Thomas Hardy — A Group of Noble Dames

London, James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co, 1891. First edition. Leather. A Birdsall bound first edition copy of this anthology of tales by Thomas Hardy. The first edition.Smartly bound by Birdsall, with the original later state plain brown cloth bound in to the rear.An interesting collection of ten short stories contained in a frame narrative by Thomas Hardy. 'A Group of Noble Dames' follows the course of one evening, when a group of members of a club each tell one story about a noble dame of the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries.Including 'The First Countess of Wessex', 'Barbara of the House of Grebe', 'The Marchioness of Stonehenge', 'Lady Mottisfont', 'The Lady Icenway', 'Squire Petrick's Lady', 'Anna, Lady Baxby', 'The Lady Penelope', 'The Duchess of Hamptonshire', and 'The Honourable Laura&apos. In a full crushed morocco binding by Birdsall. Externally, smart. Light rubbing to spine and extremities. Spine is faded. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are lightly age-toned and generally clean, with a few scattered spots. Near Fine . Ill.: None. Near Fine .