The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom
Center
Hardy, Thomas, 1840-1928
Thomas Hardy Collection
1867-1937
2 boxes, 1 galley folder (gf), 3 oversize folders (osf) (.84 linear feet)
The Thomas Hardy Collection contains
manuscript works and correspondence by Hardy as well as Hardy-related materials
created by others, ranging in date from 1867 to 1937.
English
Acquisition:
Purchases, 1961-1973 (R850, R1452, R4228, R5374)
Access:
Open for research
Processed by:
Michael Ramsey, 2010
Biographical Sketch
Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June 1840 in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, England to
stonemason Thomas Hardy and his wife Jemima. He was taught at home by his mother and
at the local school in Bockhampton until he was sent to school at Dorchester in
1850, where he spent six years learning Latin and French among other subjects.
Unable to pursue a scholarly or clerical career, from 1856 to 1862 he was
apprenticed to a local architect who specialized in church restoration.
Hardy left for London in 1862 and spent five years working as an assistant to
architect Arthur Blomfield. While in London Hardy began writing poetry, and his
satirical sketch
How I Built Myself a House won
a prize and was published in 1865. His first attempt at a novel was not published,
although the publisher Macmillan encouraged him to keep writing.
Hardy returned to Bockhampton in 1867 and resumed architectural work. In 1870, while
restoring a church in St. Juliot, he met Emma Lavinia Gifford, the rector's
sister-in-law, whom he married in 1874. During this period, his first novel
Desperate Remedies (1871) was published anonymously,
followed by Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873), and his successes Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) and The Return of the Native (1878).
Hardy and Emma settled in Dorchester in 1885 at Max Gate, a large villa that Hardy
designed and in which he lived for the rest of his life. His literary popularity
continued with
The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), but
his final two novels, Tess of the d'Urbervilles
(1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895), evoked
controversy. Disturbed by the public uproar, Hardy returned to writing poetry,
collecting his earlier poems in Wessex Poems (1898)
and publishing an epic drama in blank verse, The
Dynasts, in three parts (1904-1908). Emma Hardy died suddenly in 1912 and
prompted the poems that appeared in Poems 1912-13
(1913). In 1914, Hardy married his secretary, Florence Emily Dugdale.
During his long life, Hardy wrote 14 novels, more than 40 short stories, over 900
poems, two dramas, and also worked on his autobiography from 1920-1927. He became
ill with pleurisy in 1927 and died at Max Gate at the age of 87 on 11 January 1928.
A compromise arrangement between the family and Hardy's literary executor resulted
in Hardy's remains being buried in the Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey in London,
except for his heart, which was buried alongside his first wife Emma in
Dorchester.
Sources:
Diniejko, Andrzej.
Thomas Hardy. A Biographical
Sketch. The Victorian Web,
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hardy/bio.html (accessed 22 October 2010).
Thomas Hardy. Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy (accessed 22 October 2010).
Scope and Contents
The Thomas Hardy Collection contains manuscript works and correspondence by Hardy as
well as Hardy-related materials created by others, ranging in date from 1867 to
1937. The Collection is arranged in three series: I. Works by Thomas Hardy,
1867-1922, undated; II. Correspondence by or to Thomas Hardy, 1880-1928; and III.
Works and Correspondence re Thomas Hardy, 1890-1937. This collection was previously
accessible through a card catalog, but has been recataloged as part of a
retrospective conversion project.
The Works series contains manuscripts mainly of poetry by Hardy, but also includes
some of his stories, an article on Stonehenge, a paper on church restoration, a
dramatic version of
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, a play
synopsis for Jude the Obscure, an epilogue to The Dynasts, and a few other pieces. In addition to
literary works, there are also 20 architectural drawings by Hardy for the
restoration of St. Juliot's Church, Cornwall, dating from 1867-1870. The titles of
all works appear in the Index of Works in this finding aid. A few manuscripts were
originally accompanied by letters and these remain in place.
Correspondence present in Series II. consists mainly of letters written by Hardy to
multiple recipients. The largest groups of these letters were written to banker,
politician, and author Sir Edward Robert Pearce Edgcumbe; playwright St. John Greer
Ervine; publisher and author Sir Newman Flower; jurist and historian Frederic
Harrison; and poet Sir Henry John Newbolt. A small number of letters written to
Hardy are also present. All correspondent names are included in the Index of
Correspondents included in this finding aid.
The final series is made up largely of correspondence relating to Thomas Hardy and
includes a few letters either written by or received by his wives Emma or Florence.
Several of the letters were written to Howard Bliss. All of the correspondent names
in this series are likewise included in the Index of Correspondents. Two drawings by
Sir William Nicholson for a poster for a production of
The
Dynasts are also present in this series.
Manuscript items by Thomas Hardy are included in numerous other manuscript
collections at the Ransom Center: Sir Walter Besant, Edmund Blunden, Sir Sydney
Carlyle Cockerell, Rupert Croft-Cooke, St. John Greer Ervine, Eugene Field, Edward
Garnett, Richard Garnett, J. L. Garvin, Florence Emily Hardy,
Harpers, Richard Le Gallienne, Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes, John
Masefield, Edgar Lee Masters, Ottoline Morrell, Claude Houghton Oldfield, Leonidas
Warren Payne, PEN, J. B. Priestley, Rolfe Arnold Scott-James, George Bernard Shaw,
Arthur Symons, Times (London), George Macaulay
Trevelyan, Barrett Wilson, T. J. Wise, and Robert Lee Wolff. In addition to first
editions of most of Hardy's books, the Center's Library also holds a number of
volumes from Hardy's own library. Photographs of Hardy are included in the Literary
File in the Photography Collection and a number of drawings and portrait busts of
Hardy by artists such as George Barker, Max Beerbohm, Augustus John, Charles
Ricketts, and Alfred Wolmark are present in the Art Collection. The Personal Effects
Collection includes Emma Hardy's calling card and John Cowper Powys' framed
reproduction of a drawing of Thomas Hardy by William Strange. The Vertical File
Collection includes printed ephemera concerning Hardy in the files for Edmund
Blunden, St. John Greer Ervine, Thomas Hardy, and John Masefield.
Among the many repositories holding additional Hardy manuscripts are: Aberdeen
University Library; Birmingham City Museum; Bodleian Library, Oxford University;
British Library; Colby College; Dorset County Museum; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge;
Houghton Library at Harvard University; Henry E. Huntington Library; Library of
Congress; Magdalene College, Cambridge; Manchester Central Library; Pierpont Morgan
Library; National Library of Scotland; New York Public Library; New York University;
Queen's College, Oxford University; John Rylands Library, Manchester; State
University of New York, Buffalo; University College, Dublin; University of
California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Leeds;
and Yale University.
Container List
Series I. Works by Thomas Hardy, 1867-1922, undated
1.1
A-L
1.2
An Ancient Earthwork,
handwritten manuscript with revisions, 15 pages; bound with letter and
postcard, 1928
1.3
Before Marching and After,
signed handwritten manuscript, 1 page, September 1915; bound with Hardy
letter and printed text
1.4
The Bird-catcher's Boy,
signed handwritten manuscript, 4 pages, undated, bound; galley proof
with handwritten corrections, 1 page, undated
1.5
The Duke's Reappearance,
signed handwritten manuscript, 10 pages, March 1912; bound with Hardy
letter
1.6
Lines spoken by Miss Ada Rehan on
behalf of Mrs. Jeune's Holiday Fund for poor city children,
signed handwritten manuscript with revisions, July 1890, 1
page
1
The Lost Pyx, galley proofs
with handwritten corrections, 1 page, undated
1.7
M-Z
1
Memories of Church
Restoration, galley proof with handwritten revisions, 1 page,
undated
1.8
Saturday Night in Arcady,
handwritten manuscript with revisions, 8 pages, undated
1.9
Sir John Horseleigh, Knight,
handwritten manuscript, bound, 15 pages, undated
St. Juliot's Church, Cornwall, architectural drawings in pencil,
ink, and watercolor, 20 pages, 1867-1870
8 April 1867
1
No. 1, south elevation and plan
1
No. 2, east elevation, west elevation, and north
elevation
1
No. 3, transverse section looking east and longitudinal
section looking north
1
No. 5, detail of aisle roof and longitudinal section
2
17 May 1867, mason's working drawings, window sections
2 May 1870
1
No. 1, south elevation and floorplan
1
No. 2, west elevation, transverse section, and east
elevation
1
No. 3, north elevation and longitudinal
section
1
No. 4, south elevation and plan
1
No. 5, east elevation and west elevation
1
No. 6, transverse section looking east and north
elevation
1
No. 7, transverse section looking west and longitudinal
section
1
No. 8, west elevation (amended) and portion of plan
showing amended position to be built on old
foundation
Undated drawings
2
Detail of window in west end of nave
2
Details of window on north side
2
Details for restoration of screen
3
No. 9, details of turret staircase and section of tower
walls
3
No. 10, details of pinnacle to tower, window in tower,
and credence
3
No. 11, details to roof
3
No. 12, details to upper part of tower
1.10
Tess of the D'Urbervilles: a
tragedy in five acts and an after-scene, signed typescript with
handwritten corrections, acting script, 83 pages, undated
Series II. Correspondence by or to Thomas Hardy, 1880-1928
Outgoing
1.11
Unidentified; A-E
1.12
Edgcumbe, Edward Robert Pearce, Sir, 17 items, 1888-1927, notes
by Edgcumbe on several letters
1.13
Ervine, St. John Greer, 16 items, 1921-1927
2.1
F-L
2.2
Flower, Newman, Sir, 11 items, 1897-1928
2.3
Harrison, Frederic, 19 items, 1888-1922
2.4
M-R
2.5
Newbolt, Henry John, Sir, 27 items, 1902-1927
2.6
S-V
2.7
W-Z
Incoming
2.8
A-Z
Series III. Works and Correspondence re Thomas Hardy, 1890-1937
2.9
A-Z
2.10
Bliss, Howard, 6 items, 1926-1928
2.11
Hardy, Emma Lavinia Gifford, 6 items, 1895-1910
2.12
Hardy, Florence Emily Dugdale, 9 items, 1925-1935
2.13
Heath, Frank R., Dorchester (Dorset) and
its Surroundings, proof copy with handwritten revisions by
Thomas Hardy, 1905-1906
2.14
Nicholson, William, Sir, poster sketch for a production of The Dynasts, pencil drawing and pastel and
watercolor drawing, 1914
2.15
Unidentified
Index of Works
- An Ancient Earthwork--1.2
- An Ancient to Ancients--1.1
- And There Was a Great Calm--1.1
- At the War Office after a Bloody
Battle--1.1
- At the War Office, London--see At the War Office after a Bloody Battle
- Before Marching and After--1.3
- The Bird-catcher's Boy--1.4
- Beyond the Last Lamp--see Night in a Suburb
- Donaghadee--1.1
- The Duke's Reappearance--1.5
- Epilogue to The Dynasts--1.1
- Excerpt from 1 Cor. XIV. 20--1.1
- Excerpt from The Famous Tragedy of Queen of
Cornwall--1.1
- Foreword to Dorchester (Dorset), and its
Surroundings--1.1
- He Did Not Know Me--1.1
- A Hundred Years Since--1.1
- Hussar's Song: 'Budmouth Dears'--see
Song: Budmouth Dears
- In the Marquee--1.1
- In the Time of War and Tumults--1.1
- In Time of Wars and Tumults--see In the Time of War and Tumults
- Jude [the Obscure] as a Play (synopsis)--1.1
- Lines spoken by Miss Ada Rehan on behalf of Mrs.
Jeune's Holiday fund for poor city children--1.6
- The Lost Pyx--gf 1
- Master John Horseleigh, Knight--see Sir John Horseleigh, Knight
- Memories of Church Restoration--1.7, gf 1
- Moments of Vision--1.7
- New Year's Eve--1.7
- Night in a Suburb--1.7
- Note on The Melancholy Hussar of the German
Legion--1.7
- Petition addressed to David Lloyd George--1.7
- The Pity of It--1.7
- The Rejected Member's Wife--see The Rejected One's Wife
- The Rejected One's Wife--1.7
- Saturday Night in Arcady--1.8
- Shall Stonehenge Go?--1.7
-
Sir John Horseleigh, Knight--1.9
- Song: Budmouth Dears--1.7
- [Song of the Soldiers] Men who March
away--1.7
- St. Juliot's Church, Cornwall (architectural drawings)--osf 1-3
- A Tryst at an Ancient Earthwork--see
An Ancient Earthwork
- Tess of the D'Urbervilles--see Saturday Night in Arcady
- Tess of the D'Urbervilles (play)--1.10
- That Kiss in the Dark--1.7
- The Woman I Met--1.7
Index of Correspondents
- Abercrombie, Lascelles, 1881-1938--1.11 (3 from Thomas
Hardy)
- The Academy--1.11 (1 from Thomas Hardy to the
editor)
- Allen, Grant, 1848-1899--1.11 (1 from Thomas Hardy); 2.8
(2 to Thomas Hardy)
- Allhusen, Dorothy--1.11 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Ayscough, John, 1858-1928--1.11 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Barclay, Thomas, Sir, 1853-1941--1.11 (1 from Thomas
Hardy to the chairman)
- Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew), 1860-1937--2.8 (1 to
Thomas Hardy)
- Bebbington, William George--2.9 (1 to unidentified
recipient)
- Benson, Arthur Christopher, 1862-1925--1.11 (3 from
Thomas Hardy)
- Besant, Walter, Sir, 1836-1901--1.11 (1 from Thomas
Hardy); 2.8 (1 to Thomas Hardy)
- Bowker, R. R. (Richard Rogers), 1848-1933--2.8 (1 to
Thomas Hardy)
- Bulloch, John Malcom--1.11 (2 from Thomas Hardy)
- Clodd, Edward, 1840-1930--1.5 (1 from Thomas Hardy); 2.9
(1 to John Malcolm Bulloch)
- Cockerell, Sydney Carlyle, Sir, 1867-1962--1.2 (1 to
Howard Bliss); (1 to unidentified recipient)
- Colles, William Morris, 1855-1926--1.11 (2 from Thomas
Hardy)
- Collins, Vere H. (Vere Henry), b. 1872--1.11 (2 from
Thomas Hardy)
- Compton-Rickett, Arthur, 1869-1937--1.11 (1 from Thomas
Hardy)
- The Daily News--1.11 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Davies, W. H. (William Henry) 1871-1940--1.11 (1 from
Thomas Hardy)
- Daly, Augustin, 1838-1899--2.9 (1 to Mrs. Jeune)
- Dickens, Arthur F.--1.11 (1 from Thomas Hardy); 2.8 (1 to
Thomas Hardy)
- Dobson, Austin, 1840-1921--1.11 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Doeg, W. H.--1.11 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Dugdale, Constance--1.3 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Dunn, J. Nicol--1.11 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Edgcumbe, Edward Robert Pearce, Sir, b. 1851--1.12 (17
from Thomas Hardy); 2.8 (1 to Thomas Hardy)
- Ervine, St. John G. (St. John Greer), 1883-1971--1.13 (16
from Thomas Hardy)
- Flower, Newman, Sir, 1879-1964--2.2 (14 from Thomas
Hardy); 2.9 (1 to John Malcolm Bulloch)
- Ford, Ford Maddox, 1873-1939--2.1 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Gaskell, Catherine Wallop Milnes--2.9 (1 to Arthur
William Evans)
- Gosse, Edmund, 1849-1928--2.1 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Granville-Barker, Harley, 1877-1946--2.1 (2 from Thomas
Hardy)
- Greenhill, G. (George), Sir, 1847-1927--2.1 (1 from
Thomas Hardy)
- Hankey, N.--2.12 (1 to Florence Emily Hardy)
- Hardy, Florence Emily, 1881-1937--2.12 (1 to John Malcolm
Bulloch); (1 to St. John Greer Ervine); (4 to Paul Lemplerly); (1 to Sir Henry
Newbolt)
- Hardy, Henry, Rev., 1864-1933--2.1 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Harrison, Austin, 1873-1928--2.1 (8 from Thomas Hardy)
- Harrison, Frederic, 1831-1923--2.3 (20 from Thomas
Hardy); 2.8 (1 to Thomas Hardy)
- Heath, Frank R.--2.1 (2 from Thomas Hardy)
- Heath, Sidney, b. 1872--2.1 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Henley, William Ernest, 1849-1903--2.1 (2 from Thomas
Hardy); 2.8 (1 to Thomas Hardy)
- Hobbes, John Oliver, 1867-1906--2.8 (1 to Thomas Hardy);
2.11 (4 to Emma Lavinia Gifford Hardy)
- Hodges, Wilfrid F.--2.1 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Jeune, Susan Mary Elizabeth Stewart-Mackenzie, Lady--2.8
(1 to Thomas Hardy)
- Johnson, Lionel Pigot, 1867-1902--2.1 (1 from Thomas
Hardy); 2.9 (6 to John Lane)
- Lafontaine, Alfred de--2.1 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Lane, John, 1854-1925--2.1 (5 from Thomas Hardy)
- Le Gallienne, Richard, 1866-1947--2.1 (1 from Thomas
Hardy)
- Ling, Henry--2.9 (1 to Clement King Shorter)
- Locker-Lampson, Frederick, 1821-1895--2.1 (1 from Thomas
Hardy)
- Mackail, Denis George, b. 1892--2.12 (1 to Florence Emily
Hardy)
- Milman, Lena--2.4 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Newbolt, Henry John, Sir, 1862-1938--2.5 (26 from Thomas
Hardy); 2.8 (11 to Thomas Hardy); 2.11 (1 to Emma Lavinia Gifford Hardy)
- Nichols, Robert Malise Bowyer, 1893-1944--2.4 (1 from
Thomas Hardy)
- Nicholson, William, 1872-1949--2.14 (1 to Harley
Granville-Barker)
- Noel, Roden, 1834-1894--2.4 (5 from Thomas Hardy); 2.8 (5
to Thomas Hardy)
- Noyes, Alfred, 1880-1958--2.4 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Osgood, James R. (James Ripley), 1836-1892--2.4 (1 from
Thomas Hardy)
- Patmore, Coventry, 1823-1896--2.4 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Raymond, Walter, 1852-1931--2.4 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Read, Alice M.--2.10 (1 to Howard Bliss)
- Robins, Elizabeth, 1862-1952--2.4 (2 from Thomas Hardy)
- Sampson Low, Marston & Company--2.6 (1 from Thomas
Hardy to Mr. Marston)
- Shorter, Clement King, 1857-1926--2.6 (5 from Thomas
Hardy); 2.8 (1 to Thomas Hardy); 2.9 (1 to unidentified recipient)
- Smith, R. Bosworth (Reginald Bosworth), 1839-1908--2.6 (2
from Thomas Hardy)
- Squire, John Collings, Sir, 1884-1958--2.6 (4 from Thomas
Hardy)
- Strachey, Lytton, 1880-1932--2.6 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Thomas, Edward, 1878-1917--2.6 (1 from Thomas Hardy)
- Ward, Dorothy M.--2.10 (1 to Howard Bliss)
- Ward, Humphry, Mrs., 1851-1920--2.7 (2 from Thomas Hardy)
- Ward, Thomas Humphry, 1845-1926--2.7 (5 from Thomas
Hardy)
- Watson, Maureen--2.10 (3 to Howard Bliss)
- Watson, Rosamund Marriott, 1863-1911--2.7 (1 from Thomas
Hardy)
- Watson, William, 1858-1935--2.7 (4 from Thomas Hardy)
- Watts-Dunton, Clara--2.11 (1 to Emma Lavinia Gifford
Hardy); 2.12 (1 to Florence Emily Hardy)
- Watts-Dunton, Theodore, 1832-1914--2.7 (3 from Thomas
Hardy)
- W. F. Tillotson and Son--2.7 (2 from Thomas Hardy)
- Wilson, Rathmell, b. 1883--2.7 (2 from Thomas Hardy)
- Windle, Bertram Coghill Alan, Sir, 1858-1929--2.7 (1 from
Thomas Hardy)
- Wise, Thomas James, 1859-1937--2.10 (1 to Howard Bliss)
- The World--2.7 (1 from Thomas Hardy to the
critic)
- Young, James Carleton, 1856-1918--2.7 (1 from Thomas
Hardy)
- Unidentified author--2.8 (1 to Thomas Hardy)
- Unidentified recipients--1.11 (2 from Thomas Hardy)