Wessex

London: Adam & Charles Black , 1906 . First edition. Cloth. Very Good. 9" by 6.5" . Walter Tyndale . The first edition of this beautifully illustrated work depicting Thomas Hardy's 'Wessex'. The first edition. Illustrated by Walter Tyndale with a colour frontispiece , seventy- four colour plates and a folding map to the rear. Collated complete.This work explores the fictional realm of Wessex with descriptions by Clive Holland and beautiful illustrations by Tyndale. Wessex was originally a county before 1066, with the name being used for Thomas Hardy's fictional landscape of South-Western Britain. Many of these illustrations were the inspiration for Hardy's portrayal of Wessex.                                                                                                    In the original publisher's cloth. In the original publisher's cloth. Externally very smart with slight fading to the spine, bumping to the extremities, slight rubbing to the joints and small closed tears and very minimal loss to the cloth to the head and tail of the spine. Front hinge starting and rear hinge tender with scattered spotting to the endpapers, offsetting to the free endpapers and an old ink inscription dated 1906 to the front free endpaper. Internally generally firmly bound with the odd page starting. Pages lightly age toned with scattered spotting to the extremities. Archival tape repair to plate facing pp. 62. Very Good