THE LITERARY NOTEBOOKS OF THOMAS HARDY Volume I c The Literary Notebooks of Thomas Hardy provide a major source of information about what Hardy considered necessary or desirable reading for his craft. Compiled during more than fifty years (1876­ 1927) they show traces of having been reread and annotated by Hardy. And, as they incorporate materials from other notebooks, they repre­ sent to some extent Hardy's own special selection from his voluminous notetaking. The span of Hardy's entries in the Literary Notebooks is striking both in its chronological and broadly intellectual dimensions: the entries range from the Greek dramatists to George Bernard Shaw; from the radical French utopian Charles Fourier to Cardinal Newman; and from The Milliner and Dressmaker and Warehouseman's Gazette to Einstein. The Notebooks show how Hardy intensifies his determined prepara­ tory studies in the mid-1870s; how keenly he follows the contemporary debate over realism and other aesthetic questions; how he primes himself in philosophical studies at the turn of the century for the metaphysical challenge of The Dynasts; and how he gradually becomes more preoccupied with poetic matters while maintaining his lifelong interest in religion and science . Thus the material presented here confirms, modifies and extends our knowledge of Hardy's intellectual background. In so doing, it also opens up avenues into nineteenth­ century thought in general where Hardy is a compelling guide. Lennart Bjork's carefully compiled edition provides identification of sources and indicates how Hardy used his Notebooks both explicitly and implicitly in his own writing. The annotations thus offer unusual and interesting glimpses into Hardy's workshop. With full critical and textual introductions this two-volume work makes available for the first time the complete verbatim text of Hardy's Literary Notes. The editor Lennart A. Bjork is Professor of English at the University of Stockholm. A graduate of r the University of Gothenburg, Princeton University and Oxford University, he has held lectureships and other appointments in Britain, Sweden and the USA . He has published articles on Chaucer, Dryden, Hardy, Faulkner and O'Neill. THE LITERARY NOTEBOOKS OF THOMAS HARDY Volume I Editedby LENNART A. BJORK M MAC MILLAN © Lenn art A. Bjork 1985 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1985 Previously unpublished Hardy mat erial publ ished with the perm ission of the Trustees of the Hard y Estate Entries 1-1 339 were publi shed as Gothenburg Studies in English, vol. 29 (Goteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, 1974) All right s reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission First published 1985 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Companies and representatives throughout the world Typeset in Great Britain by Photo-Graphics, Honiton, Devon. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Dat a Hardy , Thomas , 1840-1928 The literary notebooks of Thomas Hardy. I. Hardy, Thomas, 1840-1928- Biography 2. Novelists, English - 19th century - Biography 1. Title I1. Bjork, Lenn art A. 823' .8 PR4753 ISBN 978-1-349-06651-3 ISBN 978-1-349-06649-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-06649-0 To Maj, Christina and StaJJan Contents Preface IX Critical Introduction XIV TextualIntroduction XXXI LITERARY NQTES I Annotations 229 Index 409 VB Preface This edition consists of the three volumes of notebooks which Hardy labelled 'Literary Notes'. An additional notebook is included in the Appendix. The flyleaf of this notebook bears the notation ' 1867'. It is contemporary with the other volumes and of a generally similar character. At a loss for a more adequate name, and despite the understandable objections of some critics, I retain the classification of it as the '''1867'' Notebook'. Some readers may question the inclusion of 'Literary Notes III', since it consists largely of newspaper and magazine cuttings.I have included it not for reasons of mere completeness. My overriding criterion is the fact that the cuttings represent Hardy's considered choice : he cut them out, he wrote the references and the annotations. It is true that the more focused handwritten references are generally of greater value, but the difference is one of degree rather than of kind . It is, for instance, exciting to have easily available the whole argument of the Daily Mail article which Hardy annotated in red ink '(Very like the " Immanent Will" of the Dynasts.)' (entry 2526) . But also less immediately interesting entries contribute to our knowledge of what DeLaura calls 'the complex contemporary matrix' of Hardy's writing. There are less interesting guides into this phenomenon than Hardy's scissors. This consolidated edition of all Hardy's 'Literary Notes' has made possible a considerable number of improvements in entries 1-1339, published separately in 1974. Thanks to the constructive criticism, both oral and written, of many generous Hardy scholars and general readers, I have been able to eliminate textual errors, to identify several entries previously left unidentified and to employ a better method of indicating spelling-errors and other irregularities in the manuscript. Also, my detailed work on the whole body of the 'Literary Notes' has given me a better perspective on Hardy's note-taking, thus making possible, for example, many cross-references between the early and the late not es. Finally, the revised annotations have benefited from the valuable scholarship of the past decade. IX x Preface Not least valuable in this respect, as well as for my 'Critical Introduction ', is the publication of the first volumes of The Collected Letters oj Thomas Hardy. They ha ve revealed new biographical data which have removed the need in some cases for the tentativeness of my suggestions in the 1974 Introduction . There is now indisputable eviden ce, for instance, that Hardy took a planned sa bbatical in 1876 at the same time as he started compiling his 'Literary Notes I' (see 'Critical Introduction' below, pp. xx-xxi). In my work on this edition I hav e incurred many debts of gra titude, which it gives me great pleasure to acknowledge. I wish to thank the Trustees of the Hardy Estat e for courteo us and helpful co-operation and for permission to edit and publish the 'Literary Notes', the ' 1867' Notebook, and other material pr eviously unpublished. I should also like to thank the following institutions and their staffs for valuable assistance: th e Berg Collection and Manuscript Division, New York Public Library; the Bodleian Library; the British Library; Cambridge University Library; Colby College Library; Dorset County Library; Dorset County Museum; th e Fitzwill iam Museum, Cambridge; G6teborg University Lib rary; the Houghton Library, Harvard University; the Library of Congress; the Miriam Lutcher Stark Library, University of T exas; the Nobel Library, Stockholm; th e Pierpont Morgan Library; Princeton University Library; Queen 's College Library, O xford; the Royal Library, Stockholm ; Stockh olm University Library; University College Library, Dublin. My thanks are also du e to Professor Rich ard Little Purdy and Mr Edwin Thorne for kindl y giving me access to manuscripts in their possession and to Professor Quentin Bell for permission to quote a letter by Sir Leslie Steph en. For material assistance making this edition possible, I am greatly ind ebted to the Florey Student ship at the Queen's College, Oxford, 1969-71 ; to the University of G6teborg and th e Universit y of St ockholm for several research g ra nts, and to H vitfeldska Stipendiefonden for a travel grant. Ever since my int erest in Thomas Hardy was first significantly rous ed in one of Professor E. D.H.J ohnson's stimulating seminars at Princeton University in the earl y 1960s, I have in th e course of my work had the pleasure of receiving assistance and encour agement from numerous individuals, who freely and generously gave me of their knowledge and time . In Oxford, Mr R. E. Alton of St Edmund Hall Preface Xl took an active and helpful interest in the paleographic problems of the manuscript; Mr Dennis Burden of Trinity College gave me continual help and inspiration as he followed the slow growth of the edition; Mr J . D. Fleeman of Pembroke College expertly advised me on textual problems and editorial principles. Mr J. I. M. Stewart of Christ Church shed light on several Hardy problems in a number of inspiring conversations. During my two years at the Queen's College, Oxford, a great number of College members and other Oxford residents, permanent or temporary, made my research intellectually profitable and socially enjoyable.I should particularly like to thank Lord and Lady Blake, Lady Florey, Mr Paul Foote , Mr Peter Miller, and Mrs E. Townson. Several of my fellow Florey students, especially Mr Rainer Tamchina and Mr Frederik van Bolhuis, were subjected to lengthy and, I fear, but mildly interesting expositions of the 'Literary Notes'. Oftheir patience, compassion, and good friendship I am truly appreciative. I also gratefully remember the profitable discussions with George Thottungal, SJ, of St Joseph's College, Tiruchi, India, during our simultaneous work on the 'Literary Notes', as I do the stimulating help and company of Mrs C. Airaksinen, Mrs M. Arvidsson, Miss S. Anastasov, Mr Bengt Bengtsson, Mrs M. Breadmore, Mr A. Chambati, Miss D. Elliott, Mrs S. Feather, Mr J. Feather, Miss H . Heinsen, Miss L. Herbst, Mrs C. Kallie, MrJ. Kallie, Miss J . Morton, Mrs M. Rose, and Mr R. H . G. Szyszkowitz. I also recall with the greatest pleasure the liberal help and good companionship of Mr Tor Bengtsson in Dorchester, London and Oxford. For valuable assistance in time-consuming tracing of some sources which eluded my own research, I am indebted to my wife, Maj, and my daughter, Christina; also to Miss Susan Knight, MrsJudy Lindhe, Mr Ake Lindgren, Mr Michael Russel, Miss Susan Taylor, and Miss Susan Ward.