Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891, then in book form in three volumes in 1891, and as a single volume in 1892. Although now considered a major novel of the 19th century, Tess of the d'Urbervilles received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England.
Title page of first edition
"He jumped up from his seat... and went quickly toward the desire of his eyes." 1891 illustration by Joseph Syddall
The Vale of Blackmore, the main setting for Tess. Hambledon Hill towards Stourton Tower
Mrs. Fiske in Lorimer Stoddard's stage adaptation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1897)
Thomas Hardy was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain such as those from his native South West England.
Hardy between about 1910 and 1915
"The Hardy Tree", a Great Tree of London in Old St Pancras churchyard in London, growing between gravestones moved while Hardy was working there. The tree fell in December 2022.
Max Gate in 2015
Florence Hardy at the seashore, 1915