Collecting Thomas Hardy
Novelist and Poet 1840-1928
Hardy, Thomas. FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD. New York: Henry Holt, 1874. First American Edition, a volume in Holt’s “Leisure Hour Series.” A NEAR FINE copy in the publisher’s original cream cloth decorated in black; the usual light soil is in evidence but the volume has virtually no wear. This copy is of particular desirability as it contains the earliest known endpaper ads reading November 17th, 1874 which has in the past suggested precedence over the two-volume London edition published on November 23rd, 1874. Although Purdy (p. 17) reminds us all that dated advertisements can never be entirely reliable as bibliographic points, the compelling possibility of precedence (which Purdy doesn’t entirely rule out) combined with the extreme rarity of the two-volume English first edition in original cloth makes this one of the author’s most sought after first American editions.
First Editions
HARDY, Thomas. JUDE THE OBSCURE. London: Osgood, McIlvaine, and Co., 1896 [but 1895]. 8vo. Frontispiece plate by Henry Macbeth-Raeburn and map of Wessex bound at end. FIRST EDITION, first state, in publisher’s original green cloth, gilt (front hinge showing some repair, rear hinge starting, but generally unworn) IN THE RARE PRINTED DUST JACKET (chipped with some loss, backed with silk to reinforce some short tears and chips). A STUNNING PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by Hardy on the front free endpaper: "To the Duchess of Abercorn, from Thomas Hardy. November, 1895." Tipped to the front paste-down is an autograph letter signed from Hardy to the Duchess, dated November 4, 1895, in which he offers this copy to her and writes: "Even if you do not like it you will, I am sure, understand and sympathize with the shadowy personages it concerns." Jude the Obscure was first published serially in Harper's New Monthly Magazine from December 1894 to November 1895, and then published in book form on the 1st November 1895. One of seven recorded presentation copies. Purdy, pp. 86-91. Provenance: Mary Anna Curzon, The Duchess of Abercorn (1848-1929); Carroll Atwood Wilson (bookplate).
Hardy, Thomas. DESPERATE REMEDIES. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1874. First American Edition of Hardy's first novel, in the primary binding of original publisher’s cream cloth (rather than mustard yellow cloth). This copy also has the endpaper ads in their first state, dated March 17, 1874 (the month of publication). The three-volume London first edition is extremely rare, making this an opportunity to acquire a relevant first edition of Hardy’s first published title at a reasonable price. A VERY GOOD copy , some light browning to its spine and a bit of wear to one corner, plus the usual light soil inevitable to this pale binding.
Hardy, Thomas. WESSEX TALES. Strange, Lively, and Commonplace. In Two Volumes. London: Macmillan and Co., 1888. First Edition, one of only 750 copies (of which only 634 were bound up) published on the 4th of May. Two leaves of undated Macmillan ads at the back of volume two as called for. The NEAR FINE Frederick B. Adams, Jr. copy (bookplate in each volume) in publisher's original smooth dark green cloth blocked in pale green on upper covers and spines. Volume one has very minor wear to the extremities and a single noticeable spot of discoloration to the lower cover. Volume two has some stray markings to the upper cover and a little wear to the edges. The spine gilt on both volumes is blazing bright, unusually so. Both volumes have some light foxing to the endpapers along with some equally light offsetting from the bookplates. All inner hinges are tight and uncracked. The five substantial short stories which make up WESSEX TALES have long been considered among the best of Hardy's nearly fifty pieces of short fiction. "The Distracted Preacher" and "Fellow Townsmen" were written just after the 1878 publication of THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE. "The Three Strangers" and "Interlopers at the Knap" were written just prior to the 1886 publication of THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE and "The Withered Arm" was the first story composed after the author's 1887 publication of THE WOODLANDERS. Purdy, pp.58-60; Sadleir 1119.
Hardy, Thomas. THE WOODLANDERS. London: Macmillan and Co, 1887. First Edition, first impression, one of only 1,000 copies published on March 15th, 1887. Three volumes, 8vo, original dark green pebbled publisher's cloth (the secondary binding with the leaf of out-of-date ads from volume one excised by the binder). A FINE, fresh, and untouched example with only the most minor of blemishes. A few corners are just lightly bumped, the spine gilt of Vol. 2 is just slightly less bright than the other two volumes, and there is one tiny nick to the spine tip of Vol. 3. The inner hinges are tight and sound; there is virtually none of the usual foxing. Armorial bookplates belonging to a previous owner are affixed to each volume's front paste-down. This is not one of the first 860 sets originally bound in green buckram-grain cloth in March of 1887 but part of a secondary binding-up in similarly colored pebble-grain cloth of the remaining 140 copies in sheets (which most likely occurred sometime before September of 1887 when Macmillan released its follow-up one volume edition of 2,000 copies). The first bound group went primarily to the lending libraries of Mudie and W. H. Smith which accounts for the generally atrocious condition of the few badly marked survivors which are more to be pitied than purchased. Purdy pp. 54-57.
Hardy, Thomas. THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1886. Original mustard yellow cloth decorated in black. First American Edition issued as No. 191 in Holt's "Leisure Hour Series" and published simultaneously with the London two-volume edition. This was Hardy's tenth novel and last of his books to be published in America by Henry Holt. This is a NEAR FINE copy, bright and virtually unworn, with a line of soil near the fore-edge of the front cover which extends to a portion of the top edge. Purdy p. 53.
Inscribed
Jude The Obscure
in Original Dust Jacket
PRESENTATION COPY TO HIS WIFE
Hardy, Thomas. THE WOODLANDERS. London: Osgood, McIlvaine, 1906. This is the PRESENTATION COPY of the novel Hardy considered his finest which was given by him to his future second wife, Florence Emily Dugdale, during the time she first began acting as his secretary, four years before the death of the first Mrs. Hardy. It is inscribed: "To/ Miss F. E. Dugdale/With the Author's Kind Regards/Christmas 1908." The copy has been well-read by the second Mrs. Hardy as one might expect and shows some wear but little tear, still in very nice original condition without major flaw. Despite Hardy's formality of inscription, he was already quite drawn to Miss Dugdale by this time and a more intimate presentation copy of this title would be hard to find.
Hardy, Thomas. A PAIR OF BLUE EYES. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co, 1880. Third Edition, a FINE bright copy with only the smallest amount of wear to the extremities, INSCRIBED by the author on the verso of the front free endpaper: “Yours Faithfully, Thomas Hardy.” In the publisher’s original decorated blue cloth, blocked in gold and black. It was first published in London in 1873 as a three-volume edition; this novel was also the first book to bear Hardy’s name. A particularly desirable copy as we are not aware of any recorded presentation first edition of A Pair Of Blue Eyes.
Hardy, Thomas. UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE. New York: Holt & Williams, 1873. First American Edition, first issue, in the publisher’s original cream cloth decorated in black. This is a NEAR FINE copy, its cloth a trifle age-toned, but with scarcely any wear and rare thus. Under The Greenwood Tree was the author’s second novel (initially published in two volumes in London in June 1872) but his first novel to be published in the United States. This particular copy has the required first state of both title page and binding, listing its publisher as Holt & Williams rather than just Holt; it also has the earliest endpaper ads dated May 10, 1873.
Some of the items listed below are
Hardy, Thomas. THE SHORT STORIES OF THOMAS HARDY. London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd, 1928. First Edition. A reprinting, in one volume, of Hardy’s 4 collections of short stories. 1,080 pages; bound in in maroon cloth. A Fine copy (light offsetting to the free endpapers; touch of foxing to the edges) in a FINE example of the pictorial dust jacket. The sheer size of the volume and its susceptibility to handling. “Over one thousand pages” seems to serve as an explanation as to why so few superb copies of this title can be found in fine/fine original condition.
Hardy, Thomas. A CHANGED MAN, THE WAITING SUPPER and Other Tales Concluding with the Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid. London: Macmillan, 1913. Frontispiece and double-page map. First edition. A Very Good copy, a little worn, IN SCARCE ORIGINAL PUBLISHER’S PRINTED DUST JACKET (spine a trifle darkened, some general light wear. Purdy, pages 153-157. Scarce in the original dustwrapper. Hardy’s last published fiction.
THE DYNASTS
EARLIEST ISSUE with integral 1903 Title Page in Volume One
IN ORIGINAL PUBLISHER’S DUST JACKETS
Hardy, Thomas. THE DYNASTS: A Drama of the Napoleonic Wars, In Three Parts, Nineteen Acts, & One Hundred and Thirty Scenes. London: Macmillan, 1903-1906-1908. Three volumes. First Edition in publisher’s original green cloth. First issue of Volume One (1903 title page integral, only 103 copies at most printed, expert repair to front inner hinge), first British issue of Volume Two (title page a cancel as found in all British first editions; some 1905 titles were found among the American issue), First Issue of Volume Three. Very Good copies (a little worn at the edges) in Very Good ORIGINAL DUST JACKETS (some light restoration to corners and spines). Very rare in the original dust jackets and as nice a set of the first issue as we’ve seen. Hardy’s interest in The Napoleonic Wars was most famously expressed in his 1880 novel THE TRUMPET MAJOR but also found expression in his poetry and here in his Magnum Opus, THE DYNASTS, which took him several decades of hard work to bring to fruition. THE DYNASTS is little read today but contains the best and most complete insight into of Hardy’s world-view (as hinted at in the last line of TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES when he invokes “The President Of The Immortals” as having finished his sport with Tess). Bookplate of distinguished previous owner on front paste-down all three volumes. Purdy pp. 119-135.
VERY FINE TESS
Hardy. Thomas. TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented. London: Osgood, McIlvaine, 1891. Three Volumes. First Edition. A VERY FINE copy in publisher’s original sand-colored cloth, gilt decorations and lettering after designs by Charles Ricketts. Some foxing; three inner hinges expertly and invisibly restored but an astonishingly clean, unworn, and bright example of the true first edition (with all first issue points) of one of the greatest novels in the English language. Provenance: The British Club Library at Malaga, Spain, with their bookplates on the front paste-downs; Los Angeles Bookseller Maxwell Hunley, sold to Estelle Doheny on December 3, 1932; Doheny Sale, October 18, 1988, lot 1384 (bookplate on front-free endpaper). One of the finest sets known to us, equal to the legendary Katherine de B. Parsons copy (Sotheby’s October 1976, Lakin & Marley Catalogue #1 October 1994). Purdy, pages 67-68.
[Hardy, Thomas]. Strang, William, artist. ORIGINAL ETCHED PORTRAIT OF THOMAS HARDY, signed W. Strang in the plate and Wm. Strang in pencil in the margin beneath the image [1894]. 15 x 10 cm (image) on a 24 x 19 cm sheet. One of the iconic portraits of Thomas Hardy by the painter and printmaker, William Strang (1859-1921). In all, Strang did six different portraits of Hardy. What makes this example extraordinary is Hardy’s presentation inscription to his closest friend for forty years Edmund Gosse. Inscribed in pencil in the lower margin “Thomas Hardy / to / Edmund Gosse.” A few organic wrinkles to the paper else FINE.
Hardy, Thomas. THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA. NY: Henry Holt & Company, 1876. FIRST EDITION. A NEAR FINE copy in the primary publisher's binding of cream cloth (with endpaper ads dated May 20th, 1876, the same month as publication of Hardy's two-volume London first edition). Although there is slight foxing to the upper cover, this example is virtually unworn and without any of the spine toning which is almost always found on these fragile American pale cream colored bindings. THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA, Hardy's fifth novel has rarely been accepted as anything more than a minor achievement. Yet it is the bridge between his masterpieces FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD and THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE. Ethelberta's "problem" has always been that she was Hardy's attempt to break free of his Wessex roots and create a more urban "society" protagonist. His writing in this novel is still brilliant but the setting and plot are such that this brilliance is apparently not so easily seen.
Hardy, Thomas. THE WESSEX NOVELS. [Complete In XVIII Volumes]. London: Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1895-1913. First Uniform and Complete Edition of Hardy’s prose. All eighteen volumes uncut and uniform in original publisher's dark green cloth; gilt monogram on front boards, t.e.g. An etched frontispiece in each volume by H. Macbeth-Raeburn. Blind-stamp reading “W. E. CASE, STATIONERS, DORCHESTER” on the front-free endpaper of seven of the titles. This run of perfectly matched bright unrubbed copies (just a few stray scrapes), a REMARKABLY FINE SET, appears to have been put together by the same individual during the 1890's while Hardy was living just down the road at Max Gate. This is the first true collected edition of Hardy's works and it contains three first editions: JUDE THE OBSCURE (found here with all first issue points), THE WELL-BELOVED, and A CHANGED MAN. This edition is of further importance as every novel, for the first time, had been extensively revised by the author who also provided each with a new and important preface. Initially published in the I-XVI volume Wessex Novels, 1895-96, THE WELL-BELOVED (Osgood, McIlvaine, 1897) and A CHANGED MAN (Macmillan, 1913) followed on in identical format as volumes XVII and XVIII. While the easily found Macmillan 1912-1914 WESSEX EDITION is generally lauded as the first collected writings with the text exactly as Hardy wanted it for posterity, and Macmillan's MELLSTOCK EDITION of 1919-1920 is deservedly praised for its glamorous and lush 37-volume signed limited edition, the Osgood set is by far the rarest of the three in fine original condition. Highly desirable and inexplicably underrated and undervalued by collectors, dealers, and institutional libraries for over a hundred years. Purdy pp. 279-282.
THE WESSEX NOVELS
Fine, bright complete set of eighteen volumes
in original publisher’s cloth sold in Dorchester in the 1890's