Hardy, Thomas | Tess of the d'Urbervilles, an exceptionally fine copy

Property from an Important American Collection

Hardy, Thomas

Tess of the D'Urbervilles. A Pure Woman. London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1891

3 volumes, 8vo. Half-titles, with "1891" on p. iv, label with manuscript shelf mark to pastedowns; transfer of bookplate to prelims. Publisher's cloth with gilt honeysuckle design to covers, spine gilt; some light shelfware, extremities a little bumped, slight wear to covers. Collector's quarter morocco box.

An uncommonly fine copy, the first edition, first impression, of this tragic and moving tale.

"And it was the touch of the imperfect upon the would-be perfect that gave the sweetness, because it was that which gave the humanity."

Tess first appeared in serialized—and censored—form in the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891, and in this three-volume format later in 1891. Navigating themes such as the pagan and the neo-Biblical, the environment and the industrial age, female sexuality and Victorian morality, the novel typifies the "ache of modernism" Hardy experienced and explored through his writing.

Printed in an edition of 1,000, Tess of the D'Urbervilles was an instant success, though it was met with a great deal of controversy. The triple-decker format, present here, was often sold to lending libraries, and copies are generally found in worn condition, this institutional labels present, or having been inexpertly removed. 

An exceptional copy of Hardy's greatest work, and one of English literature's most enduring texts.

First impression issue points are present in this set, as follows: Volume I: p.[iv] "1891" present, p.[v] "have it said" (later "have said"), p.45 "her skin is | as sumple" (later "her skin is as | sumple"), p.[264] final full-stop present; Volume II: p.[iv] "1891" present, p.58 "Valasquez" (later "Velasquez"), p.155 "seampstress" (later "sempstress"), p.199 "XXV" (later "XXXV"), and p.234 "it's husband's" (later "its husband's"); Volume III: p.[vi] "1891" present, p.14 line endings comprise "towards", "but", "On", "al-", "hitherto" and "a", and p.112 "are ye doing" (later "are you doing"), p.160 line endings comprise "than", "deviations", "domesticity,", "vale", "curve.", "light" and "was", p.198 "summit of the road" (later "summit of the load"), p.252 line endings comprise "and", "foul", "bear" and "And", p.270 "sisters-in-law" (later "sister-laws"), p.275 "piteously" (later "pitilessly"), p.277 no page number present, and p.[278] no final full-stop.

REFERENCES:

Purdy, pp.67-78; Sadleir 1114

PROVENANCE:

Arthur Wood (bookplate — Wood owned Newbold Revel Estate in Warwickshire, listed in the Doomsday Book, in the late nineteenth century)