THOMAS HARDY AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : Tinsley Brothers, 1872. First edition. Hardy's scarce second novel, published by Tinsley "in an edition presumably of 500 copies" in June 1872, having been rejected by Macmillan as "very slight and rather unexciting" the previous year. Tinsley recollected it as one of the "best press-noticed" books he ever published, but it sold poorly and many of the first edition sheets were subsequently remaindered in one volume form.
Two volumes. Crown 8vo. [vi],(216); [vi],216pp. Bound, complete with half-titles, in a smart recent half crimson morocco, banded and gilt; marbled sides; text somewhat spotted in places, with a few marks, faint creases and small flaws, but overall a very good copy of an elusive title. Purdy pp. 6-8. Sadleir 1117. Wolff - not listed.

£4,000

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London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1886. First edition. The novel was serialised in "The Graphic" between January and May 1886, the present two volumes appearing five days before the final instalment, with Hardy making "significant alterations" (Purdy) to both text and plot for the book edition. Smith, Elder & Co. were somewhat reluctant publishers, their reader reporting that "the lack of gentry among the characters made it uninteresting" - only 758 sets of sheets were printed, of which about a fifth were later remaindered.
Two volumes. Crown 8vo. [iv],(314),[ii]; [iv],312,[iv]pp. Bound, complete with half-titles and advertisement leaves, in an early twentieth-century polished half calf, now smartly rebacked and gilt, refurbished and restored, retaining the old red and green labels; marbled sides and endpapers; top edges gilt; some occasional spotting, but a very good set of a difficult title. Purdy pp. 50-54. Sadleir 1111.

SOLD

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London : Spencer Blackett, 1890. First edition. Three novellas making their first appearance in book form - the first from John Campbell, Marquis of Lorne, later Duke of Argyll (1845-1914); the second from Annie Hector Alexander (1825-1902), and the third - "The Melancholy Hussar" - from Thomas Hardy. The Hardy story originally appeared in "The Bristol Times and Mirror" earlier in 1890.
Crown 8vo. [viii],(212),[iv]pp. Original pale blue cloth, ruled and lettered across upper cover and spine in black; covers lightly rubbed and very slightly marked; mild bubbling of cloth on upper cover; endpapers a little cracked; a little shaken and slack, but overall still a very good copy of a highly uncommon Hardy item. Contemporary (1896) ownership inscription of F. W. Wilkinson, and small late twentieth-century bookseller's label of the Hardy specialist, H. V. Day of Dorchester.

£250

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London : Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., (1896) [but 1895]. First edition : the putative first issue, with gatherings A-H all in first state, with page numbers on all the partially blank pages. Purdy's evidence that Hardy's own copy, the three copyright copies and five early presentation copies are all in this form is cogent in suggesting that this is indeed the first issue. Although not an uncommon book, rare in this early form. With an etched frontispiece of "Christminster" by Henry Macbeth-Raeburn (1860-1947) and Hardy's map of Wessex at rear.
Post 8vo. (viii),(520)pp. Original dark green cloth, blocked on upper cover in gilt, blocked and lettered across spine in gilt; top edge gilt; some very minor external wear and mild bruising; a few faint marks; just a touch shaken, but overall still a very good copy. Purdy pp.86-91.

£200

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London : Macmillan & Co., 1928. First edition : [one of 5,000 copies]. Hardy's final collection of poetry - 105 poems - the majority previously unpublished. Although prepared for the press before his death in January 1928, Hardy did not live to see its publication.
Crown 8vo. (xii),202,[ii]pp. Original green cloth, blocked in gilt on upper cover, lettered across spine in gilt; very mild tanning of endpapers, but an excellent copy, bright, clean and fresh in the original buff dust-jacket, printed in blue - just faintly rubbed and with a single almost invisible short tear. Purdy pp. 252-262.

SOLD

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