APOLOGY
IN putting together this biographical account it has been my hope to place at the disposal of Thomas Hardy’s readers some material which may add a certain amount of richness to those profound emotional experiences which are created by a sympathetic perusal of his imaginative works. I have purposed to accomplish this by means of description—of the man personally, with his simple human likes and hates; of his interesting ancestry; of his surroundings; of his experiences. Among the last I have included purely intellectual, purely artistic events and influences, as well as superficial, physical happenings.
This will indicate that the following pages include some account—even some comparative study—of Hardy’s books; possibly to the annoyance of those who seek in a "life" a complete divorcement from criticism, and a concentration on the sensational possibilities of the subject’s career.
There is, therefore, little "spice," and perhaps too little "story," in this book. For this lack there are several contributory causes: There was very little "story" in Hardy’s life. Very meagre information, regarding even that little, is possessed even by Hardy’s intimates. Hardy is at this moment still alive; to tell too much, even if one could, would be indelicate, impertinent.
Hardy was a man whose chief occupation was writing.
[vii]
