A CHANGED MAN, THE WAITING SUPPER, AND OTHER TALES, CONCLUDING WITH THE ROMANTIC ADVENTURES OF A MILKMAID. New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1913. Octavo, pp. [1-8] [1-2] 3-405 [406] [407: map] [408: blank], inserted frontispiece, map of "The Wessex of the Novels" on page [407], original vertically ribbed navy cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold. First edition. Part of the eighteen-volume "Wessex Novels" edition published between 1895 and 1913, five of which were first editions as well. Hardy's last collection of short fiction; twelve stories first published in various periodicals, at least two of which are supernatural: "The Grave by the Handpost" and "A Mere Interlude." "... Hardy's ghost and Gothic fiction are acknowledged as among the most artistically satisfying produced and are successful contributions to both the supernatural genre and English literature in general." - Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 240. "Hardy is usually described as bleak, but an almost impish sense of black humor, an appreciation of 'life's little ironies,' runs through his work like a leavening agent. So too does the shadowy working (especially in the short stories) of supernatural forces, forces akin to the fate and cosmic irony we see so often in the novels." - Robert Eldridge. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 190-192. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 242. Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978) or Reginald (1979; 1992) or Day, Supplemental Checklist of Fantastic Literature. Purdy, pp. 151-7. Sadleir 1104. Wolff 2970. A fine, bright copy. Quite nice. (#130638).
Price: $150.00
"PUBLISHED OCTOBER, 1913" on copyright page. Has code "K-N" on copyright page, indicating printing date of October 1913.