Far From the Madding Crowd. With an Etching by H. Macbeth-Raeburn and a Map of Wessex. [Vol. II of 'The Wessex Novels'.] US EDITION IN 'WESSEX NOVELS'

8vo., on laid paper, with etched frontispiece and full-page map of Wessex in the text; original decorative green ribbed cloth gilt, 'TH' monogram blocked in gilt on upper cover, gilt back, gilt top, uncut, a very good, bright, clean, crisp copy. 'Wessex Novels' (1895-6), published by Osgood McIlvaine (UK) and Harpers (USA), 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 'The Weatherbury of the Story') 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.