AustLit

The article traces the novel's complex chain of production and printing processes for the early editions of Power without Glory. It sheds new light on an 'early underground copy' of the novel, the 'Fraser' copy, a four-volume edition named after the printer Fraser and recently donated to the State Library of Victoria. The copy was probably run off illicitly by staff at Fraser & Jenkinson, part of a network of Hardy supporters connected with the CPA, at a time when Hardy was charged with libel and had to stand trial. In its rudimentary form, the 'Fraser' copy 'provides testament to an extraordinary juncture of literature and politics in this country, a time when private imagination and public fear seemed momentarily united' (99).