Human Shows, Far Phantasies; Songs, and Trifles

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1925. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. Octavo size, 292 pp., in original dust jacket. Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was one of Britain's most influential Victorian novelists and poets; D. H. Lawrence wrote a study of Hardy, and he was the basis for the character of Edward Driffield in W. Somerset Maugham's "Cakes and Ale". He wrote of tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances and was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

In addition to being a writer of prose, he was a prolific poet; from 1898 until his death in 1928 Hardy published eight volumes of poetry, about one thousand poems were published in his lifetime (n. b., above information from Wikipedia and Poetry Foundation), with this volume being the last of Hardy's work published prior to his death. Despite being written when Hardy was in his 80s, it shows no evidence of a decline in mental facility, or a shift in attitude or feeling. The poems are as variable in theme as any of Hardy's work, dealing with love, tragedy, comedy, and death in fair proportions, and provide a wonderful insight into the mind and thoughts of this seminal author.

___DESCRIPTION: Original gilt-stamped green cloth, on the front board a small, circular floral design around Hardy's initials, contains well over 100 poems, most signatures unopened, fore- and bottom edges are uncut; octavo size (7.75" by 5.25"), pagination: [i-iv] v-x, 1-279, 1-3 [ads]. In the original paper dust jacket, plain tan printed in midnight blue, price of 7/6 on the spine, publisher's ad for other works by Hardy on the back panel, both flaps blank.

___CONDITION: A fine copy, internally bright and free of prior owner markings, text block is tight, covers are clean; the jacket with some minor chipping and a two-inch closed tear to the upper front joint; overall a fine copy, exemplary.

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