{"id":3133,"date":"2022-06-24T08:30:59","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T08:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=3133"},"modified":"2022-06-23T13:35:53","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T13:35:53","slug":"hardys-wessex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2022\/06\/24\/hardys-wessex\/","title":{"rendered":"Hardy’s Wessex"},"content":{"rendered":"

In May, a new touring exhibition opened called \u2018Hardy\u2019s Wessex<\/a>\u2019.\u00a0 Curated by the Wessex Museum Partnership, the exhibition is being displayed across four museums: Dorset Museum<\/a>, Poole Museum<\/a>, The Salisbury Museum<\/a> and Wiltshire Museum<\/a>.\u00a0 Each museum explores a different theme, and together it is the largest collection of Thomas Hardy objects ever displayed at one time.\u00a0 To prepare for the exhibition DHC was asked to conserve a number of items, to ensure their stability and therefore safety during transport and display.\u00a0 This blog will look at just a few of these items and will give a taste of what visitors might expect to see at the museums.<\/p>\n

Dorset Museum: ‘The rural landscape – social tensions’<\/h3>\n

The theme of Dorset Museum\u2019s display explores Hardy\u2019s thoughts on social inequalities, as well as his passion for the protection of animals.\u00a0 Amongst the items on display are The Mayor of Casterbridge <\/em>and The Dorsetshire Labourer<\/em> manuscripts.<\/p>\n

The Mayor of Casterbridge<\/em> binding had become detached from its text block and the first page was loose.\u00a0 To repair it, new spine linings were adhered with a flange that extended beyond the spine towards the boards.\u00a0 The endpapers were carefully lifted on the boards and the flange inserted beneath, thus reattaching the binding to the text block.\u00a0 The loose page was reattached in place with a Japanese paper hinge.<\/p>\n

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The Mayor of Casterbridge<\/em>, before and after conservation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Dorsetshire Labourer<\/em> had some minor tears and creases.\u00a0 These were flattened and repaired using a thin Japanese paper and wheat starch paste.<\/p>\n

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Wiltshire Museum: ‘The ancient landscape – superstitions’<\/h3>\n

Wiltshire Museum is looking at how superstition and old beliefs of Wessex were incorporated into Hardy\u2019s stories.\u00a0 Within the collection is a pamphlet Some Romano-British Relics found at Max Gate, Dorchester <\/em>written by Hardy and read at the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarians Field Club meeting in 1884.<\/p>\n

The pamphlet is Florence Hardy\u2019s own copy. \u00a0It is a small single section binding which was held together by staples that were rusting and there were some small tears and folds.\u00a0 The rusting staples were carefully removed, and the pamphlet was sewn together with bookbinding thread, through the original holes the staples had made. The tears were repaired with Japanese paper.<\/p>\n

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Romano-British Relics<\/em> after repairs and removal of staples<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Salisbury Museum: ‘The urban landscape – women and religion’<\/h3>\n

The Salisbury Museum is exploring both the influence of religion on Hardy and the women that shaped his life, and how they inspired his campaign for women\u2019s rights.\u00a0 This exhibition includes Kate Hardy\u2019s copy of Read\u2019s Illustrated Edition of The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This children\u2019s book had multiple tears, surface dirt and the sewing was failing.\u00a0 Surface cleaning and paper repairs were carried out and the book was re-sewn using bookbinding thread and following the original sewing structure.<\/p>\n

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The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>, before and after conservation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Poole Museum: ‘The coastal landscape – love and war’<\/h3>\n

Poole Museum is looking at the influence of the coast on Hardy and the role of love and war in both his stories and real life.\u00a0 Among the items conserved for Poole Museum are Emma Hardy\u2019s \u2018Some Recollections\u2019 and The Going of the Battery<\/em> manuscript.<\/p>\n

The cover of Emma Hardy’s notebook, in which she describes her first meeting with her future husband: “I was immediately arrested by his familiar appearance as if I had seen him in a dream”, was in poor condition.\u00a0 The paper was torn and handling for display would have caused more damage and potential loss.\u00a0 The two red ties holding the paper text block and cover together were carefully released, freeing the cover.\u00a0 This was then cleaned and lined with Japanese paper.\u00a0 A number of pages in the text block were also repaired. \u00a0The two ties were carefully replaced, replicating the original knots.<\/p>\n

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Some Recollections<\/em>, before and after conservation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Going of the Battery<\/em> had also sustained some damage, displaying multiple tears and surface dirt.\u00a0 The manuscript was cleaned and paper repairs were carried out with Japanese paper.<\/p>\n

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The Going of the Battery<\/em> after cleaning and paper repairs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This blog provides a small taste of the items that are on display at the four museums.\u00a0 \u2018Hardy\u2019s Wessex<\/a>\u2019 runs until 30 October 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In May, a new touring exhibition opened called \u2018Hardy\u2019s Wessex\u2019.\u00a0 Curated by the Wessex Museum Partnership, the exhibition is being displayed across four museums: Dorset Museum, Poole Museum, The Salisbury Museum and Wiltshire Museum.\u00a0 Each museum explores a different theme, and together it is the largest collection of Thomas Hardy objects ever displayed at one… Read more Hardy’s Wessex<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31],"tags":[82,9,458,68,179,109,459,187,460],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3133"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3156,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133\/revisions\/3156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}