HARDY, Thomas (his copy) - UDAL, John Symonds.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Marriage, and Other Poems. First and only edition, presented to Hardy by the poet, with an inscription dated 2 June 1918 on the front free endpaper: "Thomas Hardy, O. M. Poet. D. D. J. S. Udal". Hardy's bookplate is on the front pastedown. John Symonds Udal (1848-1925) and Hardy maintained an amiable correspondence throughout the 1910s. The two men shared a deep appreciation for the landscape and culture of Dorset, which is the focus of many works in Marriage, and Other Poems. A letter from Hardy to Udal from 1 August 1918 thanks him for the gift of the present volume and admires its binding. He also observes that "perhaps it is as well that you did not attempt to make poetry your trade instead of law, for its risks... are too serious to be undertaken lightly" (Hardy, p. 274).The volume was later gifted again to Jane Susanna Popham by Hardy's widow, as recorded in a second gift inscription: "To Mrs Cecil Popham, in memory of her friend Thomas Hardy. From F. E. H".

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