AustLit logo

AustLit

Is part of The Fortunes of Richard Mahony Henry Handel Richardson , 1917 series - author novel
Issue Details: First known date: 1929... 1929 Ultima Thule : Being the Third Part of the Chronicle of The Fortunes of Richard Mahony
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Heinemann ,
      1929 .
      Extent: 345p.
      Note/s:
      • Published in January 1929 with a one thousand copy print-run. New Impressions in January, February and March 1929 due to unexpected demand.
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      W. W. Norton ,
      1929 .
      Alternative title: Ultima Thule
      Extent: 314p.
      Reprinted: 1962
      Note/s:
      • First printing in America September 1929.
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Fortunes of Richard Mahony : Comprising Australia Felix, The Way Home, Ultima Thule Henry Handel Richardson , London : Heinemann , 1930 Z472111 1930 selected work novel historical fiction

    The Fortunes of Richard Mahony was 'first published as a sequence. Australia Felix, the first volume, which covers twelve years of Richard Mahony’s life from the early 1850s, was published in 1917; The Way Home, which deals with his subsequent eight years, appeared in 1925; and Ultima Thule, the final volume covering his last four years, in 1929. The novel was first published as a trilogy in 1930.'

    Australia Felix 'begins the story of Richard Mahony, a 28-year-old medical graduate of Edinburgh University and now the keeper of a general store in Ballarat'. Part one of the novel 'follows Mahony’s career until his marriage; the second part deals with the Eureka Stockade, the growth of the varied society of Ballarat and legal hearing in Melbourne'. It 'concludes with Mahony’s decision to start a practice in Ballarat instead of returning to England'. In parts three and four, 'Richardson extends her panoramic picture of a dynamic colonial society in which individuals are subject to great reversals or advances of fortune'.

    The Way Home begins with Mahony’s 'arrival in England and concludes with his final, second return to Australia, as a ruined man. In the intervening years he grows disillusioned with English society, returns to Australia to find his investments have made him suddenly rich, attempts to settle into the wealthy community of Melbourne and becomes the father of three children'. His sojourn in England leads to the discovery that he is uncomfortable with the ‘offensive and cramping’ English social hierarchy.

    Ultima Thule picks up the story with Mahony’s 'return to Australia, his attempts to establish himself as a medical practitioner, first in Melbourne and then at Barambogie, a small town in northern Victoria'. When Mahony’s skills as a doctor as increasingly questioned, the family moves to the coast and later to Gymgurra where Mahony’s wife, Mary, 'secures a position as postmistress'. Mahony is moved to a private nursing home, then to a government asylum and finally returns home. He is 'devotedly cared by Mary, until paralysis incapacitates his body. After his death he is buried in the local cemetery, within sound of the sea'.

    Source: The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature. 2nd. ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1994: 294-295.

    Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2012
    pg. 659-941
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Henry Handel Richardson Collection Henry Handel Richardson , Australia : Transport Publishing , 2017 27517799 2017 selected work novel

    'Henry Handel Richardson was the pen name of Australia Author, Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson (3 January 1870 - 20 March 1946). This collection comprises all her Short Stories and 5 of her novels, including all three novels from her famous trilogy "The Fortunes of Richard Mahony" which details the slow decline, of a successful Australian physician and businessman and the effect this has on his family.' (Publication summary)

    Australia : Transport Publishing , 2017
Notes:
When preparing the Richard Mahony trilogy for publication by Heinemann in the omnibus edition, Richardson significantly revised each novel to remove repetition and improve narrative unity. In this process, around 12,000 words were cut from Australia Felix and thousands of changes were made to the other volumes. (The Letters, vol.2, p. 171.)
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Fortunes of Richard Mahony : Comprising Australia Felix, The Way Home, Ultima Thule Henry Handel Richardson , London : Heinemann , 1930 Z472111 1930 selected work novel historical fiction

    The Fortunes of Richard Mahony was 'first published as a sequence. Australia Felix, the first volume, which covers twelve years of Richard Mahony’s life from the early 1850s, was published in 1917; The Way Home, which deals with his subsequent eight years, appeared in 1925; and Ultima Thule, the final volume covering his last four years, in 1929. The novel was first published as a trilogy in 1930.'

    Australia Felix 'begins the story of Richard Mahony, a 28-year-old medical graduate of Edinburgh University and now the keeper of a general store in Ballarat'. Part one of the novel 'follows Mahony’s career until his marriage; the second part deals with the Eureka Stockade, the growth of the varied society of Ballarat and legal hearing in Melbourne'. It 'concludes with Mahony’s decision to start a practice in Ballarat instead of returning to England'. In parts three and four, 'Richardson extends her panoramic picture of a dynamic colonial society in which individuals are subject to great reversals or advances of fortune'.

    The Way Home begins with Mahony’s 'arrival in England and concludes with his final, second return to Australia, as a ruined man. In the intervening years he grows disillusioned with English society, returns to Australia to find his investments have made him suddenly rich, attempts to settle into the wealthy community of Melbourne and becomes the father of three children'. His sojourn in England leads to the discovery that he is uncomfortable with the ‘offensive and cramping’ English social hierarchy.

    Ultima Thule picks up the story with Mahony’s 'return to Australia, his attempts to establish himself as a medical practitioner, first in Melbourne and then at Barambogie, a small town in northern Victoria'. When Mahony’s skills as a doctor as increasingly questioned, the family moves to the coast and later to Gymgurra where Mahony’s wife, Mary, 'secures a position as postmistress'. Mahony is moved to a private nursing home, then to a government asylum and finally returns home. He is 'devotedly cared by Mary, until paralysis incapacitates his body. After his death he is buried in the local cemetery, within sound of the sea'.

    Source: The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature. 2nd. ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1994: 294-295.

    London : Heinemann , 1930
    pg. 701-90
    Note: Omnibus editions of the series were also published and reprinted by Norton and Penguin. Follow the link to the omnibus edition for further details.
    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 1971 .
      Extent: 279p.
      Note/s:
      • Introduction by Leonie Kramer.
      ISBN: 0140033394

Other Formats

Works about this Work

A Literary Visit to the USA : A Memoir Laurie Hergenhan , 2012 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 26 no. 1 2012; (p. 74-78)
The Dear Old Mother Country : Richardson's the Way Home and Stead's For Love Alone Peter Morton , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Lusting for London : Australian Expatriate Writers at the Hub of Empire, 1870-1950 2011; (p. 133-163)
Who are You? No One : The Hacking Journalist in London Peter Morton , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Lusting for London : Australian Expatriate Writers at the Hub of Empire, 1870-1950 2011; (p. 111-132)
‘In 1909 the English journalist Philip Gibbs was in his early thirties and had already known both failure and success. That year he published a semiautobiographical novel, The Street of Adventure, drawing on his varied experiences. It was an immediate bestseller. The street of the title is Fleet Street. Shy, diffident Frank Luttrell has tried school-teaching after Oxford but he is bored. He determines to try the life of a freelance journalist in London. His friend is horrified…’ (From author’s introduction 111)
New York City Limits : Australian Novels and American Print Culture Roger Osborne , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Reading Across the Pacific : Australia-United States Intellectual Histories 2010; (p. 299-308)
'One of the questions posed by this conference is, 'Why has Australia received so little attention in US literary circles?' This paper aims to propose an answer to that question by identifying American editions of Australian novels and by widely surveying reviews of these novels in journals and newspapers throughout the twentieth century. This survey will rely on searches conducted via the online version of the Book Review Digest and will be informed by Richard Ohmann's Politics of Letters (1987). Drawing on several sociological studies and other empirical data, Ohmann argues that canonization in the USA has relied on a small group of professional readers and a similarly small number of newspapers and journals in which these books were discussed, most of which were based within New York City limits. While Australian novels might not have been considered for canonization, the established print culture networks through which they moved ultimately influenced their critical and commercial success. Examining the degree to which Australian novels were included in the 'book talk' of these print culture networks provides a suitable foundation for statements about the space provided for Australian novels in US print culture. Ultimately, the limited and irregular inclusion of Australia in the 'book talk' of a small number of New York intellectuals and periodicals goes a long way to explaining why Australia has received so little attention in US literary circles.' (Author's abstract)
Learning to Love the Gum Tree Elizabeth Webby , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Island , Autumn no. 120 2010; (p. 44-50)
Australian Writers to the Fore 1929 single work review
— Appears in: All About Books , 18 March vol. 1 no. 4 1929; (p. 120-121)

— Review of Ultima Thule : Being the Third Part of the Chronicle of The Fortunes of Richard Mahony Henry Handel Richardson , 1929 single work novel ; Max Flambard : A Novel John Dalley , 1928 single work novel ; 'Wirragoona' : Tales of Australian Station Life Charles Emerson Robertshaw , 1928 selected work short story ; Up the Country : A Tale of Early Australian Squattocracy Brent of Bin Bin , 1928 single work novel ; This Love Business : A Novel John Fearn , 1929 single work novel
Untitled Franziska , 1929 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Woman's Mirror , 12 March vol. 5 no. 16 1929; (p. 24)

— Review of Ultima Thule : Being the Third Part of the Chronicle of The Fortunes of Richard Mahony Henry Handel Richardson , 1929 single work novel
A favourable review which describes Ultima Thule as a 'masterpiece of tragic literature'.
Ultima Thule 1929 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 13 March vol. 50 no. 2561 1929; (p. 2)

— Review of Ultima Thule : Being the Third Part of the Chronicle of The Fortunes of Richard Mahony Henry Handel Richardson , 1929 single work novel
Untitled 1929 single work review
— Appears in: Times Literary Supplement , 17 January 1929; (p. 42)

— Review of Ultima Thule : Being the Third Part of the Chronicle of The Fortunes of Richard Mahony Henry Handel Richardson , 1929 single work novel
Untitled L. P. Hartley , 1929 single work review
— Appears in: Saturday Review , 19 January vol. 147 no. 1929; (p. 82)

— Review of Ultima Thule : Being the Third Part of the Chronicle of The Fortunes of Richard Mahony Henry Handel Richardson , 1929 single work novel
y separately published work icon Australian Literature Society Medallists Flora Eldershaw , Sydney : Australasian Medical Publishing , 1935 Z1040561 1935 single work criticism Summary of an address given to the Australian English Association 25th September 1935.
Australian Literature Society [Meeting Report] 1929 single work correspondence
— Appears in: All About Books , 18 July vol. 1 no. 8 1929; (p. 267-268)
Report of reviews given at the meeting by Palmer, Byrne, Serle and Lavatar.
A Reader's Notebook Nettie Palmer , 1929 single work criticism
— Appears in: All About Books , 21 October vol. 1 no. 11 1929; (p. 337-338)
Books Received Freda Barrymore , 1930 single work review
— Appears in: Townsville Daily Bulletin , 20 December 1930; (p. 14)

— Review of Only the Morning John Dalley , 1930 single work novel
Ultima Thule : Best Novel for 1929 1930 single work column
— Appears in: The News , 11 December 1930; (p. 13)
Last amended 15 Feb 2024 13:03:59
Settings:
  • ca. 1870-1875
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X