The Wounded Name — D. K. Broster, Heinemann (1928–1929 impression)

Opening

The dedication page reads: AD AMICITIAM — Latin, to friendship. No name. No further words. It is a dedication to an idea, or to a person whose identity Broster chose not to disclose. The epigraph — printed on the title verso and not a separate page — supplies the title's source:

"O good Horatio, what a wounded name,

Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!"

— Hamlet, Act V, Sc. 2.

and a second epigraph from Herbert Trench:

"How shall I find that friend

Of the rare friends, the deep-hearted?

When the delicate revels end

And the maskers have all departed.

At a sudden hour and a drear,

For the sweet hour is the sternest,

Thou shalt know who held thee dear,

Whose hand was thine in earnest."

Broster's characteristic territory — men in extremity, tested friendship, loyalty beyond what political allegiance can contain — is declared in both epigraphs before the novel begins. The Hamlet quotation is Horatio's promise to the dying prince that he will stay alive to tell the true story; the Herbert Trench poem is about recognising the friend who is genuine only when circumstances become desperate. Both are about what survives catastrophe.

The Book

The Wounded Name by D. K. Broster was first published by John Murray, London, in October 1922. It was subsequently taken over by William Heinemann Ltd. for reprint. The Notion collection holds two separate physical copies, which differ by impression:

The appearance of "Midwinter" in Copy B's author list but not Copy A's is significant: "Midwinter" was published by John Murray in 1923 — after the first Murray edition of The Wounded Name but before the Heinemann impressions. The 1928–1929 Heinemann impression updated the author list to reflect Broster's expanded bibliography. The title page of both copies reads: The Wounded Name / By D. K. Broster / [Heinemann device] / London / William Heinemann Ltd. No date appears on the title page itself; the date is on the title verso only. Both copies were printed at The Windmill Press, Kingswood, Surrey — Heinemann's own printing house, established 1921. [web:918]

The Title and Epigraphs

The title is drawn from Hamlet, Act V, Sc. 2 — the dying Hamlet's speech to Horatio: "O good Horatio, what a wounded name, / Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!" The “wounded name” is the reputation of the dead that cannot speak for itself; the novel's plot turns on false accusation, misrepresentation, and the struggle to clear a name of dishonour.

The second epigraph is by Herbert Trench (1865–1923), the Irish poet and theatrical director. Trench was born in Avoncore, County Cork, educated at Haileybury and Keble College, Oxford, and worked as a fellow and tutor at All Souls before turning to poetry and theatrical direction. He was artistic director of the Haymarket Theatre, London, 1909–1911, producing major Shakespeare productions. His Collected Works (3 vols.) appeared in 1924, the year after his death. The poem Broster quotes is from his collection and reflects his characteristic register — stately, searching, concerned with the tests of genuine friendship.

The Novel

The Wounded Name is set in the Napoleonic Wars period, specifically during the Peninsular War in Spain. [web:911] The novel concerns a British officer whose reputation is damaged by false accusation, and a friendship that is tested to destruction and beyond it. The chapter titles signal the novel's emotional geography: Running Water · 'Roses, Roses All the Way' (from Browning's The Patriot) · In the Dust · The Captive Hawk · Free — With a Broken Wing · The Road to the Beech Tree · The Road Back · The Love of Women · The Toledo Blade · 'Sans Tache' (French: without stain — the phrase used by knights who had preserved their honour unblemished). [web:911]

The title Chapter IX: The Toledo Blade refers to a Toledo sword — the finest blades in Europe, made in Toledo, Spain, the geographical heart of the Peninsular War campaign. The final chapter 'Sans Tache' resolves the novel's central question of whether a wounded name can be restored to honour.

The novel preceded The Flight of the Heron (1925) by three years and shares its preoccupations: the bond between men on opposing sides or in opposing moral positions, the nature of honour, and the cost of loyalty. It was listed among the works By the Same Author in all subsequent Heinemann editions of The Flight of the Heron.

The Contents

I. Running Water (p. 1)
II. 'Roses, Roses All the Way' (p. 27)
III. In the Dust (p. 57)
IV. The Captive Hawk (p. 89)
V. Free — With a Broken Wing (p. 114)
VI. The Road to the Beech Tree (p. 156)
VII. The Road Back (p. 210)
VIII. The Love of Women (p. 245)
IX. The Toledo Blade (p. 295)
X. 'Sans Tache' (p. 361)

Note: Copy B (earlier scan, file:862) gives Chapter III as p. 37; Copy A (new scan, file:902) gives p. 57. The new scan is likely the more reliable reading.

The Author

Dorothy Kathleen Broster (2 September 1877 – 7 February 1950) was born at Broughton, near Chester, the daughter of a Liverpool merchant. She was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College and St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she read History and took a first-class degree in 1900. [web:905][web:908] She served as secretary to the Regius Professor of History at Oxford, Sir Charles Firth, from 1903 to 1914, and served as a Red Cross nurse in France during the First World War. [web:919]

She published under the initials D. K. Broster, deliberately obscuring her gender. She lived for much of her adult life with her companion Mary Wilfrid Partington. Her novels are noted for intense male friendships tested by political or military opposition, a theme that runs from The Wounded Name (1922) through the Jacobite Trilogy (1925–1929). [web:905][web:908] She died at Lingfield, Surrey, on 7 February 1950.

Published works: Chantemerle (with G. W. Forrest, 1911) · The Vision Splendid (with G. W. Forrest, 1913) · Sir Isumbras at the Ford (1918) · The Yellow Poppy (1920) · "Mr. Rowl" (1921) · The Wounded Name (1922) · "Midwinter" (1923) · The Flight of the Heron (1925) · The Gleam in the North (1927) · The Dark Mile (1929) · Ships in the Bay! (1931) · Almond, Wild Almond (1933) · Child Royal (1937) · Sea Without a Haven (1941) · Couching at the Door (short stories, 1942). [web:905][web:909]

The Publisher

The Wounded Name was first published by John Murray, the long-established London house at Albemarle Street, Mayfair — publishers of Byron, Jane Austen (posthumous), Charles Darwin, and David Livingstone. It was subsequently reprinted by William Heinemann Ltd., founded 1890, who also held the rights to The Flight of the Heron, The Gleam in the North, and the rest of Broster's major fiction. [web:913] The Heinemann impressions of The Wounded Name were printed at The Windmill Press, Kingswood, Surrey — Heinemann's own printing house, opened 1921, where many of their standard fiction reprints were produced. [web:918]

Bibliographic Details

Author: D. K. Broster (Dorothy Kathleen Broster, 1877–1950)

First publisher: John Murray, London, October 1922

Reprint publisher: William Heinemann Ltd., London

Printer (Heinemann impressions): The Windmill Press, Kingswood, Surrey

Dedication: Ad Amicitiam (to friendship)

Epigraph 1: Hamlet, Act V, Sc. 2 (the “wounded name” speech)

Epigraph 2: Herbert Trench (poem on testing friendship)

Copy A (earlier impression): Heinemann 1926, 1927 at 3s. 6d.; author list includes "Mr. Rowl" but not "Midwinter"

Copy B (later impression): Heinemann 1928, 1929 at 7s. 6d.; author list includes "Midwinter" but not "Mr. Rowl"

Format: Hardback, 361+ pp; 10 chapters

Series context: Preceded The Flight of the Heron (1925); listed as a back-title in all subsequent Heinemann Broster editions