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Marcus Clarke
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.
We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.
We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
687 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
Marcus Clarke
50 books30 followersAustralian writer Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke, known as Marcus Clarke, was born in Kensington, London. His mother died when he was just a small child and he was raised by his father, a lawyer.
Marcus Clarke moved to Victoria, Australia, where he had an uncle in the provincial town of Ararat, and landed in Melbourne in June 1863. In 1869 Clarke married the actress Marian Dunn and shortly afterwards they started to raise a family of six children. He died of pleurisy at the age of thirty-five.
Marcus Clarke moved to Victoria, Australia, where he had an uncle in the provincial town of Ararat, and landed in Melbourne in June 1863. In 1869 Clarke married the actress Marian Dunn and shortly afterwards they started to raise a family of six children. He died of pleurisy at the age of thirty-five.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
February 21, 2026
Reading this anthology of collected essays, journalism and fiction of Marcus Clarke makes one realise just how wide-ranging and astute were his perceptions of nineteenth-century Australia and its multi-layered society.
Now mainly remembered for the romantic and sprawling ‘His Natural Life/For the Term of His Natural Life’ (the foundation stone of the Tasmanian Gothic genre and included in this volume), Clarke’s ability to transplant European sensibilities to his adopted land give a fresh and, at times, Blakean vision of its qualities - ‘The Land of the Dawning,’ where ‘wrapped in the mists of early morning, her history looms vague and gigantic;’ a place of ‘Weird Melancholy’ where one ‘becomes familiar with the beauty of loneliness.’
A close friend of Cyril and Gerard Manley Hopkins, his writing shares something of the latter’s sublimity and natural realism.
This is a lovely overture to Clarke’s work with a comprehensive and sensitive introduction by Michael Wilding. Highly recommended.
Now mainly remembered for the romantic and sprawling ‘His Natural Life/For the Term of His Natural Life’ (the foundation stone of the Tasmanian Gothic genre and included in this volume), Clarke’s ability to transplant European sensibilities to his adopted land give a fresh and, at times, Blakean vision of its qualities - ‘The Land of the Dawning,’ where ‘wrapped in the mists of early morning, her history looms vague and gigantic;’ a place of ‘Weird Melancholy’ where one ‘becomes familiar with the beauty of loneliness.’
A close friend of Cyril and Gerard Manley Hopkins, his writing shares something of the latter’s sublimity and natural realism.
This is a lovely overture to Clarke’s work with a comprehensive and sensitive introduction by Michael Wilding. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review