Sir Hudibras, who consults the occultist Sidrophel ultimately unmasks him. The intention is to show the whole magical tradition as quintessentially bogus. Samuel Pepys comments in his diary that of Hudibras that "all the world cries [it] up to be the example of wit".