What does この度は mean?

Question

What does この度は mean? I couldn't translate this in this sentence:

この度は、この本をお手にとっていただきありがとうございます！

Can you help me to translate this phrase (not a full sentence)?

Answer 1

「この」 is "this", 「[度]{たび}」 is "occasion" here, and 「は」 is a topic marker "regarding ..." Thus, the literal interpretation of 「この度は」 is "regarding this occasion."

This is actually a set phrase used when saying gratitude, or apologizing etc. It may mean that the speaker is focusing on this occasion (but not other ones), but may not always have any intentional meaning.

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So in this case, your sentence is saying "thank you for you taking this book this time."

Answer 2

I looked up the Japnese-English translation examples of the phrase "この度は" in the paid-for web dictionary, all of them ommit the phrase "この度は." There is no reason in the dictionaries.

I'd like to try to explain the reason.

One of the situation with this kind of sentence could be the following.

1) X found the book on the web store site operated by Y.

2) X inquire the buying procedure (It donesn't mean the order).

3) Y answers the inquiry. The message starts with the phrase "この度は、この本をお手にとっていただきありがとうございます！" as opening remarks.
For Y, the inquiry from x is the first time, and shows the posibility to make sales. "この度は" can be ommited but the meaning could be transrated into "Thank you for your inquiry" as opening remarks of Y's answer message.

If X inquire on the phone, you can say "この度は、この本をお手にとっていただきありがとうございます" or just "この度はありがとうございます" as opeing remarks.