RICHARD JEFFERIES FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1880. First edition : in the primary binding, with Smith slightly taller than Elder on the spine, and the chocolate endpapers.
Crown 8vo (20cm). [2],(x),204,[iv]pp. Original blue cloth, ruled and blocked in black and blind, lettered across spine in gilt, and blocked in gilt on upper cover with Jefferies’ design of an anemone leaf; a little worn and lightly bruised; small scratch to spine; endpapers slightly cracked; some slight marks, minor chips and small flaws; some occasional pencil annotation, but a reasonable copy in cloth. With the contemporary (1882) ownership inscription and armorial bookplate of Robert Fiennes Hibbert J.P. (1860-1924), of Bucknell in Oxfordshire.

£40

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London : Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1881. First edition : the estimated size of the edition is just 500 copies. “Some delightful reading, especially in the earlier chapters, where a brave little boy named Bevis – they give him the pet name of Sir Bevis ... spends all the days of the summer in wondrous conversations with the birds, the insects, the little beasts, hare, rabbit, squirrel, weasel, field-mouse, and others, and with the trees and flowers, and the mystic voices of the brook and the west wind, haunting the rural home of his childhood” (Illustrated London News, 20th August 1881).
Two volumes. Post 8vo (195 x 125mm). (viii);(236),8; (vi),(264),8pp – advertisements in both volumes dated May 1881, Bound, without half-titles, in an attractive slightly later half olive morocco, banded and gilt, by James Speakman (1850-1925) of Liverpool, with his stamps; top edges gilt; marbled sides and endpapers; spines dulled to brown; some minor rubbing; a few edge spots, but a very good set.

SOLD

London : Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1882. First edition : in the variant green (a) binding – Miller & Matthews (B15) make a persuasive case for regarding these slightly taller copies in green as having appeared earlier than the regular copies in brown. Jefferies and his haunting evocation of a Wiltshire childhood – “where there was magic in everything, blades of grass and stars, the sun and the stones upon the ground”.
Three volumes. Crown 8vo (180 x 119mm). viii,(288); iv,294,[ii]; iv,294,[ii]pp. Original decorative green cloth, blocked in black and gilt, and lettered in gilt; patterned endpapers; a few very minor signs of age and use; some occasional spotting to prelims and edges, but an excellent set. W. H. Smith blind-stamp to front free endpaper of the first volume.

SOLD

London : Richard Bentley & Son, 1884. First edition : just 625 sets were printed, of which only 425 were initially sent for binding. “Meadow and brook, wheat-fields and hills – a simple landscape, yet such as is not to be surpassed by any on earth. A common landscape – there are hundreds such in England – yet beyond compare. There are none like it elsewhere in the wide world” – Jefferies in his element in his native Wiltshire, with a novel characterised as “a sad little episode of cottage life, very tragic in its termination” (Reading Mercury, 20th September 1884). “Human nature, especially rustic human nature, has seldom if ever had a closer student or a more picturesque exponent” (The Graphic, 20th September 1884).
Two volumes. Crown 8vo (20cm). [ii],296; [ii],(328)pp. Decorative initials, head and tailpieces. Original green pebble-grain cloth, ruled and lettered in gilt; just a hint of rubbing and bruising; some spotting, mainly of edges and prelims, but a very good, bright and sound set.

£500

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 45605 – or simply click on the button