HARDY, Thomas (1840-1928). A group of 13 works, MOST FIRST AMERICAN EDITIONS from the Leisure Hour Series, including:

Under the Greenwood Tree. New York: Holt & Williams, 1873. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Purdy, p.9. -- Far from the Madding Crowd. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1874. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Purdy, p. 17. -- Desperate Remedies. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1874. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, and the first to identify Hardy as the author. Purdy, p.5. -- The Hand of Ethelberta. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1876. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Purdy, p.23. -- The Trumpet-Major. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1880. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Purdy, p.35. -- The Laodicean, or the Castle of De Stancys. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1881. -- The Mayor of Casterbridge. 1886. -- Two on a Tower. 1882. -- A Pair of Blue Eyes. 1874.

And some duplicates of titles above. Together, 13 works in 13 volumes, all 8vo, condition generally very good.

Following publication of Thomas Hardy's Under the Greenwood Tree in London by MacMillan & Co. Limited, Sir Frederick Orridge MacMillan made a secret arrangement with American publisher Henry Holt of New York to begin printing American editions of Hardy's works in Holt's Leisure Hour Series of books. Both Under the Greenwood Tree and Desperate Remedies were published anonymously in Great Britain, with Holt's printings being the first to publicly identify Hardy as their author. Subsequent works by Hardy would make their first appearances in the United States in the Leisure Hour Series.

[With]: HARDY. A pair of works published by the United States Book Company in their Leisure Moment Series, comprising: The Hand of Ethelberta. -- Return of the Native. The United States Book Company was incorporated in 1890 as a cheap reprint company and would fold twelve years later.