Culture, Dorchester, History | Posted on August 20th, 2024 | return to news
Thomas Hardy poem returns home to Dorset
Dorset History Centre has acquired a hand-written poem by the famous writer which is believed to have been kept in America for the past 20 years.
Dorset History Centre (DHC) has successfully acquired a hand-written poem written by the famous Dorset-born author and poet Thomas Hardy. The manuscript, titled ‘The Departure’, is believed to have been kept in America for the past 20 years.
The poem was written in 1899 and is about soldiers sailing off from Southampton to fight in the Boer War in Southern Africa. It was first published in the Daily Chronicle on 25 October 1899, and later revised and published in Hardy’s 1901 collection ‘Poems of the Past and the Present’.
‘The Departure’ was sold at auction in London in 2005 and next appeared at a dealership in Massachusetts where it was purchased by an American collector in 2014.
The Dorchester-based archive was able to bid for the poem which appeared at auction in Chicago in June 2024. DHC was supported the Friends of the National Libraries, a charity which funded the acquisition.
In a press released, DHC said: “After nearly 20 years oversees, we are pleased to report that this fascinating piece of literary heritage is now safely back in Dorchester.”
The manuscript will join the collection of Hardy-related material kept at the DHC, including notebooks, journals and letters. This large archive is currently being catalogued in a 16-month project that will open up public access.
Cllr Ryan Hope, cabinet member for Customer, Culture and Community Engagement at Dorset Council, said: “I’m delighted that DHC has been able to bring this notable piece of Dorset literary heritage back to its place of origin.
“The story perhaps underlines how, over time, elements of our literary and other heritage has been sold to overseas institutions and collectors – and how fortunate we are to have been able to bring it back into the large Hardy archive to ensure free ongoing public access.”
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