Wessex Tales

First published in 1888, this collection of short stories is set in Hardy's rural southwest England. Typical pieces include a hangman at a shepherd's cottage, a woman's bargain with a conjurer, a German hussar and a farmer's daughter, a preacher caught among smugglers, and neighbors whose marriages turn on pride and property. Folk rumor sits beside close social observation. The speakers are maltsters, soldiers, dairy people, and small gentry rather than metropolitan figures. The stories are independent. The book is a set of Wessex narratives, not a novel and not a folklore transcript.

Bound in dark blue series binding decorated in pale blue. Map endleaves. Dark blue slipcase.