  We study the intrinsic optical bistability displayed by a small sample of
$V$-type three-level atoms induced by the near dipole-dipole interaction. The
use of the coherent state properties in the limit of the generalized
second-order Born approximation for BBGKY-hierarchy of equations for the
reduced density operators allows one to derive the operator describing the near
dipole-dipole interaction (local field correction) with interference terms
involving no additional assumptions. The dynamics of populations of the excited
states and the total spontaneous intensity are analysed as functions of the
external laser field strength allowing for the off-diagonal structure of the
local field and relaxation operators.
