# Is "Wessex Tales" by Thomas Hardy a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy (Macmillan and Co., 1888) is identified by: First published in two volumes by Macmillan and Co.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First published in two volumes by Macmillan and Co. on 4 May 1888, collecting five stories in revised form after their magazine serialization
- Only 750 sets of sheets were printed and just 634 were bound up as the first edition, making the low binding-up figure itself a key point for identifying a genuine first-issue set
- The first-edition cloth is dark blue-green, the boards ruled in light green, the spine likewise ruled in light green with gilt lettering
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas Hardy |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Co. |
| Year | 1888 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First published in two volumes by Macmillan and Co. on 4 May 1888, collecting five stories in revised form after their magazine… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First published in two volumes by Macmillan and Co. on 4 May 1888, collecting five stories in revised form after their magazine serialization. Only 750 sets of sheets were printed and just 634 were bound up as the first edition, making the low binding-up figure itself a key point for identifying a genuine first-issue set. The first-edition cloth is dark blue-green, the boards ruled in light green, the spine likewise ruled in light green with gilt lettering.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The five stories were later absorbed into the collected 'Wessex Novels'/'Wessex Edition' volumes alongside other short fiction; those later collected printings are not the 1888 first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Wessex Tales* by Thomas Hardy a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/wessex-tales
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.