New-York tribune., 1901-11-23
THOMAS HARDY.
THE MAN, HIS BOOKS. AND THE LAND
OF WESSEX.

THE MAN, HIS BOOKS. AND THE LAND
OF wESSEX.
Give Holland in The Bookman.
OF the masters of the novelists craft left u.s.
none exercise greater attraction than InonlaS mas
Hardy And yet the coming biographer VIII
find very little material for his work II is thls
very fact, his aloofness from man ana Iie
.madding crowd and intimacy with nature
that attracts the serious reader ana student SO
rresistibly TO him. Born just slxty-one years
ago on June . 1910. in the little village or
Upper Bockhampton. near Dorchester. he may
be said to have been Graded in the very heart
of the WesseX he was destined 10 deplct with
such extraordinary vividness and MAKE so
world famous. His name itself is a noted Wes-
sex one the ancient Grammar SchooI or Dor
chester having been founded in 1919 by one
Thomas Hardy. And although Mr. Hardy
makes no claim to kinship. there can be little
reason TO doubt that his namesake OF three
centuries and q quarter ago is collaterally re-
lated to him. just as doubtless, Nelson's Hardy
dn whose features a distinct likeness to his own
from which the novelist himself sprang
Wessex has made out a claim to Mr. Hardy
in quite as great a measure as he has estao-
lished beyond all question his right to be con-
sidered her great and unique Interpreter. He
has left her for but inconsiderable periods OF
his life. and of late years these occasions have
been more and more infrequent and still more
brief.
Of Mr. Hardys early life little is known save
that in youth he took the land of Wessex TO his
heart, studied her and loved her, as nave most
Of those whose genius Of after years speaks
OF the very soil OF Its nativity In 1891 he was
articled to an ecclesiastical architect in Dor
chester, and during the following four or hve
years he devoted large amount OF his spare
time to the study of the classics. and some
what strangely. that Of theological works.
Traces of his acquaintance with the former are
to be found In the classic proportions or ms
later books OF his study OF the latter he says
he became during his architectural pupHdge
involved in ecclesiastical controversies with
some undergraduate friends, who were prepar-
ing for the Nonconformist ministry. These dis
he Of
earnest and careful study Of the Greek Iesta-
ment and for two years or more he was en-
gagged in argument the side OF the English
Church against the opposition OF MS scotch uil-
dergraduate friends to the doctrines OF Estao-
lished Ritual and Infant Baptism.
Years of storage for after fruitfuness must
these early years have been. His many jour
neys into the surrounding villages his contact
with all sorts and conditions or NeSseX loik,
his work of overlooking the restoration OF many
churches, more especially in the southern por-
ton of the county of Dorset, were all destined
to produce fruit, when the young architect
finally turned his back upon the profession Tor
which he had been destined, and became a
novelist. But he must nevertheless have re-
garded his articled pupilship seriously, for in
1863 he won the prize and medal of the In
stitute Of British Architects for an essay on
"Colored Brick and Terra Gotta Architecture"
while studying in London under the famous ar
chitect and painter, Sir Arthur w. Bloomfield.
r. A. F. S. A. to whom he had come in 1860
In the same year he successful in obtaining
Sir w Tite's prize for architectural design Al
though no further record exists of MIR. Hardys
attainmentS in his initial profession, he pur-
sued it for at least decade ere making his
final choice between architecture and literature
about the year 1874 During portion of
his residence in London the future novelist was
a student of modern languages at Kings Col
lege. and here commenced his acquaintance
with French literature IN which he still evinces
a deep interest and is well versed.
Before the final choice made between
architecture and literature Mr. Hardy had writ
| ten a large quantity of verse OF which only
one piece-"The Fire at Tranter Sweatley's: A
WeSSeX Bdlldd"-appearS to nave been pre-
served. His first publication was an article,
"How I Built Myself a House." which appeared
without signature in "Chambers's Journal, on
Saturday, March 49, 1865. a non-technical pa
per of semi-humorous nature, recounting the
adv entures and misadventures OF a young
couple who built themselves a house. BY
strange coincidence this was the same publica-
tion in which his great contemporary, George
Meredith's first work also appeared.
A period of some six years elapsed ere Mr..
Hardy's first book. desperate Remedies was
issued by the firm OF Tinsley Brothers, in three
volume form, during 1871. Although it did not
attract any large amount Of attention. 1t served
to introduce strong and sincere, If unpractised,
writer to the reading public. This story was
signed at first only by initials. and in view OF
the writer's early profession, it is worthy Of
note that three of the characters in the book
architects. second edition was not called
for till eighteen years after it's first publica-
ton, although during this period it had been
reprinted several times in the United States.
in the following year the publishers is
| sued what still remains of Mr.. Hardys
most exquisitely written and pleasing stories.
not reach to the dignity Of second edition till
four years later. There could. however, be no
doubt that rarely gifted writer had appeared
upon the horizon Of English literature and his
gifts met with generous appreciation in many
OF the important papers The following
year the publication, firstly in serial form.
OF "a Pair Of Blue Eyes" which. while by many
considered to be distinctly inferior to "Under
the Greenwood Tree" yet marked distinct prog
ress for the novelist into public favor. In 1874
Mr. Hardy married Miss Emma Lavinia Clifford,
daughter Of ]. Attersoll Clifford, esq, and
niece Of the then Archdeacon of London. The
same year an anonymous serial in ''The Cornhill
Magazine" Far from the Madding Crowd"
attracted a large amount of attention, and upon
its republication by Smith, Elder Co. at the
end OF the year, the name Of Thomas Hardy
found upon the title page This fine story.
which has all the best qualities Of Mr.. Hardy's
work and is still-wtth possibly the exception
of Tess of the D. D'Urbervilles'-the most widely
read and popular of his novels, not only seemed
to have fixed" the novelist's career, but to
have definitely assured him position in the
forefront of the writer's Of the day, and to have
secured for him following of readers of
rious fiction, which has steadily. though per-
haps slowly, grown to its present day proper
tions.
With the abandonment Of architecture for
literature. Mr.. Hardy may be said to have