December 4, 2025, by Chloe

TC Hine: Victorian Autograph Hunter

TC Hine is best remembered as the architect of many notable buildings in Nottingham and around the East Midlands, including the Shire Hall, which today houses the National Justice Museum. For all his achievements as an architect, this scrapbook shows that Hine was possibly even more prolific in another field: autograph hunting!

MS 575/1/1657-179 Autograph scrapbook, front page; 1452-1990

This volume, which is titled ‘Autograph Letters from Kings Nobles Statesmen Churchmen Scientists Authors Artists Architects and Other Notabilities AD 1640 1880’, brings together a diverse range of letters, photographs, printed materials, and drawings, totalling over 1000 items. It is arranged according to themes, such as authors, architects, artists, and royalty – an idiosyncratic mix which reflected Hine’s interests, personality, and architectural background.

MS 575/1/1657-179 Autograph scrapbook, page 30, featuring a letter from William Gladstone; 1452-1990

The scope is truly enormous: Hine’s statement at the beginning of the volume asserts that there are over 140 letters within that are addressed to him, but those are just the tip of the iceberg: this quintessentially Victorian cornucopia features many other autographs and complete letters (including facsimiles) from individuals who didn’t correspond with him directly – and some whose lives ended many years before his began.

MS 575/1/86-90 Autograph scrapbook, page 14, featuring letters by and an image of Napoleon Bonaparte; 1452-1990

In fact, while the majority of the material does come from the 19^th century, the earliest item dates to 1452. The geographic range of the subjects is equally expansive: while individuals and places relating to Nottingham and the East Midlands – such as the Dukes of Newcastle – are certainly well represented, Hine’s curiosity knew no bounds and his collection encompassed everyone from famous historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington to notable individuals of his own time, like William Gladstone and Charles Dickens.

MS 575/1/344-350 Autograph scrapbook, page 51, featuring image of the interior of Newstead Abbey ; 1452-1990

The letters were often accompanied by other material relating to that individual or theme, including relevant illustrations and manuscript notes, photographs, cuttings from printed works, and engravings of architectural features and buildings.

These layers of information were often not only conceptual, but physical. Related pieces of material were often pasted directly on top of one another, with Hine making frequent use of card tabs to hold items in place and further embellishing pages with hand-drawn titles and small sketches.

[MS 575/1/5]

We know that Hine aspired for his labour of love to outlive him, writing on the contents page: ‘With the best wishes of the compiler this book is bequeathed by him as an heir loom to his direct lineal descendants.’ Now, thanks to the intervention of our conservation team, we hope that the many treasures of his eclectic compilation will remain available to be uncovered by future generations.

Detailed digital images of every item in Hine’s scrapbook are now available to view in our reading room. To book your space today, simply email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk.

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