Books

New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1898. First Edition. With 30 illustrations by the author. 8vo, publisher’s original blue ribbed cloth, the spine lettered in gilt, upper cover with Hardy’s floral monogram device in gilt. xi, 228 pp. A very handsome and pleasing copy, internally very fine and essentially pristine, the cloth very well preserved, spine just a tad mellowed. FIRST EDITION IN THE ORIGINAL CLOTH. A lovely copy of Hardy’s first significant publishing venture as a poet. Though better known now as a novelist, Hardy rated poetry above fiction. Like many of his novels, the landscapes of Dorset echoes throughout his writing. The poetry is scarce, unadorned and surprisingly modern. Though first published in 1898 it contains poems he’d been working on since the 1860s.

Wessex Poems and Other Verses is a collection of poems by English poet and author Thomas Hardy. It was Hardy’s first published volume of verse and was published in 1898. The collection combines some of Hardy's earlier verse with later poems and is notable for its exploration of themes such as nature, love, and the human condition.