Author: HARDY Thomas
Title: Life's Little Ironies. A Set of Tales with some Colloquial Sketches entitled A Few Crusted Characters. With an Etching by H. Macbeth-Raeburn and a Map of Wessex. [Wessex Novels edition.] BRIGHT, CLEAN COPY IN THE WESSEX NOVELS
Description: Osgood McIlvaine,, [1896]. 8vo., First Edition thus, on laid paper, with fine etched frontispiece (original tissue guard present) and full-page map, endpapers mildly spotted; original series binding of ribbed green cloth gilt, 'TH' monogram blocked in gilt on front board, gilt back, gilt top, uncut, short crease in backstrip else a very good, bright, clean, crisp copy. Published as Volume XIV in the 'Wessex Novels' collected edition. Collects eight short stories together with nine 'colloquial' sketches. 'With the exception of 'On The Western Circuit' the stories were only slightly revised for their appearance here. The volume was printed from the same plates as the first edition two years before' (Purdy). Osgood's 'Wessex Novels' is the first uniform and complete edition of Hardy's works. 'The edition is an important one. The text of every novel was thoroughly and carefully revised, the topography (names and distances) corrected where necessary, chapters frequently retitled, and much rewriting done. In addition Hardy prepared a special preface for each volume' (Purdy p.281). Each of the sixteen volumes has an etched frontispiece by Macbeth-Raeburn depicting a scene fom the novel drawn on the spot (in this case 'A View in Melchester') and a map of Wessex drawn by Hardy himself. In terms of book production, these are undoubtedly the finest trade editions of Hardy's works. ALL VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES ARE SCARCE IN THIS CONDITION. See Purdy, pp.81-83, 279-282.

Keywords: modern first editions, modern firsts, literature, hardy, thomas hardy, wessex, regional fiction, wessex novels


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