Posted by Matthew Townend on December 19, 2000 at 11:38:49 from 144.32.128.132:
In Reply to: Material posted by Margaret Ratcliffe on December 18, 2000 at 22:24:18:
I whole-heartedly agree with what Margaret says. The TARS Library is a very exciting development (must get round to sending off my cheque!) - not only because of its usefulness as a practical resource, but more importantly because of its emphasis on AR's position and enthusiasms in the wider literary world. We've heard a good deal about AR's reading in terms of sailing literature, and a fair bit in terms of fishing and polar literature, but really a minimal amount in terms of poetry, essays, etc.
Two examples: (1) AR makes many references to William Hazlitt as one of his perennial favourites, but I can't recall any discussion of this in TARS publications. (2) As I think I may have commented on Tarboard before, one of the neglected landmarks in AR's reading is Mackail's Life of William Morris. The Autobiography tells us that this was the work which persuaded AR to give up university for the literary life, but again it's a work which is noticeably absent from TARS publications. That it had a longstanding effect on AR seems to me to be suggested by his captivation at meeting the Collingwood family - people genuinely attempting to live their lives according to some of the ideas of Morris (and Ruskin).
So, I think there's no danger at all of interesting AR material drying up - without having to develop into the line of biographical minutiae (which Peter H feels hesitant about).