Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English novelist and poet, best known for his Wessex novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure.

Born on 2 June 1840 at Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester in Dorset, Hardy trained as an architect, was apprenticed at 16 and joined Arthur Blomfield's London practice in 1862 before returning to Dorset to write. His first published novel, Desperate Remedies (1871), appeared anonymously, as did Under the Greenwood Tree (1872). A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873) was the first to carry his name. Far from the Madding Crowd was serialised in The Cornhill Magazine across 1874 before it came out as a book. The major novels followed: The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895). After that he turned chiefly to verse, beginning with Wessex Poems (1898). He was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1910 and died at Max Gate, Dorchester, on 11 January 1928. His ashes lie in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, and his heart is buried at Stinsford.

For collectors

Far from the Madding Crowd is the Hardy first edition most often singled out by the rare book trade. Smith, Elder published it in London in 1874 in two volumes with twelve illustrations by Helen Paterson (later Helen Allingham), who had also illustrated the Cornhill serial. Bauman Rare Books describes the first edition as limited to 1,000 copies and ranks it as the most desirable first edition of any of Hardy's fourteen novels. His first two books, Desperate Remedies (1871) and Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), carry no author's name, which is worth knowing when searching catalogues.