Jude the Obscure

1896. First Edition. HARDY, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. (London: Osgood, McIlvaine, 1896). Octavo, original gilt-stamped blue-green cloth, top edge gilt, uncut. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and half morocco slipcase. $2200.First edition, first issue, of Hardy's last work of fiction, with map and lovely frontispiece etching by H. Macbeth-Raeburn, in original cloth. The copy of Frank J. Hogan, with his morocco-gilt bookplate.Jude the Obscure ""was begun as a serial story in Harper's Magazine at the end of November 1894, and was continued in monthly parts. But, as in the case of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, the magazine version was for various reasons abridged and modified in some degree, the present edition being the first in which the whole appears as originally written"" (Webb, 83). The novel was received with mixed reviews due to its disturbing content and implications that it was autobiographical. Burned by a bishop and banned for its ""indecency,"" Jude became Hardy's last work of fiction (Smith-Seymour, 547). First issue, with Osgood's name on verso of title and gilt-stamped on spine. Mixed first and second state (mostly first), with seven of the first eight signatures containing page numbers on the partially blank pages; mixed states are very common (Purdy, 87). Purdy, 86-91. Sadleir 1108. Sterling 456. Wolff 2979. Hogan Catalogue Part II (April 24, 1945), item 357. The copy of esteemed collector and attorney Frank J. Hogan (1877-1944), with his morocco-gilt bookplate laid in. By the time of his death, the Hogan Library was one of the world's most valuable private collections; the books were dispersed at auction in 1945 and 1946. Owner pencil signature.Ink stains to pages 68-69; a few pages roughly opened. Cloth clean, gilt bright. A handsome, near-fine copy with excellent provenance.