Books

London: Macmillan, 1887. 3 volumes. First edition. First issue in first binding state with the called for advertisement leaf at the end of Vol. I. 8vo, original dark green very-fine bead-grain cloth, blocked in black and lettered in gold; with dark chocolate end papers. In green slipcase. [iv], 302, ads; [iv], 328; [iv], 316. Half-titles in each. A nice copy with less than the usual normal wear or rubbing to the cloth and end papers. FIRST EDITION IN THE ORIGINAL CLOTH. First published in MACMILLAN’S MAGAZINE, this is a novel of unrequited love set in the country near the Blackmoor Vale of Dorset. It is a tragic tale of the consequences resulting from the quest for status among the country people. In THE WOODLANDERS, as in all his work, Thomas Hardy is concerned with one thing, seen under two aspects; not civilization, nor manners, but the principle of life itself, invisibly realized in humanity as sex, seen visibly in the world as what we call nature.…

The Woodlanders is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It was published in 1887. The story is set in a small village in rural England, where the lives and loves of its inhabitants are closely interconnected. The novel explores themes of social change, rural life, and unrequited love.