1920 A PAIR OF BLUE EYES Thomas Hardy  Book Wessex Edition MAP & FRONTISPIECE

1920 – A PAIR OF BLUE EYES by Thomas Hardy Antiquarian Hardback Book. Wessex Edition – The Works Of Thomas Hardy In Prose And Verse. Prose – Vol. X. With preface and notes, a beautiful frontispiece photograph of ‘Harbour of Castle Boterel’, together with a protective sheet, and a map of Wessex at the rear. 

This is without a Dust Jacket. 

Published by Macmillan and Co., Limited, St. Martin’s Street, London in 1920 and printed in Great Britain by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh. 

This book was originally published in 1873. It was published as a first Wessex edition in 1912 and this is a 1920 reprint. It was one of Hardy's early works and is considered a significant novel in his literary career. The story explores themes of love, class, and personal freedom.

The novel follows the life of Elfride Swancourt, a young woman living in the fictional county of Wessex, England. Wessex, a region commonly featured in Hardy's novels.

Elfride is the daughter of the local rector and is described as having a pair of striking blue eyes, which play a significant role in the narrative. She is an intelligent and independent-minded woman who experiences a journey of self-discovery and romantic entanglements.

The author, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English novelist and poet known for his realistic portrayals of rural life in Victorian England. Hardy's novels and poetry continue to be celebrated for their evocative depictions of rural life, complex characters, and exploration of universal themes. His contributions to English literature have earned him a lasting place among the great Victorian writers.

This is bound in the publisher’s original maroon cloth, over boards and has decorative gilt stamps and lettering on the spine. The deep maroon cloth-bound boards and spine are intact and robust and in a very good condition for a book that is over 100 years old. There is just light wear to the cloth, which includes soft bumping to the corners, a few light marks and light scratches, slight fading on the spine, and light wear at the edges. Please see the photographs provided for further details. 

Inside, the pages are lightly tanned and there is foxing on the pastedowns, endpapers, and some of the preliminary pages. There is light foxing on the very edges of the pages. Besides this, the pages are overall neat and clean for their age, and predominantly uncreased. There is only the very occasional small mark or very light crease. The pages are not uniform in their edging and roughly cut, but this is most likely to do with the construction method when this book was made and is all part of its beautiful history. The page leaves were probably uncut and then severed with a pen knife. This has left the occasional small rips to the page edges, which do not affect the text. There are also a few further pages with small rips at their inner edges. This, again, does not affect the text. There are no pen or pencil marks written inside this book. The pages are tightly bound and are secure and there are no loose or missing pages. All 435 pages are present, plus 2 pages containing the publisher’s catalogue, and a double page map (see photo). Please study the photos carefully as to the condition of this book, as they do form part of the description. 

This measures approximately 23 cm by 15 cm and 3.2 cm wide. It weighs approximately 601 grams. 

This is stunning novel, by an iconic author. 

Thank you so much for looking.