Under The Greenwood Tree. A Rural Painting Of The Dutch School. A New Edition, With Illustrations.

London, Chatto & Windus, 1878. Hardback, 7.5 x 5 inches. Green cloth with embossed black decorations to front and spine, gilt lettering to spine, in black on front. Light green floral endpapers. In very good condition. Crease to middle of spine with some rubbing and small nicks to cloth at ends, corners slightly bumped, some minor rubbing and marks to boards. Bookseller label to endpaper “H. Wheeler, Weymouth.” Handwritten passage to front prelim “On the prairie he knows the tips of the grass always incline towards the south, and that they are less green on the northward side...” Inscribed on halftitle page “M.H. Robens, from M. Hazel, Feb. 1885.” Some light mild foxing to title page and frontis plate, some occasional spots to inside pages, mostly around and adjacent plates, which have some minor darkening and spots to edges. Else a very good clean and tight copy. 342 pp. + 32pp adverts (ads. dated December 1883.) Illustrated with 15 b&w plates by R. Knight. The work was published for Christmas 1875 as an illustrated edition by Tinsley (dated 1876), then re-published with the Chatto & Windus imprint in 1878. The plates are: Frontispiece (Fancy Day) /Dick Dewy / Going the Rounds / Michael Mail / Mr Penny / The Tranter / Grandfather William / Thomas Leaf / Yalbury Wood and Keeper's House / Mrs Day / Driving out of Budmouth / Going Nutting / Elizabeth Endorfield / The Knot There's No Untying / Geoffery [sic] Day / Vignette. These are the same illustrations as appear in the Tinsley illustrated edition of 1876 and in the Chatto & Windus re-issue of 1891, except that in 1891 the introduction of a frontispiece portrait of Hardy himself meant the omission of the original frontispiece and the consequent elimination of any portrayal of Fancy Day.