View Fullsize Image
(Opens in new window)
Sometimes a book can reveal an unexpected treasure. The de Beer collection contains a rather battered copy of works by John Hoadly (1711-1776), the 18th-century divine and amateur of opera. It contains in Hoadly’s own hand, a number of unpublished poems. Using this local source, Maslen and members of the 1961 English Honours Bibliography Class set and printed ‘To Mrs Bowes’. On display is the manuscript poem, the printed title page of 1961, and the poem, printed on variant coloured cream paper. There has been a revival in interest in Hoadly from scholars overseas, and this particular book, with its manuscript materials within, has formed a significant part of that renaissance.
John Hoadly, ‘To Mrs Bowes.’ Dunedin: Press Room, Department of English, 1961