HARDY FORUM ARCHIVE HO2059 9/11/02 "HARDYANA COLLECTORS' QUERIES" ================================================================= From: caf@marten.com (Carol Forde) Subject: Thomas Hardy Obituary Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 11:35:51 -0500 I have recently come into possession of a newspaper clipping with a very long obituary for Thomas Hardy, taken from a Dorchester, England newspaper. I am interested in determing the value for this obituary for either sale or donation and tax purposes. I would appreciate any information that anyone can help me with. Thank you. Carol Forde ========== Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 13:00:49 -0400 From: Rosemarie Morgan Subject: Re: Attn Collectors Greetings--I am posting this for David: _________ Do you own old editions of Hardy's books? I am reading Tess now and I have old editions of Thoreau books that I own. I cannot read them easily because they fall apart. The paper crumbles. I am just curious if another book lover has old books for personal want, but cannot read them. I noticed that Dorset in England has editions of Hardy's books, I am curious as to how they store them. Do you know how to help me? I am looking for assistance on methods of storage? If I could find these volumes somewhere newly published to read, that would be great too. Any ideas on lookups? Lastly, great web site! And, I have found another favorite writer in Hardy. I haven't finished Tess yet. She has just gotten married, and still hasn't told him her past. Thanks, David ========== From: rnemesva Subject: Hardy Correspondence Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 18:42:40 -0300 Given Rosemarie's recent post about the discount available to members of TTHA on the CD-ROM *Collected Letters,* I was wondering if anybody else has noted a sudden rash of Hardy correspondence appearing for sale on eBay. A couple of weeks ago there was an autograph note on Max Gate stationary at auction, and today I note two more substantial autograph letters, one dated 6.1.89 on Savile Club note paper, and the other July 22, 1910 (again on Max Gate stationary). Isn't it a little unusual for these kinds of things to become so readily for sale, or is it just that technology makes it easier for more of us to "hear" about them? Richard Nemesvari Department of English St. Francis Xavier University rnemesva@stfx.ca ========== Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 20:05:35 -0500 From: Bill Morgan Subject: Re: Hardy Correspondence Thanks to Richard for pointing this out: I've noticed this mini-surge of Hardy letters on ebay too. They're all three good, interesting letters, but they aren't of particular scholarly consequence; in fact, of the three being offered, only one does *not* appear in the *Collected Letters* (that's the July 22, 1910 piece). The first one to show up on ebay--sometime last week, as I recall--announced itself as having come >from the Adams sale; perhaps the sale started this little avalanche. By the way, that first letter required a first bid of $700 and did not sell, I believe. The July 22, 1910 letter is now at $425 (with 19 bids), and the remaining letter requires a minimum bid of $900 and is so far languishing without a bid. It's interesting to watch, even if one doesn't have that kind of money to spend. Almost every day there's something of Hardy interest--though usually not at this level of rarity or expense--for sale on ebay. cheers, Bill Morgan ========== Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 21:58:37 -0500 From: Bill Morgan Subject: Re: Attn Collectors David, I don't think you've had any replies to your questions about preserving and possibly reading fragile old Hardy (and Thoreau) books, so even though I'm not an expert, I'll try my hand. If I make too much of a mess of it, maybe some of the real experts will step in and correct me. If the older editions you have are literally falling apart--the paper is browning and crumbling and the pages are coming free from the binding--then there probably isn't much you can do to help them. Many of the older (especially American) editions of Hardy (and other writers) were printed on low-quality, high-acid paper, and they simply self-destruct after a certain period of time. Sad but true. About all you can do is not handle them any more than you have to, keep them out of direct sunlight, give them constant temperature and constant humidity, and hope for the best. There *are* expensive processes for removing some or all of the acid from the paper, but it's usually so expensive as to be prohibitive unless the item being treated is very valuable. If you're interested, try contacting a rare book librarian at your nearest university. You can do a little to help your books--but only a little--by putting a piece of clean white 100% cotton, acid-free paper between the pages of your books and leaving it there for several weeks, letting it absorb some of the acid from your books' paper, then removing and discarding it. This is not usually a completely satisfactory treatment. Luckily there are good, high-quality editions of Hardy still available (e.g. the Wessex Edition, the various Pocket Editions, the Mellstock Edition, the Anniversary Edition, etc.). They are expensive (the Pocket less so), but they won't present the problems you're fighting with now. You can get an idea of prices by going to Mark Simons' page on Collecting Hardy's Poetry at http://pages.ripco.net/~mws/collect/Collect.html or by using the search engine at http://www.bookfinder.com/ Meanwhile, I think I'd suggest that you keep your older editions as historical artifacts (the less you handle them the longer they'll last) and buy cheaper modern reprints for reading copies. Anybody else have suggestions? cheers, Bill Morgan ========== From: "simon moss" Subject: Convergence of the Twain first publication ? Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 08:10:27 +0100 I have recently come across a souvenir programme for a benefit given on 14th May 1912 to raise funds for those affected by the sinking of the Titanic just a month previously. As well as listing those taking part, the brochure includes poems and prose by both well known and obscure authors, including, not surprisingly, "The Convergence of the Twain". The little research I've been able to do on the Net seems to imply that the poem was not published until 1915, by Macmillan in "Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries with Miscellaneous Pieces". I have however also found a reference to Hardy granting permission in 1912 for the publication of the poem as a "separate publication of ten copies", most of which were shipped to America. Does anyone know whether the publication of this poem on May 14th would actually represent its first appearance ? I'd welcome any help in this matter. Many thanks Simon Moss simon@c20th.com ========== Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 15:16:14 -0500 From: Bill Morgan Subject: Re: Convergence of the Twain first publication ? Hello, Simon-- Yes, "The Convergence of the Twain" was first published in the souvenir programme you've come across. It was later published in *The Fortnightly Review* (after some considerable revision) and subsequent to that in a private edition of 10 copies, none of which was for sale, and then collected in *Satires of Circumstance* (1914). See Richard Little Purdy, *Thomas Hardy: A Bibliographical Study* (Oxford: Clarendon, 1954, 2nd ed. 1968), p. 150-1. Hope this helps. And congratulations on acquiring a nice piece of Hardyana. cheers, Bill Morgan Director, TTHA Hardy Poetry Page ========== From: "simon moss" Subject: Titanic brochure Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 09:38:15 +0100 Now that I have established that this brochure was indeed the first appearance of the poem, I've compared it with a "standard" version, and found it to be in fact considerably different. Some examples: v2. In retorts that were the pyres Of her salamandrine fires The cold, calm currents strike their rhythmic tidal lyres. v3. Over the mirrors meant To flash forms opulent The sea-worm creeps - grotesque, unweeting, mean, content. v10 Til the Mover of the Years said "Now!" The which each hears, And consummation comes, and clouds two hemispheres. The programme is for sale. I would not normally use a discussion board for the purpose of promoting a sale, and I respect the serious academic tone of this list. However, since it appears that the Titanic benefit programme was indeed the first publication of this important Hardy poem, I feel the sale may be of wide interest. It will appear on eBay in about 24 hours. Readers may contact me privately for details of how to locate it. If the poem has not been widely read in this original form, I will gladly post the entire text to this list. Hopefully someone will let me know if this is the case. Apologies if I have misused this list. Simon Moss simon@c20th.com ==========