Far From the Madding Crowd. Томас Харди

      

      FAR FROM

       THE

       MADDING CROWD

      Thomas Hardy

      Copyright

      William Collins

       An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF WilliamCollinsBooks.com

      This eBook edition published in 2010

      Life and Times section © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd Gerard Cheshire asserts his moral right as author of the Life and Times section Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from Collins English Dictionary

      Cover image © Trevillion Images

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins

      Source ISBN: 9780007395163

       Ebook Edition © 2010 ISBN: 9780007424818

      Version: 2015-03-30

      History of Collins

      In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William published in 1824, Greek and English Lexicon. Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.

      Soon after, William published the first Collins novel, Ready Reckoner, however it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.

      Aged 30, William’s son, William II took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly ‘Victorian’ in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeare’s works and Pilgrim’s Progress, making them available to the masses for the first time. A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientific books, encyclopaedias and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.

      In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of ‘books for the millions’ was developed. Affordable editions of classical literature were published and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everyman’s Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.

      HarperCollins is and has always been a champion of the classics and the current Collins Classics series follows in this tradition – publishing classical literature that is affordable and available to all. Beautifully packaged, highly collectible and intended to be reread and enjoyed at every opportunity.

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

      Copyright

      History of Collins

      General preface to the Wessex Edition of 1912

      Chapter 1 - Description of Farmer Oak – An incident

      Chapter 2 - Night – The flock – Interiors

      Chapter 3 - A girl on horseback – Conversation

      Chapter 4 - Gabriel’s resolve – The visit – The mistake

      Chapter 5 - Departure of Bathsheba – A pastoral tragedy

      Chapter 6 - The fair – The journey – The fire

      Chapter 7 - Recognition – A timid girl

      Chapter 8 - The malthouse – The chat – News

      Chapter 9 - The homestead – A visitor – Half confidences

      Chapter 10 - Mistress and men

      Chapter 11 - Outside the barracks – Snow – A meeting

      Chapter 12 - Farmers – A rule – An exception

      Chapter 13 - Sortes sanctorum – The valentine

      Chapter 14 - Effect of the letter – Sunrise

      Chapter 15 - A morning meeting – The letter again

      Chapter 16 - All Saints’ and All Souls’

      Chapter 17 - In the market-place

      Chapter 18 - Boldwood in meditation – Regret

      Chapter 19 - The sheep-washing – The offer

      Chapter 20 - Perplexity – Grinding the shears – A quarrel

      Chapter 21 - Troubles in the fold – A message

      Chapter 22 - The great barn and the sheep-shearers

      Chapter 23 - Eventide – A second declaration

      Chapter 24 - The same night – The fir plantation

      Chapter 25 - The new acquaintance described

      Chapter 26 - Scene on the verge of the hay-mead

      Chapter 27 - Hiving the bees

      Chapter 28 - The hollow amid the ferns

      Chapter 29 - Particulars of a twilight walk

      Chapter 30 - Hot cheeks and tearful eyes

      Chapter 31 - Blame – Fury

      Chapter 32 - Night – Horses tramping

      Chapter 33 - In the sun – A harbinger

      Chapter 34 - Home again – A trickster

      Chapter 35 - At an upper window

      Chapter 36 - Wealth in jeopardy – The revel

      Chapter 37 - The storm – The two together

      Chapter 38 - Rain – One solitary meets another

      Chapter 39 - Coming home – A cry

      Chapter 40 - On Casterbridge highway

      Chapter 41 - Suspicion – Fanny is sent for

      Chapter 42 - Joseph and his burden – Buck’s Head

      Chapter 43 - Fanny’s revenge

      Chapter 44 - Under a tree – Reaction

      Chapter 45 - Troy’s romanticism

      Chapter 46 - The gurgoyle: