WESSEX POEMS and Other Verses

1899. [illustrated by himself] With 30 Illustrations by the Author. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1899. Original light green cloth pictorially decorated in orange, yellow-green, light blue and white.

First American Edition of Hardy's first volume of verse, published about six weeks after the London one (which was dated 1898). This volume "marks the final emergence of Hardy's primary interest, verse. The thirty years that remained to him were devoted to the composition of poetry..." [Purdy]. One of the poems is a sonnet titled "Hap" -- for happenstance. Actually written in 1866, Hardy laments the fact that lives are ruled by Chance, or Fate -- which is even worse than always knowing things will be bad. This was a central tenet in his novels. Of particular interest are the 31 illustrations by Hardy himself (the number cited on the title page apparently excludes the frontispiece); they serve as "a pleasant reminder of Hardy's architectural training and his skill as a draughtsman." These illustrations were discarded when WESSEX POEMS was next reprinted (in 1912). This is a bright, nearly fine copy of this attractively-bound volume that is printed on heavy glossy paper; there is a touch of wear at the corners of the spine, and the spine is just a little darkened. The English edition consisted of only 500 copies; though the number of American copies is unknown, it could not have been many. Purdy p. 106.