Books

First edition, first issue (without the quotation marks after A Pair of Blue Eyes on the title of volume I), 3 volumes, 8vo, frontispiece map of the scene of the story in volume I after Hardy; half blue morocco of the second half of the 20th century, gilt-lettered direct on gilt-paneled spines, t.e.g. Danielson, p. 22; Purdy pp. 24-27; Sadlier 1113; Wolff 2989.

The Return of the Native is one of Thomas Hardy's novels of character and environment, first published as a serial in the magazine Belgravia, a publication known for its sensationalism, and was presented in twelve monthly installments from January to December 1878. The novel follows the lives of people in the fictional Egdon Heath, a symbol of Hardy's vision of nature and human passions.