The 'Felix and Felicitas' papers of Marcus Clarke : an annotated edition with an introduction

tr

^r

Tlîe

'Felix

^and

Eelicitas'

Papers

of

^Marcus Clarke:

An Annotated

Edition with

an

Introduction

Vriendy

L.

Abbott-Young, B.A. Hons. ^(Adelaide)

À

thesis

submitted

for the

degree

of

Master

of

^ArEs

in the

Department

of English,

Unirzersity

of

^Adelaide

May, 1987.

by

Facing:

Tl'e BirChplaæ

of

Marcus Clarke 11 t-eonard

Place,

Kensington

24

April

¹⁸⁴⁶

The house forms one

of a

ro\¡/

prcbably built early last

^{century when} Kensington ^was an

aristocrabic

and almost

rural

suburban neighbourhood. The

front

faces

the

busy

high street

and from

the first floor

windows commands

a

view

of the fine trees

and lawns

of

Holland House across

the road, whilst

^{from those}

at the

back one

looks

^down upon

the

^modest

little

garden

at the rear of the

house

itself.

^For

a

^London

middle-class

^residence

the situation is a

choic€ o{'ìe,

the

noise

of the traffic in

Kensington High Street being diminished

by the strip of

^garden

in the front.

The

late Mrs.

^Marcus Cl-arke took'away

with her a

small

root of the ivy

growing

in the front court

^{which, on}

her return,

she planted on

her

^{husband's grave in}

Dþlbourne ^Oernetery-

Cyril

^{Manley HoPkins}

,

^7926.

r,eonåC P1ace, Kensington,

c-

Ig27.

Number 11

is

^{tLre second}

terrace

house from

the left.

photograph

by

courtesy

of the

Royat Borough

of

Kensington and

Cl'elsea

Central Library.

To

Feter

Abbott-Young

Table

of

Contents

Summary

Declaration

Acknowledgements

Legend and Abbr=viations

PART ONE: I|,TIRODUCTION

Foreword The Papers

Associated

Material

Arrangernent

of the

Edition

Transcription

and AnnoLation

The Genesis, Progress and Demise

of the

Norzel 1871-1881

i.

Genesis

of the

Novel:1871-3

ii.

The Progress

of the

^Novel

iii. 'Felix

and

Felicitas':

Unfinished

or

Abandoned?

Clarke's lêthods of

^I¡'lork

i. fn the Library

ii.

^{Making Notes}

for a

Norel

iii.

^Some

Passaçs

from

the

Novel Examined

(a)

_ChaPter 2

(b)

Chapter 7

iv. Correcting a Draft

v. First

Thoughts on Character and

Plot

vi. Clarke's

Characters:

R¡blic

and

Private

Models

(a) PubIic

Figures

(b)

'Drawn from

His

^Gnrn Experiences'?

(c)

A

Literary

Cræation

vii.

C1arke's Der¡elognent as

a Novelist:

A

Critical

^Or¡erview

(a)

A

Novelist of the

_'seventies

iv

VI vr 11

1X

x1

I

6

T2 22 28

36 46 60

63 67

74 76 78 B4 91 92 97 109 114 115

(b)

_Character

(c)

The

Plot

^and

its

^Scale

Posthumous

History

Conclusion

PART T$¡C: THE ' FELIX AND FELICTTAS' PAPERS

Tlæ

Love-tetters

The Notes

The Synopses

The 'Explanatory

Preface' of

^{Hamilton Mackinnon}

The

Printed

Chapters

l-6

Chapter ⁷

Chapter

B,

incomplete

Copies

of the Love-Letters in

an Unknown ^Hand Notes

Bibliography

117 119 123 r49

151 206 267 273 282 335 345 348

383 408

fllustrations

Frontispiece. Clarke's BirthpJ-ace (Letterpress Cyril

Manley Hopkins)

Tailpiece.

A Broken Column:

Clarke's

Grave

in

ltblbourne

Cemetery

³⁸²

(From

a

photograph by W.L. Abbott-Young) Figures. Specimens

of the

handwriting

of

Marcus Clarke and Hamilton

Mackinnon IEn1arged].

Ivlarcus

Clarke

tML163l ^.

Hamilton Mackinnon. Heading

to his

'Explanatory ^Preface'

l2t[L2IIl.

Alterations to a letter

^{from Clarke}

to

^{Rose Lewis}

IML307 ] ^.

I

2

3

V

Following

p.

³⁰

Sumrnary

Ttle

'Felix

^and

Felicitas'

^{Papers, now}

in the Mitchell Library' relate to a novel

^{by Marcus}

Clarke left unfinished at his

death

in

^{1881. Tley}

comprise

the following

^items:

A. Six

chapters

in printr'with an

incomplete

printed

synopsis.

Chapter

7,

and

part of

^Chapter

8- Original

^MS'

B.

^Summaries and

notes. Original

^MS.

C.

Correspondence between Clarke and

his sister-in-Iaw

^{Rose Lewis.}

Love-Ietters, in

two separate bundles,

altered to

^conform

to

tlre

novel's plot; all said to

^be

copies in clarke's

hand, although

sorne

of his

^appear

to

^be

originals-

D. tetter

^from

clarke to F.F. Bailliere, 2 æt.

^1876,

giving

^a

synopsis

of his Plot. Original

^MS.

E.

'Explanatory Pr:reface.' An incomplete

draft by

^{Hamilton Mackinnon.}

Original

^MS.

F.

^Copies

of

^Chapter

7,

^and most

of the love-letters, in

^another

hand.

T\^¡o othler

related

documents

are

included

in this edition.

^One

is

^a

version of

^{ltem D}

for the

^London

publisher Bentley, with Bailliere's

covering

letter attached.

^The

other is

^{an MS.}

in Clarke's

^hand,

hither|o

described as an unused ^emenda

tion to His Natural Life'

^now

identified

^as

one

of the love-Letters.

I

have rearranged these documents

into a

roughly

chronological

^order'

Clarke's love-affair with

^{Rose Lewis}

is

thought

to

^be

reflected in

^the

novel; but it

was over

early in

1873,

well before

work

on 'Felix

^and

f'elicitas'

^began.

I

^have tLrerefore ^placed

the letters, tentatively

reordered

as a

continuous correspondence,

first;

^and

the unfinished

^novel fragment

last.

The novel was

to

^be

set in

contemporary

English 'society'i

^{and was}

to

show how an adulterous

affair,

^begun

idealistically,

^{might end}

in

^an

V1

anti-climax,

^{destroyed by} porzerty and

ennui. It

^was

to be 'full of

^music

and

art'

^and

witty

ta1k.

In

preparation Clarke ^made al-most 300

extracts

^from

a variety of

works; most were

traced,

and each note annotated. A

proportion

were

interwoven

by Clarke in the

completed

chaptersi

and threse places have

been noted.

Tl're

only publication in

^which

the

Papers have been

treated at

^any

length

is Brian Elliott's

^Marcus

Clarke

(O<ford: _Clarendon

Press,

1958);

b-rt,

beyond a

brief critical

comrnentary on

Clarke's

completed chapters and synopsis, he concentrates mainly on

the love affair,

^{as being the}

origin of the

novel-, and

tlæ

correspondence which

resulted.

He assumes' however,

that

Cl-arke

himself altered the letters to

^conform

to his story.

I

disagree

with

him on

this point;

and have

tentatively identified

^Llæ

editorial

^hand

as that of

Hamilton Mackinnon.

t"ly

Introduction gives

an account

of

tl're work

dcnet the editorial

decisions ^madei and notes associated

material located

elsewhere.

It

charts, as far as is

practicabl-e wherc

little

^dated

material exists, th

genesis and progress

of the novel,

as

well as the history of

^{attempts to}

publish

tl're fragment posthunrously. Valuable evidence

of Clarke's

working methods

is

discussed

in

sorne

detail;

and

certain

improvernents

in his

literary skills

"noted. Hot"¡ever,

I

^do

not claim to

have attempted ^a thorcughgoing

critical analysis of 'Felix

and

Felicitas.'

vl1

Declaration

This thesis contains

no

material

which has been acoepted

for the

^award

of

^any

otlær

degree

or

^diploma

in

any

unir.¡ersity;

and,

to

^tl're

best of

^my

knowledge and

belief,

^no

material previously

published

or written

by another person, except whpre due reference

is

^made

in the text or

^notes.

sisned

vI11

Acknowledgenìents

My thanks must go

first to

^my supenrisor Mr Tim Mares

of the

English Department,

Unirrersity of Adelaide. ft

was he who ^persuaded me

that f

ought

to get'Fe1ix

and

Felicitas'out of

^my system and, having once

launched me, sustained what was

at

times

a rather frail craft

^by

his

encouragenent and percepLive

criticism.

I

^owe

a

very

great debt to librarians

^whose syrnpathetic understanding

of

^{my needs was}

to

^make

the work,

so

often

dependent on

threir

^good

offices, a pleasure. ft

would

be invidious to

^mention

individuals

where

all

^were

helpful; but I

am especialì.y

grateful to the Librarians

and

staff of the following institutions:

fn

South

Australia:

Tl're

Barr

Smith

Library of

tl-re

University of

^Àde1aide,

which purchased

microfilm for

^my use anC

assisted

^{rne generally,}

especially

through

its

reference and

inter-Iibrary

^loan

servicest

^the

State Library of

^South

Australiai

and

the Library of Flinders University.

In

^{New South lrlales: The}

Mitchell Library,

whose

Librarian

^{gave me} permission

to

^use

the original 'Felix

^and

Felicitas'

^{documents and}

to

reproduce

Clarke's printed

chapters and

three

pages

of the

manuscript.

fn Victoria:

^The

State Library of Victoria

and

its

^La

Ïrobe Library;

the Library of

^Monash

University; the

Parliamentary

Library;

and the

Library of the

High Court.

In

^{London: Thre}

Library of the

Royal Borough

of

Kensington and Che1sea,

which allou¡ed me

to

^reproduce

the

photograph

of Clarke's birthplace

as

the frontispiece to bhis thesis.

Thanks

are also

due

to the staffs of the Australian

Archives

in

^Canberra,

and

the Public

Records

office in favËton

^{and Melbourne.}

f

^{was heartened by}

the

syrnpathetic

interest

^{shown by}

Dr.

Brian

Elliott,

^Professor

L.T.

Hergenhan

of

tl're

University of

Queensland, Dr.

Harold Love

of

^Monash

University,

Ivlr.

Ian F.

Mclaren, whose Bibliography

of

Clarke was

to

becorne

a

vade mecum; and

Mr.

John Holroyd

of

tlelbourne, whose

special

knowledge

of Australian

books has ^been

a help to

^many.

ix

A

list of

those members

of the

English Department

in

^{Adelaide who}

lent

me

their

moral supporb might aqain be

invidious; but f

must mention Erneritus Professor John Colner who had supervised ^my

earl-ier

^{work on} Clarke

before I

abandoned

it in favour of 'Felix

^and

Felicitas.'

^The

advice

of

Mr George

Turner, Dr.

Michael

Tolley

and

Dr.

Robert

Sellick often

^proved

helpfuli

and

I

^owe

a great deal to

^{Ms. Robin Eaden who}

suggested

several

improvenrents

to

^my

bibliography; all errors

or omissions

being, of

course, my ou¡n. T acknowledge

also the

comradely support

of

my fellcx¡,r post-graduate

students' notably

Margaret Hood, Mark

I-eahy, and

Dr.

Feter

Otto;

^and

the cheerful

encouragement

of Shirley

Bowbridge and

her staff in the

departmental

office.

Under

the

chairmanship,

first of

^Professor

K.

Ruthven, and

later of Dr.

^AIan Brissenden,

the

Department

of

English ^{gave welcorne}

financial

support

to

^my

visits to

l'lelbourne and Sy&rey; and ^my work was afso

assisted

by

a

Commonwealth Postgraduate Research Scholarship.

Last, hrt not least, I

^must acknowledge

the

support

of

my

family.

My

children Nicholas, Gabriel

^and

Martin,

my daughters-in-faw Joan ^and Cathryn, ^my son-in-Iaw Tony, and my grandchildren Christopher and Carly

all suhnitted, without complaint, to

^my

attention's

^being

diverted for

some years from

their lives

^and

interests;

and

f

am

especially grateful to Nicholas,

^{who devised}

a

computer prograrmìe

for

^my bibliography.

It is difficult to

^speak adeguately

of the

sense

of

support ^derived from

the

wholehearted encourageÍìent

of

^{my husband}

Peter.

^{Not cnJ-y}

did

^he

purchase a word-processor

for

my use

but, in a very

^busy

life,

he

did

^not

disdain to

^be

a

'hewer

of

^wood and drawer

of water' in the

tine-consuming

matter of bringing

books from

the Library,

and

relieving

^me

of

almost al1 dornestic chores. ^From

his

^own

past

experience

as a Faculty

Secretary ^he was

able to

^{spread cal-m when}

the

nrechanj.cs

of thesis

production ^seemed

too daunting;

^{and indeed $rithout}

his

ever-present

strength it is

doubtful

if this thesis

^woul-d have been completed.

It is therefore

^dedicated

to

him

with

^my

gratitude.

x

Legend and Abbræviations

Iægend

Editorial additions

and comrnentary

IMl+numberl

Mitchell Library pagination of

^Volunre

I of the

Papers

[ 2Ml+number]

pagination of

^{Vol-ume 2}

of the

Papers (number)

Internal

page-refeænces

Hopkins

Cyril

^{Manley Hopkins's}

'Biographical

^Notice

of

the

Life

and t¡ùork

of

^Marcus

Clarke.'

Hopkins paginated each chapter

separately;

and

all

references indicate

this, e.g. (2, Þ. 2).

^Where

it

^migtrt

not

^be

clear that the

reference

is to

^him

f

^have included

his

^namei

e.g.

^(Hopkins,

2, Þ. 2).

Doubtful

readings and

editorial inserbions

in

transcription

Editorial-

Annotations

to

Cl-arke's Notes

Single

word

or text

thought

to be in the

hand

of

Hamilton Mackinnon.

It

should be noted througlrcut

that

^wl'rere

, for the

^sake

of brevity,

^reference

is

made

to

Mackinnon's

'handr'

^{such reference n€ans}

'tentatively identified

as Mackinnon's hand.'

Lineåreaks

on page-l'eadings

of the original

docurnentsi

except, occasionally,

where Clarke separates

his

notes

by a similar

^mark.

A mark

by

which Clarke drew

particular attention to

^a

note.

xi

+ #

.ìË-

ADB

DNB

OED

Abbreviations

Australian Dictionary of

Biography'

Vol.

⁴

(Melbourne: l,telbourne

Univ. Press,

L972).

Dictionary of National

Biography ^{(London, 1885-} 1900); and

1st

Supplernent (London: Smith

Elder'

1901).

Tl"¡e Oxford Enqlish

Dictionary

and

its

Supplements, 4

vols (Oxford:

Clarendon Press, 1912-86).

( l4e lbourne

,

^{189 0 ) .}

British Library

Catalogue.

Austral Edi.tion

^The

Austral Edition of

^{tl're Selected l{orks}

of

Marcus

Clarke, ed.

Hamilton Mackinnon

B.L.

Cat.

Burke, or

Burke's

^Feerage

A C,eneral and

Heraldic Dictionary of

the

Peerage and Baronetaqe

of tlæ

Linited ^{Kingdom .}

..

(London,

annually from

^1826).

Catalogue

of

V.P.

L.

The Catalogue

of the Public Library of Victoria

Þbrett

2

vols

(Melbourne, 1880).

Debrett's Illustrated

^Feerage

of the

tlnited

Kingdom

of

Great

Britain

^and

freland ...

(London,

annually

^{from 1864).}

McLaren

Ian F.

Mclaren, Ivlarcus

Clarke:

^{An Annotated}

Bibliography

(Melbourne:

Library

Council

of

Victoria,

^I9B2\.

Irþmorial

Volume

The Marcus Clarke l4emorial Volume,

ed.

^Hamil-tcn l"lackinnon (l.Þlbourne

,

^{1884) .}

1884).

x11

The Papers

The Notes

Tl're Sands and McDougall

Directory

The

'Fe1ix

^and

Felicitas'

Papers

of

^Marcus

CIarke.

Clarke's

notes and summaries

for 'Felix

^and

Felicitas'

taken as

a

whole.

Sands and McDougal-l's Nþlbourne and ^Suburban

Directory,

(Melbourne, 1863-1901; and under

various titles before

and

after

^these

dates).

x 11I