A Group of Noble Dames
( H. MACBETH-RAEBURN, illus. ) HARDY, Thomas
With an Etching by H. Macbeth-Raeburn and a Map of Wessex. [Vol. XV of 'The Wessex Novels'. First US Edition].
NEAR FINE COPY OF THE FIRST US EDITION
Published: Harpers, [1901]
Stock code: 49775
Price: £112.00
8vo., First Edition thus, on laid paper, with etched frontispiece and full-page map of Wessex in the text, endpapers lightly spotted; original decorative green ribbed cloth gilt, 'TH' monogram blocked in gilt on upper cover, gilt back, gilt top, uncut, a near fine copy.
Osgood's 'Wessex Novels' (1895-6) is the the first uniform and complete edition of Hardy's works. Each of the sixteen volumes has an etched frontispiece by Macbeth-Raeburn (depicting a scene from the novel drawn on the spot; in this case 'Kings-Hintock Court in The First Countess of Wessex') 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. Sheets of the Osgood edition with an altered title-page were published in the USA by Harpers (Osgood's successors). See Purdy, pp.279-282. ALL VOLUMES OF THIS SERIES ARE SCARCE, ESPECIALLY IN THIS CONDITION.