A BOOK numbering just five pages by great Dorset author Thomas Hardy is expected to fetch up to £2,000 at auction.

The first edition of When I Weekly Knew will be among a number of lots connected with the writer at Duke’s of Dorchester’s fine arts auction on Thursday, April 12.

The edition was one of just 25 books printed by the Chiswick Press for Florence Emily Hardy in 1916.

It is numbered 18 and initialled by Florence.

The lot also includes a letter signed by the author that has been stuck into the front of the book, possibly by a previous collector.

It is written on stationary from Hardy’s former home at Max Gate and addressed to Clement Shorter, a prominent journalist of Hardy’s era with The Illustrated London News and other publications.

It states: “I wish I could accept your kind invitation, but apart from my natural incapacity for dining I am hardly able to go to town now, and have just returned from Bath.

“I have been staying close to where Pitt was living when he received news of Austerlitz, which was the formular cause of his death – though personally I think port wine had most to do with it.”

The lot is expected to go for between £1,500 and £2,000.

Other items going under the hammer include a collection of Hardy’s letters and a terracotta bust of the author, which is expected to fetch between £80 and £160.

Deborah Doyle from Duke’s said: “It really is a fascinating collection with several good letters, including one to Charles Cartwright, who was a long-time stage manager and featured actor at The Adelphi Theatre.

“The letter concerns the possibility of a West End dramatisation of The Trumpet Major, in which Hardy writes: ‘I admire your perseverance in the idea of producing the play, though you know how sceptical I am as a rule in all matters connected with the stage’.”

The Cartwright letter is estimated to sell for between £500 and £1,000.

For more information about the auction and the lots on offer visit www.dukes-auctions.com or call 01305 265080.