# Is "The Well-Beloved" by Thomas Hardy a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Well-Beloved by Thomas Hardy (Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1897) is identified by: First edition in book form, London: Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1897, issued as volume XVII of the uniform Wessex Novels in publisher's vertically-ribbed dark green cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine with Hardy's wreathed-monogram device blocked in gilt on the upper board, top edge gilt and other edges untrimmed. This is a genuine first edition, NOT a 'first thus' — although the text had appeared serially in 1892 as 'The Pursuit of the Well-Beloved' (Illustrated London News), it was considerably revised and had no prior book publication, so the 1897 Osgood, McIlvaine volume is the first book edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition in book form, London: Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1897, issued as volume XVII of the uniform Wessex Novels in publisher's vertically-ribbed dark green cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine with Hardy's wreathed-monogram device blocked in gilt on the upper board, top edge gilt and other edges untrimmed
- It contains a tissue-guarded etched frontispiece ('The Isle of the Story') by H. Macbeth-Raeburn and a full-page map of Wessex; pagination is [iv], v-viii, [ii], 337, [1]. Recorded in Purdy's bibliographical study
- Publisher imprint reads Osgood, McIlvaine & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas Hardy |
| Publisher | Osgood, McIlvaine & Co. |
| Year | 1897 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition in book form, London: Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1897, issued as volume XVII of the uniform Wessex Novels in publisher's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition in book form, London: Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1897, issued as volume XVII of the uniform Wessex Novels in publisher's vertically-ribbed dark green cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine with Hardy's wreathed-monogram device blocked in gilt on the upper board, top edge gilt and other edges untrimmed. It contains a tissue-guarded etched frontispiece ('The Isle of the Story') by H. Macbeth-Raeburn and a full-page map of Wessex; pagination is [iv], v-viii, [ii], 337, [1]. Recorded in Purdy's bibliographical study.

## Is this the true first?
This is a genuine first edition, NOT a 'first thus' — although the text had appeared serially in 1892 as 'The Pursuit of the Well-Beloved' (Illustrated London News), it was considerably revised and had no prior book publication, so the 1897 Osgood, McIlvaine volume is the first book edition. It is one of three true first editions issued within the Osgood, McIlvaine Wessex Novels series (with Jude the Obscure and A Changed Man). The London edition precedes the American first (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1897).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Macmillan Wessex Edition (from 1912) and Uniform/Pocket printings are reprints or 'first thus.' No book-club issue affects the 1897 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Well-Beloved* by Thomas Hardy a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-well-beloved
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.