Thanks to the generosity of donors including the V&A purchase fund and the Friends of the National Libraries , DHC was fortunate enough to acquire a substantial new collection of material created by or relating to Dorset’s literary titan Thomas Hardy. We thought that it would be good to share a little more information about the purchase and to explain a little more about why we were so keen acquire it.
The collection is a real miscellany – in many ways, not an ‘archive’ in the true sense of the word – i.e. a group of records all generated by the same source – but a grouping of materials instead whose common subject or theme gives them their sense of identity. We look forward to being able to open our doors to researchers and scholars to peruse the material as soon as is possible.
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The first element of the collection is a section of material that belonged to Hardy and his siblings in their formative years. Hardy’s sister Katherine or Kate (1856-1940) trained to be a teacher at Salisbury and later taught at Dorchester Girls’ School. The Manual of English History belonging to Kate is heavily annotated and was clearly heavily used as part of the teacher training process. It is thought that the college Kate attended appears in fictionalised form in Jude the Obscure.
Another item from the collection is Hardy’s brother Henry’s arithmetic book – clearly marked on the inside cover ‘H. Hardy, Sep. 1866’. Henry, born in 1851 followed his father into the building trade and was said to have spoken in the Dorset dialect.
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The third and most significant item within this grouping of student volumes is Hardy’s own copy of Roman poet Horace. This volume has been handsomely re-bound and inscribed ‘Tho. Hardy 1860’ suggesting that he is likely to have owned the volume from the age of 20. Hardy appears to have been greatly taken with Horace’s work and this volume has 49 separate annotations. Most notably, he underlines text on page 324 of the volume. This in translation reads
The fight begins: on the instant comes swift death or joyous victory
The words were used as the title of chapter 53 of Far from the Madding Crowd. We know that this volume last changed hands at Sotheby’s in 2001. It is pleasing therefore to report that as a result of its acquisition by DHC it will now remain permanently within the public collection.
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Another really significant item within the collection is Hardy’s own copy of John Pouncy’s Dorsetshire Photographically Illustrated. Pouncy (1818-1894) pioneered the development of photographic printing and the two-volume set contains 78 photolithograpic plates, many of them relating to sites and landscapes featured in Hardy’s novels. The images within the set act as an important topographical reference source for anyone investigating Hardy’s fictional Wessex and the real places and locations he based it on.
We will bring you more insights into this fascinating new acquisition in the forthcoming months.
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Editors note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Hardy had toured Dorset with John Pouncy. We have removed the incorrect information from this piece.
Fascinating that Hardy’s appreciation of the possibilities of photography should coincide with the beginning of his training in Hick’s architectural practice in Dorchester. Of course, his later friendship with Hermann Lea, which saw them cycling round Dorset and Lea taking photographs, led to Lea publishing his guides to “Hardy’s Wessex” – from which the Dorset tourist industry has never looked back.
In my opinion, Hardy was an heroic conservationist of architectural history. During the 19th century he stood in support of St. Andrew’s church at Lulworth, and others, recounting its 13th century antiquity after 19th century renovations. His discussions with the Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) are particularly enlightening.
He said, “. . . and it is evident that here was once a building of considerable architectural pretensions, though eighteenth century architects in their efforts of “improvement” considerably marred the beauty of the original design; [St. Andrew’s] tower fortunately remained untouched, as if to put to shame the meanness of more modern innovations on the former beautiful style.” ~Thomas Hardy, 1864
Plainly, Hardy was a multi-talented individual and contributed to the perseveration of Dorset architecture with his apprenticeships to John Hicks and G. R. Crickmay.
A full review of St. Andrew’s church will appear in my upcoming publication, “The Lost Legacy of St. Andrew’s Church and Medieval Lulworth; the development of East/West Lulworth.”