4 volumes, folio. Title-pages printed in red and black, 127 engraved plates and maps. (Some spotting.) Half contemporary dark green morocco gilt (light rubbing to extremities). Provenance: James Fairfax (1933-2017), Australian media mogul and book collector (bookplates).

Third and BEST EDITION. Born on 2 June 1840, in Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester, Hardy spent much of his life in this rural region of southwest England, which greatly influenced his writing. Dorset's landscapes, villages, and people feature prominently in his works, often depicted with vivid detail and a sense of nostalgia. Hardy's novels, such as "Far from the Madding Crowd," "Tess of the d'Urbervilles," and "The Mayor of Casterbridge," are set in fictionalized versions of Dorset's countryside. Brunet III, 389; Upcott I, p.180.