TWO ON A TOWER Hardy, Thomas Thomas Hardy,Thomas Hardy First Editions and Manuscripts,Victorian Literarature

Hardy, Thomas. TWO ON A TOWER. A Romance. In 3 volumes. London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1882. Original publisher's green diagonal fine-ribbed cloth, lettered in gilt, blocked in blind on front and back with a three-rule border. FIRST EDITION, first impression, first binding. One of 1000 copies printed. A NEAR FINE copy with a touch of rubbing to the extremities and a bit of shelf wear to the corners but we've never seen a better copy, something of note as we've been seeking and selling Thomas Hardy first editions and manuscripts since 1980. The latter two volumes have a discreet provenance stamp on the title page. All six inner hinges are tight and intact, the pale-yellow end papers undisturbed. Although TWO ON A TOWER is one of Hardy's lesser-known novels, its plot set in the world of early astronomy with a class-conscious doomed affair and typical Hardy social convention busting with scandalous outcome, is rather a good read and one of the best of Hardy's second rank novels. ALL of Hardy's early three-decker novels are exceedingly rare in this condition. In an attractive cloth clamshell box. Purdy p.41-47.