THOUSANDS of letters written to Dorset’s legendary novelist and poet Thomas Hardy will be made available thanks to an exciting collaboration.

More than 5,000 letters to the author and his two wives Emma and Florence could be made available to the public in the future as part of new research project Thomas Hardy’s Global Correspondents.

The letters are part of The Thomas Hardy Memorial Collection, the largest Hardy collection in the world. It is owned by Dorset Museum and managed by Dorset History Centre.

The project will be led by Professor Angelique Richardson at the University of Exeter in partnership with Dorset Museum and Dorset History Centre. The three organisations recently signed a memorandum of understanding to pave the way for future collaborations like this project.

Professor Richardson said: “Dorset History Centre and Dorset Museum are key partners of the University of Exeter, collaborating with us on a number of projects and offering our students both excellent research resources and valuable opportunities to develop new expertise and employability skills. We are delighted to mark this relationship and future work.”

Hardy’s position as one of Britain’s pre-eminent writers meant he received thousands of letters from friends, fellow artists, publishers, campaigners, fans, and other members of the public, from across the world, expressing admiration or seeking to enlist his support. The letters show that Hardy’s progressive views, including his anti-imperialism and anti-racism, meant he played a key role in debates of the time and show how much he inspired other artists and writers.

So far 100 of these letters have been made publicly available for the first time as the first phrase of the project. The letters have been digitised by the University of Exeter’s digital humanities lab, and images and fully annotated transcriptions of the letters are available online, with more to be added in the future.

Dr Jon Murden, director of Dorset Museum, said: “This Memorandum celebrates over ten years of collaboration with the University of Exeter and we are greatly looking forward to working with the University and Dorset History Centre on the next stage of the Hardy’s Global Correspondents Project”.

Sam Johnston, county archivist at Dorset History Centre, said: “We are delighted to be working with the University and colleagues at Dorset Museum to bring Hardy’s work to a global audience. Hardy’s archives provide the key evidence of the author and his world – the context for his writing. It is great to see this superb resource opened up for public benefit.”