HARDY (THOMAS) The Return of the Native, 3 vol., FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, ONE OF 1000 COPIES, Smith, Elder, 1878HARDY (THOMAS)The Return of the Native, 3 vol., FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, [ONE OF 1000 COPIES], half-titles, frontispiece map in volume 1, additional copy of the map tipped-in between pp.190-191 in volume 2, publisher's advertisement at the end of volume 2, occasional light spotting, publisher's brown cloth, blocked in black on upper cover, double-rule border in blind on lower covers, lettered in gilt on spines, rubbed, volume 1 with short tear to lower joint and lower hinge cracking, preserved in modern morocco-backed solander box [Purdy, pp.24-27; Sadleir 1113], 8vo, Smith, Elder, 1878FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, FIRST ISSUE, without the single quotation mark after "A Pair of Blue Eyes" on the title-page of first volume, and in the primary binding. The Return of the Native was first printed serially in Belgravia from January to December 1878. Hardy then altered the titles of several chapters, and made numerous deletions and additions before it was published in book form in an edition of 1,000 copies.Provenance: T. Fuller-Riggs, bookplate; Christie's New York, 4 December 2009, lot 145.