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193.4 grams, 76mm. Signed B.L. Pratt 1914 on obverse. Edge marked GEORGE EDWARD MOORE 1955
and MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y. 18K. Obv. Right-facing bust of Butler, inscriptions around. Rv.
PHILOSOPHIA VIRTUTIS / CONTINET ET OFICCII / ET BENE VIVENDI / DISCIPLINAM overlaid on a
winged, burning torch. Legends translate loosely to "The philosophy of excellence
contains the discipline of both duty and living well." The surfaces of this medal
exhibit a bright and rich, honey gold, matte finish. Some minor marks are noted on the
high points of the reliefs and are consistent with normal handling. The Nicholas Murray
Butler Medal was instituted in 1914, and according to a recent article in Columbia's The
Campus Record, has been awarded in gold, silver and bronze every 5 years since. Further
research proves this to be a bit inaccurate, as awards in various metals have apparently
been made on an as-required basis ever since. The most recent crop of awardees in late
2005, including historian of New York City and Columbia professor Kenneth Jackson,
received silver versions of this medal. In addition to the present awarded gold specimen,
we know of one silver piece awarded in 1937 and an unawarded bronze in private collectors'
hands, while a bronze specimen (awarded?) is noted in the ANS collection. Undoubtedly
there are more in collectors' hands and yet more privately held by the recipients and
their families; many also seem to be permanently impounded in institutions holding the
papers of individual recipients. Noted recipients include British philosopher Bertrand
Russell, noted philosopher John Dewey, and Kenneth B. & Mamie Phipps Clark, whose
research was prominently cited in the pivotal Supreme Court decision <>Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Nicholas Murray Butler (1862-1947), whose imposing
chest up portrait is on the obverse of this medal, was a larger than life character who,
for much of the early 20th century, was a household name. A graduate of Columbia's Class
of 1882, he received his doctorate from the College in 1884 and in 1885 became a member of
Columbia's faculty in the Department of Philosophy. Becoming acting president in 1901 and
full president of Columbia in 1902, he served in this position over four decades until
1945. His long presidency was marked by the doubling in size of Columbia's physical
campus, expansion in the number of its buildings, schools and departments, and an increase
in enrollment from 4,000 to 34,000. A pedagogical institute established by Butler later
became Columbia's Teachers College. Outside of Columbia, Butler was politically involved
in the Republican party, and was close personal and political friends of Elihu Root,
William Howard Taft, and Theodore Roosevelt. He served as a delegate to the Republican
National Convention over half a dozen times from 1888 to 1936, and actually tried,
unsuccessfully, to secure the presidential nomination for himself on numerous occasions.
Butler was instrumental in the formation of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
and was influential in persuading Andrew Carnegie to establish the Endowment with a gift
of $10,000,000. This and other activities earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
Butler's numerous academic, administrative, and political achievements earned him the
nickname "Nicholas Miraculous" by his good friend Theodore Roosevelt, a moniker
that is now the title of Butler's recently published, first modern biography. This
particular specimen was awarded to George Edward Moore in 1955, just three years before
his death at age 84. Moore was an influential British philosopher and professor at the
University of Cambridge. He was one of the founders of the Analytic tradition in
philosophy, along with Bertrand Russell (Butler Gold Medal recipient in 1915), Ludwig
Wittgenstein, and Gottlob Frege. He is best known for his revolutionary 1903 work
Principia Ethica. The enormous size and weight (actual gold weight of this 18 carat medal
is 4.66 ounces, over $3150 by recent gold prices) of the medal, the international stature
of namesake Butler, and the choice of eminent sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt to design the
medal, all point to the importance of this academic prize and the prestige bestowed upon
its recipients. Pratt is best known by numismatists as the designer of the revolutionary,
incuse Indian Head quarter and half eagles of the 1908-1929 period, but this student of
preeminent sculptor August Saint-Gaudens is also widely known for his monumental
sculptures adorning many public buildings and squares in the United States. His work on
this medal mates a skillful work of bas-relief portraiture with a simple, artistic, and
more classical design on its reverse. Here is a wonderful medal destined for a collection
of academic prizes, gold medals, or sculpture. It represents an opportunity to acquire a
rare major work, in noble gold, by an internationally recognized and revered sculptor.
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