"The Return of the Native" by Thomas Hardy, illustrated with wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker, Collector's Edition bound in genuine leather, Easton Press, 1978.

Agnes Miller Parker (1895-1980) was an engraver and illustrator. Born in Ayrshire, she spent most of her career in London and southern Britain.

Agnes Miller Parker was born in Scotland in 1895, at Irvine, Ayrshire. She studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1911 to 1917, and joined the staff of the School for a short period.

In 1918, she married the painter, William McCance; and thereafter passed most of her career in London and southern Britain. In 1955, she moved to Glasgow. She then lived at Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. She died in 1980 at Greenock.

Parker's early paintings, as well as those of her husband, reflect the short-lived group of artists known as Vorticists, active in London in the 1920s. The main body of her work consists of wood-engravings for book illustrations that demonstrate fine draughtsmanship and skillful use of black and white design. She illustrated "The Fables of Aesop" (1931), "Through the Woods" by H.E. Bates (1936), "The Open Air" by Richard Jefferies (edited by Samuel J. Looker, 1949) and her most acclaimed work, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray (1938), titles for the Limited Editions Club of New York and editions of the works of Shakespeare and Thomas Hardy.

US: Priority (c 2-4 days) ----------- $9.50
Canada: Priority (c. 2-6 weeks) --- $28.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ----- $38.50

Hard boards, brown leather tooled in gold, four raised bands on spine, silk marker bound in, silk-designed endpapers, 416 pages on acid-free high quality paper, all page edges are gold plated, several full page illustrations. A little leather wear, very good/ fine condition.