Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Hardy, Thomas. Under the Greenwood Tree. Tinsley Brothers, London, 1872.
Price: US$4000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, 500 copies printed. [vi], 215; [vi], 216 pp. 2 vols. 8vo. First edition of Hardy's second, anonymously published novel. Purdy, pp 6-8; Sadleir 1117 Bound in forest green half morocco backed marble boards with gilt ruling, gilt titles on five-banded spine, and t.e.g. Marble endpapers with handsome bookplate of heiress Gustavia Senff on upper pastedowns. Some early dampstaining on the upper recto corner of first volume, and to the verso upper corner of the second that slightly darkens marble and leather but doesn't affect the text at all. Overall a very good set of Hardy's second novel [vi], 215; [vi], 216 pp. 2 vols. 8vo
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$4491.43 + shipping
Description: First edition. Published anonymously, ''by the author of Desperate Remedies''. Octavo. Two volumes: pp [iv], 215; [iv], 216. Fine period bindings by Riviere of three-quarter brown morocco with raised bands, gilt decoration, marbled boards and endpapers, top edges gilt. Half-titles retained. Hardy's second novel.A fine set, attractively bound.
Seller: Peter Ellis, Bookseller, ABA, ILAB, London, United Kingdom
[Hardy, Thomas]. Under the Greenwood Tree. Tinsley Brothers, London, 1872.
Price: US$5000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, one of 500 copies. [vi], 215; [iv], 216 pp. Without half-title vol. II. 2 vols. 8vo. Hardy's second novel. First edition of Hardy's anonymously published second novel. Purdy pp 6-8; Sadleir 1117. Provenance: Alexander Cochrane (bookplates) Half brown morocco and linen boards, spine gilt in compartments, t.e.g. Touch of rubbing to extremities, but fine [vi], 215; [iv], 216 pp. Without half-title vol. II. 2 vols. 8vo
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$5445.00 + shipping
Description: 2 volumes. Rare First edition. A Copy with Interesting Provenance in the circles of American commerce and finance. 8vo, handsomely bound in antique full maroon morocco for Sawyer of Grafton Street, London, the boards with a triple gilt ruled frame, the spines with gilt stippled raised bands and gilt framed compartments, two of which are lettered in gilt, additional gilt lettering at the foot of the spine panels, gilt ruled board edges, gilt tooled turn-ins, marbled endpapers and t.e.g. 215; 216 pp. A very handsome set, the bindings with only a little light aging, all very solid and firm and very attractive, the text also fine with just a hint of age mellowing. THE FIRST OF THE GREAT SERIES OF WESSEX NOVELS, THE AUTHOR'S SECOND PUBLISHED NOVEL, AND THE LAST TO BE PUBLISHED WITHOUT HIS NAME. QUITE RARE, Purdy presumed the print run to be only about 500 copies. It is an important precursor to Hardy's major works. The Wessex rustics who play critical roles in Hardy's later novels, such as The Return of the Native and The Mayor of Casterbridge, claim the centre stage as they debut here. This copy with the bookplates of noted book collector and "the most colorful and attractive figure in the commercial banking world", Albert Henry Wiggin of Greenwich, who in 1941 donated several thousand pieces of his collection to the Boston Public Library. Also with the bookplates of Connecticut banker Lynde Selden, vice-chairman of the board of American Express from 1941 to 1956.
Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Description: Rare First Edition of Hardy's Second Novel in the Original Cloth [HARDY, Thomas]. Under the Greenwood Tree. A Rural Painting of the Dutch School. By the Author of âDesperate Remedies.' In Two Volumes. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1872. Rare first edition of Thomas Hardy's second novel. Two octavo volumes (7 3/8 x 4 7/8 inches; 188 x 124 mm). [6], 215, [1, blank]; [6], 216 pp. Complete with half-titles. Original green sand-grain cloth over beveled boards. Covers stamped in black with an Oxford frame and spines ruled in gilt and black and lettered in gilt. A bit of rubbing to extremities and corners. Gilt on the spine with some rubbing. Hinges with some professional repairs. Previous owner's ink signature on front pastedown of each volume. Some foxing and staining, mostly at front and rear. Overall, a very good copy, in the scarce original cloth. Housed in slipcase. After burning his first effort at a novel, and receiving scant attention upon the publication of Desperate Remedies, Hardy decided to devote himself strictly to architecture. "Nevertheless he could not keep his itching pen quiet very long. The very next year Under the Greenwood Tree appeared.[Hardy's early] novels are so instinct with the very soil of England, so penetrating in their psychology, so fresh and colorful, that they alone would have made any writer's fame" (Kunitz & Haycraft, pp. 276-277). "Under the Greenwood Tree was published anonymously at 21s., in a edition presumably of 500 copies, early in June 1872" (Purdy). Purdy, pp. 6-8. Sadleir 1117. Webb, pp. 5-6. Not in Wolff. HBS 65702. $15,000.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.