Thomas Hardy — A Group of Noble Dames

London, James R. Osgood, 1891. First edition. Cloth. The first edition of Thomas Hardy's anthology of short stories following ten historic noble dames. The first edition, first impression, in the original cloth binding designed by Charles Ricketts. An anthology of stories by Thomas Hardy, the popular Victorian author. '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 the publisher's original cloth. Externally generally smart with a slight lean, bumping to the extremities, marks and fading, and small closed tears to the head and tail of the spine, and a closed tear to the tail of the front joint. Front hinge starting, rear failed. Internally firmly bound with minimal age toning to the pages, and generally clean with only the odd spot. Good . Ill.: None. Good .