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Presenting a series of three lectures by renowned Hardy scholars on the life and times of Thomas Hardy
In partnership with the Thomas Hardy Society these lectures, to be held on Zoom, are part of a fund-raising campaign to catalogue the Thomas Hardy papers part of the Dorset Museum collections and now housed at the Dorset History Centre.
Thomas Hardy and Charles Darwin: lives in letters
Professor Angelique Richardson & Dr Paul White
This talk will consider the centrality of letters to the work and lives of Thomas Hardy and Charles Darwin, shedding new light on their lives and work and revealing the common ground they shared. Exploring how both valued the reciprocal relations of science, emotion and the imagination.
Professor Richardson is Professor of English and a historian of science at the University of Exeter where she leads the Hardy’s Correspondents Project. Dr White is an editor of the Darwin Correspondence Project and is an Affiliated Scholar in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge.
Thursday 9th March 2023 7.00 p.m.
Hardy, Herrison and 19th century Insanity
Dr Tracy Hayes
How was the notion of insanity treated during the 19th Century? Dr Hayes will explore this through a focus on Hardy’s presentations of mental instability in characters such as William Boldwood in Far from the Madding Crowd and others. She will also consider Dorset’s own mental asylum – Herrison Hospital.
Dr Hayes is a Researcher in Thomas Hardy, Victorian Literature and History, Masculinities, and the Gothic. She is also the Secretary, Website and Social Media Coordinator for the Thomas Hardy Society
Thursday 16th March 2023 7.00 p.m.
Reconstructing Wessex
Professor Kester Rattenbury
Architectural critic and academic Professor Rattenbury's recent work studied Hardy from an architectural perspective – offering startling insights into a man who never stopped thinking, writing and working like an architect. She reveals his biting commentaries on the architectural issues of his day, and experiments in representation which would still be radical a century later.
Kester Rattenbury is Professor of Architecture at the University of Westminster.
Thursday 23rd March 7.00 p.m.
£10 per lecture or £25 for the full series of three lectures
All proceeds go towards the fundraising project to catalogue and digitise the Thomas Hardy Collection housed at the Dorset History Centre, to make it freely accessible to all!
To book your place visit:
Thomas Hardy Lecture Series Tickets | Eventbrite or
https://www.dorsetarchivestrust.org/events.php follow the links to book on Eventbrite
Dorset Archives Trust | c/o Dorset History Centre | Bridport Road | Dorchester | DT1 1RP
enquiries@dorsetarchivestrust.org
Registered Charity No. 1000142
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