The Return of the Native - UK 1st
1878
$2,026.00
First edition first impression consisting of three volumes published by Smith Elder & Co in 1878. , 303, 297 and 320 pages respectively and frontispiece map to vol 1.
In late-Victorian Zaehnsdorf green half-calf bindings, with patterned green paper covered boards, gilt to the top edges of the text blocks and marbled endpapers front and rear. All three volumes retain their half-titles. The books are firmly bound, there is some scuffing and chipping to both boards and leather, there is foxing to pages (more so to front and rear pages than to text pages)
About
One of Hardy's great novels, expertly weaving controversial themes of adultery and desire with a traditional rural setting, itself a protest against the increasing tendency towards urbanisation that followed in the wake of industrialisation and the expansion of the railways. This is a not displeasing first edition set in fairly contemporary bindings.
