Thomas Hardy: A Bibliographical Study

For the honest reviewer, Charles Pettit’s introduction is either a boon or a nuisance: a boon in that it covers the whole background to this book in clear and comprehensive detail; a nuisance in that it serves as a far more authoritative review of the original work than most others (including this reviewer) might manage. Stated simply, Richard L. Purdy’s original Thomas Hardy: A Bibliographical Study was a unique and pretty well unsurpassable contribution to Hardy studies from its first publication in 1954. It was at once the standard Hardy bibliography, but also incorporated unique biographical information from its author’s...