A Pair of Blue Eyes

Hardy, Thomas

Published by London Tinsley Brothers 1873, 1873

About this Item

First edition. 3 volumes, 303, 311 and 262 pages respectively. In late-Victorian Zaehnsdorf green half-calf bindings, with patterned green paper covered boards, gilt to the top edges of the text blocks and marbled endpapers front and rear. All three volumes retain their half-titles. The books are reasonably firmly bound, the leather is quite worn, rubbed and scuffed and the boards are slightly rubbed with some minor chipping to the paper, the hinges are a little tender. The text blocks are age toned, slightly marked and somewhat foxed. Hardy's third novel and the first to be published under his own name; a haunting work with autobiographical elements and a splendidly evoked Cornish setting which adds much to the drama, perhaps most notably when the heroine removes her undergarments to fashion a rope in order to rescue her lover who has fallen from a cliff-top. A scene which apparently caused the phrase cliffhanger to be coined, as when the novel was originally serialised Hardy left the hero dangling for a week to tantalise his readers. Overall, a not displeasing example of the first edition in fairly contemporary bindings. Seller Inventory # 6670

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Pair of Blue Eyes

Publisher: London Tinsley Brothers 1873

Publication Date: 1873

Edition: 1st Edition