Hardy lived at Max Gate for most of his working life and it
was there that he wrote his most famous novels, including Jude the Obscure, The Mayor of Casterbridge and my own
favourite, Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Many famous
writers were regular visitors to Max Gate, including Robert Louis Stevenson,
Rudyard Kipling, H G Wells, Robert Graves and George Bernard Shaw.
Thomas Hardy's Study |
I was disappointed to realise that almost all the contents
of Max Gate were sold before it was acquired by the National Trust but largely
thanks to the ‘encouragement’ of the Thomas Hardy Society, they have tried their best to recreate the
‘feel’ of the place with similar furniture of the period. All is not lost, however, as under a
condition of his will the entire contents of Hardy’s study was relocated to the
Dorset Museum, where it can be seen today. The display includes Hardy’s collection of
over four hundred books, many of which are his own first editions. (Interestingly, Hardy moved his study at Max
Gate to a different room with every book he wrote.)
It was particularly poignant to climb the narrow twisting stairway
to the attic rooms of Hardy’s first wife Emma.
She asked Hardy to create her a private space where she could retreat
from the world, and he was happy to do so.
Unfortunately, Emma became something of a recluse, spending most of her
time in these small rooms until her death in 1912 at the age of 72. After Emma died, Hardy searched her attic
bedroom and found her writing, a small book she had written about her early
life called ‘Some Recollections’ and a notebook
entitled ‘What I Think Of My Husband’. (After
reading it he carefully burned the notebook in the garden, then spent the rest
of his life full of remorse for the unhappiness he had caused her.)
Thomas Hardy lived in the house from 1885 until his death on 11th January, 1928. His youngest sister Kate bought Max Gate when it was auctioned
in 1938 and bequeathed the house to the nation when she died in in 1940. Her
wish was that income could be generated to pay for the purchase and upkeep of
the old cottage at Higher Bockhampton where her brother had been born 100 years
earlier. (See Visiting Thomas Hardy's Birthplace.)