Books

First edition, one of 1,000 copies, elegantly bound by Rivière. The author himself remarked more than once that he thought this tragic Wessex tale his best. "The human predicament... is no more profoundly explored than in The Woodlanders, Hardy's most Darwinian novel in the emphasis he placed on the bleak struggle for survival" (Schewik, p. 63). The novel was serialized in Macmillan's Magazine from May 1886 to April 1887, and released in book form in March 1887. Three vols, octavo (190 x 125 mm). Contemporary blue crushed half morocco by Rivière, spines with raised bands lettered in gilt, compartments bordered with gilt fillets and rolls, blue cloth sides, French Curl pattern marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, fore and bottom edges uncut. Spines mildly sunned, cloth a little spotted, a few corners bumped, occasional toning and foxing to contents. A very good copy. Purdy, pp 54-57. Robert Schewik, "The influence of religion, science, and philosophy on Hardy's writings", The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Hardy, 1999.

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.