Under the Greenwood Tree

by Thomas Hardy, Simon Gatrell (Editor)

Overview

Hardy's second published novel, Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), the first of his great series of Wessex novels, was originally published anonymously. As part of the Cambridge Edition of the Novels and Stories of Thomas Hardy, this edition of the novel provides readers with an authoritative and accurate text of the novel; moreover it gives access to every revision that Hardy made, and to notations of all the errors introduced by printers' compositors. The annotated text is surrounded by an introduction that gives a very full account of the genesis, the writing and the publishing history of the novel. A range of appendices and comprehensive explanatory notes explore significant aspects of the composition, production and marketing of the novel, touched on in the introduction, to provide a full understanding of the nature and life of this classic work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107089020
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2019
Series:	The Cambridge Edition of the Novels and Stories of Thomas Hardy
Pages:	552
Product dimensions:	6.22(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Simon Gatrell is Professor of English at the University of Georgia. He has previously published critical editions of Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1986) and The Return of the Native (1990), both in the Hardy series of Oxford World Classics for which he was also General Editor. Professor Gatrell is also author of Hardy the Creator: A Textual Biography (1988), Thomas Hardy and the Proper Study of Mankind (1993), Thomas Hardy's Vision of Wessex (2003) and Thomas Hardy Writing Dress (2011).

Date of Birth:

June 2, 1840

Date of Death:

January 11, 1928

Place of Birth:

Higher Brockhampon, Dorset, England

Place of Death:

Max Gate, Dorchester, England

Education:

Served as apprentice to architect James Hicks

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; General editor's preface; Acknowledgements; Chronology; Abbreviations; Introduction; Under the Greenwood Tree; Variants in punctuation and styling; End-of-line hyphenation; Editorial emendations; Appendix A. Hardy's preface to the Wessex Edition; Appendix B. Under the Greenwood Tree and The Poor Man and the Lady; Appendix C. Detailed analysis of the manuscript; Appendix D. Chapter-division in the manuscript; Appendix E. Watermarks in the manuscript; Appendix F. The compositors of the first edition; Appendix G. Robson's compositors in A Pair of Blue Eyes; Appendix H. Differences between the first and second editions; Appendix I. Printing orders for Under the Greenwood Tree Published by Chatto and Windus and Macmillan; Appendix J. Frontispieces; Appendix K. Description of substantive editions; Explanatory notes.

Editorial Reviews

This early Hardy novel tells the story of a pastoral romance in the small Wessex village of Mellstock. Jamie Parker’s friendly, resonant tone adds warmth to a surprisingly cheerful work by an author known for his dour stories. Parker’s use of vocal variation in delivering Hardy’s descriptive prose guides listeners smoothly through the plot. He also demonstrates mastery in his renderings of local country dialects. The conversations between the choir members, who include an interesting range of ages and characterizations, are especially well performed, and his singing of various songs also enlivens the text. Overall, Parker’s charming performance adds much personality to this Hardy classic. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2014 - AudioFile