EREWHON: OR, OVER THE RANGE

Erewhon: or, Over the Range is a novel by Samuel Butler, published anonymously in 1872. The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist. In the novel, it is not revealed in which part of the world Erewhon is, but it is clear that it is a fictional country. Butler meant the title to be read as the word Nowhere backwards, even though the letters "h" and "w" are transposed, therefore Erewhon is an anagram of nowhere.

The first few chapters of the novel, dealing with the discovery of Erewhon, are in fact based on Butler's own experiences in New Zealand where, as a young man, he worked as a sheep farmer on Mesopotamia Station for about four years (1860–1864) and explored parts of the interior of the South Island of which he wrote about in his A First Year in Canterbury Settlement (1863).

Well-craft, albeit it fairly typical, 19th century fictional ethnologue in which the heroic traveler discovers a heretofore unknown race which, being in nearly all respects like unto us, serves as a foil for the author's exploration of some facet of our own culture. There are many, many other interesting points of discussion in the book on subjects ranging from physical beauty to pregnancy to the rights of plants and animals. Another note I'd like to make is that it is clear in the book that Butler was very familiar with works by Darwin (with the Origin of Species having been published in 1859).