Letters of Thomas Arnold the Younger: 1850-1900
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Author Description
Thomas Arnold, second son of Dr Arnold of Rugby, left England in search of a new life, first in New Zealand and then in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in 1850. There he became an inspector of schools and married the beautiful Julia Sorrell. The record covered in this second volume of his letters begins at this point and continues with a generous selection of his letters to the end of his life in 1900. The earlier letters give a vivid impression of life in Van Diemen's Land and of his own home life. Arnold holds an interesting, if minor, place in literary and educational history. However, the great strength and fascination of these letters probably lies in their record of the man himself, caught up, sometimes tempestuously, in the movements of his time, particularly in his religious unsettlement and wrestling with Roman Catholicism; and of a marriage in which agonising disagreements on the deepest issues threatened but never overwhelmed the mutual love of both.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This collection investigates the personal and intellectual evolution of Thomas Arnold the Younger through his correspondence during the latter half of the 19th century. Thomas Arnold, the son of the renowned Dr. Arnold of Rugby, provides a primary source account of his life as an educator and family man in New Zealand and Tasmania. The letters document his internal struggles with religious identity, specifically his conversion to Roman Catholicism, and the complex dynamics of his marriage to Julia Sorrell. By presenting these documents, the volume offers a window into the social and intellectual climate of the Victorian era as experienced by a man navigating significant personal and spiritual transitions.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Primary source correspondence spanning the years 1850 to 1900.
- Detailed accounts of colonial life in New Zealand and Van Diemen's Land.
- Insights into the educational systems and administrative roles within the British colonies.
- A record of the theological debates and religious shifts that defined the author's mid-life crisis.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Historians and literary scholars view this collection as a valuable, if niche, resource for understanding the personal life of a secondary figure in Victorian intellectual history. Readers frequently note the candid nature of the correspondence, which provides a humanizing perspective on the religious and marital tensions of the period.
Page Count:
276
Publication Date:
1980-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0196479800
ISBN-13:
9780196479804
Religion
Biography
History
Letters
19th Century
Education
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