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The son of a master mason, Thomas Hardy was born in Upper Bockhampton,
Dorset. He was apprenticed to an architect in Dorchester when he was 16,
and his mother encouraged him to go on studying. His career in letters
notwithstanding, Hardy retained an interest in stonework and architecture
all his life.
It was his profession as an architect that took him to London in 1862,
about the time when he first began to write. In this he received
encouragement from his friend, Horace Moule, a university-trained scholar.
The friendship was a valuable stimulus to the young Hardy; Moule was eight
years his senior and had a classical background. (Moule committed suicide
in 1873, believing himself a failure. His death affected Hardy deeply, and
some of his characters-notably Jude-have more than a suggestion of his
friend in them.)
Hardy stayed in London, about which he had definite reservations, until
1867, reading incessantly, attending performances of Shakespeare and
visiting the opera. He went back in Dorset to assist in church restoration
and at the same time began to write a novel containing some verse. This,
called "The Poor Man and the Lady", was never published, but comments from
one reader, George Meredith for Chapman & Hall, contained good advice and
Hardy's next novel, "Desperate Remedies", was published in 1871. It was not
well received, but "Under the Greenwood Tree" (1872) was also accepted, and
did better, being praised for the author's delicate evocation of Dorset
life. "A Pair of Blue Eyes" followed, appearing as a serial in "Tinley's
Magazine" and then in volume form in 1873. J.I.M. Stewart says it "may be
regarded as a last apprentice piece" and certainly his next book, "Far from
the Madding Crowd" (1874), demonstrated Thomas Hardy's mastery of his form.
He felt assured and successful enough to embark on marriage with Emma
Gifford.
His confidence in himself was justified; he was now being asked for his
work. "The Hand of Ethalberta"(1876), however, to some degree disappointed
his admirers. His was because the early instalments of "Far from the
Madding Crowd" had been likened to the work of George Eliot and Hardy was
determined to write something completely different. "The Return of the
Native" followed in 1878, written at the Hardys' first home in Sturminster
Newton.
The Hardys returned to London in 1878.Hardy, as well as researching the
background for "The Trumpet-Major" (1880), was also taking his place among
well-known writers; he met Tennyson and Browning and began his life-long
friendship with Edmund Goose. He wa taken ill in the autumn of 1880, but
succeeded in completing "A Laodicean" (1881), mostly by dictation, and the
Hardys went back to Dorset in the late spring of 1881.
The next novel was a romance, "Two on a Tower"(1882) while "The Mayor of
Casterbridge"(1886) and "The Woodlanders"(1887) were already in his mind.
In 1885 the Hardys moved into their house "Max Gate", the building of which
Hardy had superintended, and welcom |