JUDE THE OBSCURE (Inscribed First Edition))

HARDY, Thomas. JUDE THE OBSCURE. London: Osgood, McIlvaine, and Co., 1896 [but 1895]. 8vo. Frontispiece plate by Henry Macbeth-Raeburn and map of Wessex bound at end. FIRST EDITION, First State, first published as the eighth volume in his uniform series of Hardy's Wessex Novels. Bound in original publisher's original green cloth, gilt, with signatures A-H having all pages numbered. A Very Good copy with some wear to its extremities and boards, and one inner hinge starting to crack. This INSCRIBED COPY, bearing the author's "Yours Faithfully/ Thomas Hardy" signed to the title page, has the same first print run pagination as all of Hardy's other recorded presentation copies of JUDE. Opposite Hardy's inscription, in a different hand, is the first owner's full name and address -- a local farm in West Meon, Sussex, quite near Winchester, the capitol of Hardy's Upper Wessex -- where Tess Durbeyfield was imprisoned and executed). JUDE THE OBSCURE, often cited as Hardy's most important novel, has an iconic status in the history of English literature, the bridge which links the Victorian Era and the Modern Era. Perhaps due to initially savage critical reviews, Hardy appears to have avoided signing copies of JUDE THE OBSCURE. This being only the third one we've seen since the auction of H. Bradley Martin's world class Hardy collection at Sotheby's New York in May 1990. One of Hardy's recorded presentation copies of JUDE to the Duchess of Abercorn (1848-1929) was sold by us for $60,000 in 2009 (admittedly still retaining its dust jacket which is not true in this case or most cases.) Purdy, pp. 86-91. Housed in a custom green folding case. …