H05003 HARDY'S BIOGRAPHERS QUESTION- 1/2/05 - HARDY FORUM ARCHIVES ____________________________________________________________________________
From: fsiedow@omniglobal.net
Subject: Re: Fwd: Hardy's second wife's diary
Date: January 2, 2005 2:02:44 PM PST
Rosemarie Morgan wrote:
....Ellen, the diary was in private hands when featured in the Antiques Roadshow and appears to have remained thus. To my knowledge no Hardy scholar has had sight of it since-- including Hardy's most eminent biographer.....
Dear Ms. Morgan: I wonder -- WHO you consider to be "Hardy's most emenent biographer"? Millgate?, Ev. Hardy?, Blunden?, Gittings? I'd like to know; and, in what manner, or in regard to what subject treatment? Regarding literary considerations?, life narrative?, info regarding writing of the works?, or ??
I have read the above authors, trying to put together life incidents concerning certain things, and find that all the books cite some ref's to the others, but have info in them that is fairly intimate (to T.H.), but, where did the author get that info?? I have a very large book I found at a local bookstore by Martin Seymour-Smith, which I have scanned some. It has some pretty scathing comments about the Hardys, and the other authors' interpretations of the Hardys. Who's right?? Obviously I have to read the whole book to know more!
Thanks a bunch for any enlightenment. Fred Siedow, central Texas.
==========
From: Rosemarie.morgan@yale.edu
Subject: Re: Hardy's most "eminent biographer."
Date: January 2, 2005 4:28:57 PM PST
Hi Fred,
I'm delighted to be able to introduce you to Michael Millgate, Hardy's most eminent biographer -- "eminent" being defined as "distinguished," and "remarkable in degree."
I hope the following selected titles are useful:
*Thomas Hardy: A Biography,* Michael Millgate.
*The Life and Work of Thomas Hardy,* by Thomas Hardy, edited by Michael Millgate.
*The Collected Letters of Thomas Hardy,* Volumes I-VII, edited by Richard Little Purdy and Michael Millgate.
*The Selected Letters of Thomas Hardy,* edited by Michael Millgate.
*Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited,* Michael Millgate.
*Letters of Emma and Florence Hardy,* edited by Michael Millgate.
*Thomas Hardy's Public Voice: the Essays. Speeches, and Miscellaneous Prose,* edited by Michael Millgate.
*Testamentary Acts: Browning, Tennyson, James, Hardy,* Michael Millgate.
*Thomas Hardy's 'Studies, Specimens &c.' Notebook, * edited by Pamela Dalziel and Michael Millgate.
And for online scholarship, see http://www.library.utoronto.ca/fisher/hardy/
With every good wish,
Rosemarie Morgan
=========
From: rnemesva@stfx.ca
Subject: RE: Hardy biographers (was Hardy's second wife's diary)
Date: January 3, 2005 6:29:40 AM PST
Since Fred's question concerns Hardy biography, it seems appropriate that as director of the LIFE page I send him to the "Reviews" section of the site, which may accessed at this URL:
http://www.stfx.ca/people/rnemesva/Hardy/reviews.html
There you will find selected reviews of the following biographies:
Lois Deacon and Terry Coleman, Providence and Mr. Hardy (1966).
Robert Gittings, Young Thomas Hardy (1975) and The Older Hardy (1978).
Michael Millgate, Thomas Hardy: A Biography (1982).
Martin Seymour-Smith, Hardy (1994).
Paul Turner, The Life of Thomas Hardy: A Critical Biography (1998).
I am waiting for reviews of Michael Millgate's revised biography, Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited (2004), to appear so that I may add them to the page, and I understand that Shannon Rogers has at least one such review lined up for TTHA's own REVIEWS page (this is, however a "members only" site). In the meantime, to put my own oar in the water, I believe that Millgate is far and away the most well-informed and trustworthy of Hardy's biographers, as well as the one most successful in integrating the material from Hardy's life with readings of his works.
Hope this helps.
Richard Nemesvari
Department of English
St. Francis Xavier University
rnemesva@stfx.ca
==========
From: Rosemarie.morgan@yale.edu
Subject: RE: Hardy biographers
Date: January 3, 2005 6:58:03 AM PST
Fred: If I might add my dime's worth to Richard's observations I would suggest that a biography is as reliable and trustworthy as its documentation of sources is comprehensive. As with testimony in the law-courts of our land the most effective witnesses are those who provide evidence to support their claims. For the discerning mind it may be well to view accounts which lack a thorough index, detailed notes and scrupulously documented itemisation of source material with the utmost caution.
Hope this helps,
Rosemarie
==========