''A Group of Noble Dames'' is an 1891 collection of short stories written by English author

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) 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 Word ...

. The stories are contained by a

frame narrative A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

in which ten members of a club each tell one story about a noble dame in the 17th or 18th century. Hardy included this work with his "Romances and fantasies".

Part I—Before Dinner *''The First Countess of Wessex'' by the local historian *''

Barbara of the House of Grebe "Barbara of the House of Grebe" is the second of ten short stories in Thomas Hardy's frame narrative ''A Group of Noble Dames''. It is told by the old surgeon. The story was published in ''The Graphic'' in 1890 and in book form in 1891. Plot summ ...

'' by the old surgeon *''The Marchioness of Stonehenge'' by the rural dean *''Lady Mottisfont'' by the sentimental member Part II—After Dinner *''The Lady Icenway'' by the churchwarden *''Squire Petrick’s Lady'' by the crimson maltster *''Anna, Lady Baxby'' by the colonel *''The Lady Penelope'' by the man of family *''The Duchess Of Hamptonshire'' by the quiet gentleman *''The Honourable Laura'' by the spark

Publication

All ten stories were published in serial magazines before Hardy collected them into book form. "The Duchess of Hamptonshire" and "The Honourable Laura" were written relatively early in Hardy's career, in 1878 and 1881 respectively. "The First Countess of Wessex" and "The Lady Penelope" were written in 1888-89. Hardy revised all four of these stories significantly before adding them to the collection in 1891. The remaining six stories were written in early 1890 and published in

bowdlerised Expurgation, also known as bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is a pejorative term for the practi ...

form in a special Christmas number of ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latt ...

'' in December 1890. Hardy collected all ten stories together for the first time in ''A Group of Noble Dames'', which was published in England by Osgood, McIlvaine, & Co. and in America by

Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

in 1891. The critical reception of the book was mixed.

TV and Film Adaptations

" was adapted as a television drama by the BBC as part of an anthology series called ''Wessex Tales''. Broadcast 12 December 1973 on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

References

External links

* at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

* 1891 short story collections Frame stories Short story collections by Thomas Hardy Harper & Brothers books {{1890s-story-collection-stub

Contents

Publication

TV and Film Adaptations

References

External links