Thomas Hardy was an author who was part of the Naturalist and Victorian literary movements. Hardy's work is often divided into two periods, marked by the turn of the century. He is classified as a novelist of the 19th century and a poet of the 20th century. Even though he was initially published as a novelist and his poetry was never as well received, he primarily identified himself as a poet. His most notable works are Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd, Collected Poems, and Jude the Obscure.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles was Hardy's most controversial novel - the book was accused of violating the conventions of Victorian decency by challenging the sexual morals of society. The novel was initially serialized in the British newspaper, The Graphic in 1891. This version of the novel was highly censored due to its content and the full version was published in book form in 1892. The novel was highly criticized when it was released, but is now considered by critics to be Hardy's masterpiece.
Hardy's work helped influence many significant authors of the 20th century like D. H. Lawrence, John Cowper Powys, W. Somerset Maugham, Christopher Durang, Robert Frost, W. H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, and Philip Larkin.
Most of Hardy's 1st editions belong to circulating libraries, so copies in fine condition are rare. The Trumpet Major, a Tale by Thomas Hardy is a highly sought after collectable. Published in 1880, the work -- comprised of three volumes -- is on the subject of the Napoleonic war. Only 1,000 copies were released in the first edition, making it a rare find for Hardy collector.
Hardy, Thomas. Under the Greenwood Tree A Rural Painting of the Dutch School.. Tinsley, London (1872). 500 copies; Two volumes
Hardy, Thomas. A Pair of Blue Eyes. Tinsley, London (1873). 3 Volumes; 500 copies;
Hardy, Thomas. Under the Greenwood Tree. Henry Holt, New York (1873).
Hardy, Thomas. Desperate Remedies. Henry Holt, New York (1874). First American Edition;
Hardy, Thomas. Far From the Madding Crowd. Henry Holt, New York (1874). First American Edition
Hardy, Thomas. Far From The Madding Crowd. Smith Elder, London (1874). Two Volumes; Twelve wood-engraved Illustrations by Helen Paterson including frontispiece
Hardy, Thomas. The hand of Ethelberta, a comedy in chapters. Smith, Elder, , London (1876). 2 Volumes; Black and white frontispiece and illustrations (6 full page black/white plates incl. Frontis).
Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native. Smith Elder , London (1878). First issue in 3 volumes, without the quotation marks afterA Pair of Blue Eyes on the title of vol. I.
Hardy, Thomas. The Trumpet Major. Henry Holt, New York (1880). First USA Edition; Number 118 in Holt'sLeisure Hour series;
Hardy, Thomas. Trumpet Major. Smith, Elder, London (1880). 3 Volumes; 1000 Copies;
Hardy, Thomas. A Laodicean, Or The Castle of the De Stancys. A Tale of To-Day. Sampson Low Marston Searle and Rivington, London (1881). 3 Volumes; First UK edition; 1 first state withor on half-title page
Hardy, Thomas. The Trumpet Major. Sampson Low (1881). 1000 Copies;
Hardy, Thomas. Two on a Tower.. Holt, New York (1882). First authorized American edition;
Hardy, Thomas. Two on a Tower.. Sampson Low, Marston, Rivington and Searle, London (1882). 3 Volumes; 1000 Copies;
Hardy, Thomas. The Mayor of Casterbridge. Smith, Elder , London (1886). 2 Volumes; 758 Copies Printed; Only 600 copies bound.
Hardy, Thomas. The Woodlanders. Harper, New York (1887).
Hardy, Thomas. The Woodlanders. Macmillan , London and New York (1887). 3 Volumes; 1000 Copies; 140 copies in sheets;
Hardy, Thomas. Wessex Tales Strange, Lively, and Commonplace. MacMillan, London (1888). 2 Volumes; 750 Copies; 643 Copies were Bound;
Hardy, Thomas. A Group of Noble Dames. James R. Osgood, McIlvaine , London (1891).
Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - A Pure Woman. James R. Osgood, McIlvaine , London (1891). 3 Volumes
Hardy, Thomas. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles. James R. Osgood, McIlvaine, London (1892). 3 Volumes; 13 Copies First Edition; 500 copies
Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman. James R. Osgood, McIlvaine , London (1892). 3 Volumes; 13 Copies First Edition;
Hardy, Thomas. Life's Little Ironies. Osgood, McIlvaine , London (1894).
Hardy, Thomas. Far from the Madding Crowd.. James Osgood, McIlvaine , London. (1895).
Hardy, Thomas. The Wessex Novels. Osgood McIlvaine , London (1895). Complete In XVIII Volumes; An etched frontispiece in each volume by H. Macbeth-Raeburn; Short Stories in 18 volumes (17 published by Osgood and the later published volume of short stories 'A Changed Man' by MacMillan) including 3 First editions, 'The Well-Beloved', 'Jude the Obscure' and 'A Changed Man'.
Hardy, Thomas. A Group of Noble Dames. Osgood McIlvaine , London (1896). frontispiece etching by H. Macbeth-Raeburn of King's-Hintock Court Mansion; With a preface by Thomas Hardy
Hardy, Thomas. A Laodicean - A Story of To-Day. Harper, New York (1896). First American edition;
Hardy, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. Harper, New York (1896). First American Edition; Illustrated with twelve plates;
Hardy, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. Osgood, McIlvaine , London (1896). With an etching by H. Macbeth-Raeburn and a map of Wessex; first issue has numbered partially printed, chapter-concluding pages in signatures A-H and unnumbered thereafter; with frontispiece engravingThe 'Christminster' Of The Story
Hardy, Thomas. The Well Beloved. Osgood McIlvaine, London (1897). Illustrated with an etching by H. Macbeth-Raeburn and a map of Wessex; Bound by Zaehnsdorf
Hardy, Thomas. The Well-Beloved. Harper, New York (1897).
Hardy, Thomas. Wessex Poems and Other Verses. Harper, London and New York (1898). With 30 illustrations by the author;
Hardy, Thomas. Poems of the Past and Present. Harper, New York (1902).
Hardy, Thomas. The Dynasts.. Macmillan, London (1904). 3 Volumes
Hardy, Thomas. Satires of Circumstance. Lyrics and Reveries, With Miscellaneous Pieces. Macmillan , London (1914). In addition to the poems on the death of his wife Emma, Satires of Circumstance containsThe Convergence of the Twain (Lines on the loss of the 'Titanic'),A Singer Asleep, Hardy's elegy for Algernon Charles Swinburne, and the series of fifteen poems from which the title comes,Satires of Circumstance In Fifteen Glimpses..
Hardy, Thomas. Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses. Macmillan , London (1917). 3000 copies printed;
Hardy, Thomas. The Writings of Thomas Hardy in Prose and Verse. Harper, New York and London (1920). Anniversary Edition, limited to 1250 sets, 21 volumes; Illustrated with tissue guarded black and white plates
Hardy, Thomas. Selected Poems of Thomas Hardy. Philip Lee Warner, London (1921). 1025 Copies; 1000 were for sale, 14 vellum copies; Frontispiece portrait and title-page design engraved on the wood by William Nicholson.
Hardy, Thomas. Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses. Macmillan , London (1922).
Hardy, Thomas. Human Shows Far Phantasies Songs, and Trifles. Macmillan, New York (1925). 100 numbered copies; First American edition;
Hardy, Thomas. Human Shows Far Phantasies Songs, and Trifles.. MacMillan Limited, London (1925). 5000 copies printed.
Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles A Pure Woman. Macmillan Limited, London (1926). Forty-one wood-engravings, including the frontispiece, by Vivien Gribble; 325 copies
Hardy, Thomas. The Duke's Reappearance. Privately Printed, New York (1927). First separate edition; 89 Copies.
Hardy, Thomas. The Dynasts. MacMillan, London (1927). 575 copies; Etched frontispiece portrait by Francis Dodd; 3 vols; Deluxe edition, with a new frontispiece etching of Hardy by Francis Dodd, signed in pencil.
Hardy, Thomas. Yuletide In A Younger World. William Edwin Rudge, New York (1927). First American edition; 27 Copies; 12 copies for sale
Hardy, Thomas. Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres. Macmillan , London (1928). a collection of 105 poems;
Hardy, Thomas. The Return Of The Native. Harper Publishers, New York (1929). 1500 copies; 500 for england and 1000 for united states; Illustrated with woodcuts including 12 tipped in mounted plates, including frontispiece, and numerous little black and white illustrations
Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native. Macmillan, London (1929). First Clare Leighton edition; 1500 copies; 500 for UK; 1,000 for USA; Twelve tipped in woodcuts (including frontis) by Clare Leighton;
Hardy, Thomas. An Indiscretion in the Life of an Heiress. Privately Printed at the Curwen Press (1934). 100 copies;
Hardy, Thomas. Far From the Madding Crowd. The Limited Editions Club, Cambridge (1958). 1500 copies; Introduction by Robert Cantwell; book designed by John Dreyfus; illustrated by Agnes Miller Parker with full-page wood engravings and decorations.
Hardy, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. The Limited Editions Club, New York (1969). 1500 copies; Limited Editions Club; 21 b/w wood-engraved illus. and 6 two-colour illusustrations for parts titles. two-colour wood-engraving on Japanese paper; Designed by John Dreyfus and printed at the Spiral Press. With an introduction by John Bayley and wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker
Hardy, Thomas. The Collected Letters: 1893-1901 v.2. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1980).
Hardy, Thomas. Literary Notebooks of Thomas Hardy: v. 2. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke (1985).