HARDY, Thomas (1840-1928). The Trumpet-Major. A Tale. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1880.
3 volumes, 8vo. Original pictorial red cloth stamped in black, rear cover blocked with 3-rule border, spines stamped in black and gilt [Sadleir Variant B, Purdy’s preferred secondary binding] (rear hinge partially cracked but holding in vol. II, else fine); folding drop-back spine box. Provenance: Alfred Edward Newton (1864-1940), bookplate of American industrialist and bibliophile known for his book Amenities of Book Collecting which sold over 25,000 copies.
FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, originally published as a serial in Good Words magazine that same year. Hardy’s only historical novel, set in Weymouth during the Napoleonic wars. Despite being a success with critics and Hardy himself drawing the two vignettes for the volumes’ front covers, the novel in book form did not sell well. In Sadleir’s Variant B binding with a period between Smith and Elder near baseline and triple blind frame on rear covers, which Sadleir notes as probably being a small remainder of the first edition that survive and almost all in mint condition, representing the rare second binding-up of only 250 remaindered copies from the initial 1,000 copies printed. Purdy, who notes this as the secondary binding, calls it “less common than the 2-rule binding”.
A PRISTINE SET, increasingly difficult to find in this condition since most of this triple-decker went directly to lending libraries. Purdy, pp. 31-35; Sadleir 115; Wolff 2995.