The Mayor of Casterbridge 1978 Edition
THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE — THOMAS HARDY
Penguin Classics | Martin Seymour-Smith Edition | Vintage Paperback
A vintage Penguin Classics edition of Thomas Hardy’s celebrated novel The Mayor of Casterbridge, edited with an introduction and notes by the distinguished poet, critic and biographer Martin Seymour-Smith. Hardy’s novel was originally published in 1886, while this scholarly text entered the Penguin English Library in 1978 and was subsequently issued in Penguin Classics from 1985.
About the Book
Subtitled “A Story of a Man of Character,” The Mayor of Casterbridge is one of Hardy’s great studies of fate, guilt, pride and redemption.
The story centres on Michael Henchard, who, in a drunken moment at a country fair, sells his wife and young daughter. Horrified by his actions, he resolves to change his life and eventually rises to become a prosperous businessman and the respected mayor of Casterbridge. Yet the secrets of his past—and his own proud, volatile character—continue to pursue him.
Set against Hardy’s fictionalised Wessex, inspired by his native Dorset, the novel combines psychological insight with a vivid portrait of nineteenth-century rural England. Today it remains one of Hardy’s most important novels alongside Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd and Jude the Obscure.
About This Penguin Edition
This edition is particularly useful for readers who want more than the novel alone. It is edited, introduced and annotated by Martin Seymour-Smith, whose introductory essay places the novel within Hardy’s life and literary development.
The copyright page of this copy records:
First published: 1886
Penguin English Library edition: 1978
Penguin Classics edition: 1985
The number line shown in your photograph indicates that this particular copy is a later printing of the 1985 Penguin Classics edition, rather than the 1985 first printing. I would therefore avoid describing it as a “1985 first edition” on your website.
Book Details
Title: The Mayor of Casterbridge
Author: Thomas Hardy
Editor / Introduction & Notes: Martin Seymour-Smith
Publisher: Penguin Books
Series: Penguin Classics
Original publication: 1886
Penguin English Library edition: 1978
Penguin Classics edition: 1985
This copy: Later printing of the Penguin Classics edition
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Genre: Classic Fiction / Victorian Literature
Setting: Hardy’s Wessex, based particularly on Dorset
Printed in: England by Clays Ltd., St Ives plc
Attractive Period Cover
The cover reproduces a detail from “Dorchester: the Western Entrance,” an 1836 lithograph by Edward Ridley, giving this edition a particularly atmospheric period appearance.
The older cream-and-black Penguin Classics treatment is also instantly recognisable and makes this an attractive addition to a shelf of vintage Penguin editions.
Condition
Vintage pre-owned condition. The copy shows visible signs of age and use, including rubbing, creasing and surface marks to the covers, with wear around the corners, edges and spine. The cream covers have some age-related discolouration and marking.
The internal pages show noticeable age toning but appear complete and readable from the photographs. There is also an old price/barcode label on the rear cover. These signs of use give the copy the character expected of an older Penguin paperback.
Please refer to the photographs for the precise condition of the copy offered.
Why We Love It at Owl Books
This is a wonderful reading copy of one of Thomas Hardy’s most powerful and psychologically complex novels, presented in an increasingly nostalgic Penguin Classics design.
The combination of Hardy’s tragic storytelling, Martin Seymour-Smith’s scholarly introduction and the evocative nineteenth-century Dorchester cover makes it especially appealing to readers and collectors of classic literature and vintage Penguin books.