Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy — Bibliomancer edition cover
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Fiction · 1874

Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy

Reading time
about 10 h
Length
137,456 words · 356 pages in print
Structure
63 chapters
Language
English
Era
Victorian

Bathsheba Everdene inherits a farm in Wessex and has three men to deal with: the shepherd Gabriel Oak, the neighbouring farmer Boldwood and the soldier Sergeant Troy. Thomas Hardy’s fourth novel, serialised anonymously in the Cornhill in 1874, was his first popular success and the first set in the “Wessex” he went on to map for the rest of his career.

The three suitors are three ways of wanting the same woman — steadiness, obsession and glamour — and Hardy lets the farming year judge them: the storm over the ricks, the sheep in the clover, the dog driving the flock over the chalk pit. Bathsheba is the first of his heroines to own property and be answerable for it.

The novel appeared in two volumes at the end of 1874. Helen Paterson Allingham’s illustrations for the Cornhill serial are not reproduced here.

Contents

  1. Volume I
  2. Chapter I — Description of Farmer Oak—An Incident
  3. Chapter II — Night—The Flock—An Interior—Another Interior
  4. Chapter III — A Girl on Horseback—Conversation
  5. Chapter IV — Gabriel’s Resolve—The Visit—The Mistake
  6. Chapter V — Departure of Bathsheba—A Pastoral Tragedy
  7. Chapter VI — The Fair—The Journey—The Fire
  8. Chapter VII — Recognition—A Timid Girl
  9. Chapter VIII — The Malthouse—The Chat—News
  10. Chapter IX — The Homestead—A Visitor—Half Confidences
  11. Chapter X — Mistress and Men
  12. Chapter XI — Melchester Moor—Snow—A Meeting
  13. Chapter XII — Farmers—A Rule—An Exception
  14. Chapter XIII — Sortes Sanctorum—The Valentine
  15. Chapter XIV — Effect of the Letter—Sunrise
  16. Chapter XV — A Morning Meeting—The Letter Again
  17. Chapter XVI — All Saints’ and All Souls’
  18. Chapter XVII — In the Market-Place
  19. Chapter XVIII — Boldwood in Meditation—A Visit
  20. Chapter XIX — The Sheep-Washing—The Offer
  21. Chapter XX — Perplexity—Grinding the Shears—A Quarrel
  22. Chapter XXI — Troubles in the Fold—A Message
  23. Chapter XXII — The Great Barn and the Sheep-Shearers
  24. Chapter XXIII — Eventide—A Second Declaration
  25. Chapter XXIV — The Same Night—The Fir Plantation
  26. Chapter XXV — The New Acquaintance Described
  27. Chapter XXVI — Scene on the Verge of the Hay-Mead
  28. Chapter XXVII — Hiving the Bees
  29. Chapter XXVIII — The Hollow Amid the Ferns
  30. Chapter XXIX — Particulars of a Twilight Walk
  31. Chapter XXX — Hot Cheeks and Tearful Eyes
  32. Volume II
  33. Chapter I — Blame—Fury
  34. Chapter II — Night—Horses Tramping
  35. Chapter III — In the Sun—A Harbinger
  36. Chapter IV — Home Again—A Juggler
  37. Chapter V — At an Upper Window
  38. Chapter VI — Wealth in Jeopardy—The Revel
  39. Chapter VII — The Storm—The Two Together
  40. Chapter VIII — Rain—One Solitary Meets Another
  41. Chapter IX — Coming Home—A Cry
  42. Chapter X — On Casterbridge Highway
  43. Chapter XI — Suspicion—Fanny Is Sent for
  44. Chapter XII — Joseph and His Burden—Buck’s Head
  45. Chapter XIII — Fanny’s Revenge
  46. Chapter XIV — Under a Tree—Reaction
  47. Chapter XV — Troy’s Romanticism
  48. Chapter XVI — The Gurgoyle: Its Doings
  49. Chapter XVII — Adventures by the Shore
  50. Chapter XVIII — Doubts Arise—Doubts Vanish
  51. Chapter XIX — Oak’s Advancement—A Great Hope
  52. Chapter XX — The Sheep Fair—Troy Touches His Wife’s Hand
  53. Chapter XXI — Bathsheba Talks with Her Outrider
  54. Chapter I
  55. Chapter II
  56. Chapter III
  57. Chapter IV
  58. Chapter V
  59. Chapter VI
  60. Chapter VII
  61. Chapter XXIII — Concurritur—Horæ Momento
  62. Chapter XXIV — After the Shock
  63. Chapter XXV — The March Following—“Bathsheba Boldwood”
  64. Chapter XXVI — Beauty in Loneliness—After All
  65. Chapter XXVII — A Foggy Night and Morning—Conclusion

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Part of Victorian Fiction.

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About the author

Thomas Hardy

1840–1928 · Victorian

A Bibliomancer biography of Thomas Hardy is in preparation. See all their books.

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