The Persuasive Books of Jane Austen
by Julie Oreskovich It can be safely said that Jane Austen is one of the best-loved English authors of all time. Born December 16, 1775, Austen made a mark on the literary world with her romantic fiction set among the landed gentry in England. Although she is one of the most popular and well known authors, there is little known about her private life.
Austen was one of eight children born to parents Reverend James Austen and Cassandra Leigh Austen - both members of substantial gentry families. Jane, like her sister Cassandra, remained unmarried. All the Austen children were literary with Jane being the most prolific. Her writing career began early when she wrote stories, poems and plays for her family's entertainment. These pieces of work, originally written between 1787 and 1793, now known as Juvenilia, were ultimately bound in three volumes.
Jane Austen is most famously known for her six major novels : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. However, there are several other novels and stories that were either started, abandoned or published posthumously. One of Austen's earliest works - excluding her Juvenilia, was a short epistolary novel called Lady Susan. In 1796 Austen began a second novel, titled First Impressions. She completed the first draft when she was 21 and her father offered the manuscript to a publisher in London but was turned down. This novel later became Pride and Prejudice, and in 1813, publisher Thomas Egerton agreed to publish it and the novel was an immediate success. Egerton also published Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park. Austen's first published novel, Sense and Sensibilty, centers on the experiences of two dissimilar sisters who undergo comparable experiences in the loss of the men they love. With a cast of characters satirically drawn, Sense and Sensibility remains a classic example of Austen's skill.
Jane Austen died in 1817 at 41 from an ailment no-one has truly identified. After her death, Jane's sister and brother Henry, arranged to have Persuasion and Northanger Abbey published as a set in December 1817. Austen's books have been continuously in print since 1833. Adaptions of every kind, as well as sequels have been based on Austen's work. The first film version of her work starring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson was Pride and Prejudice in 1940. Numerous other films, TV series and books, all based on the novels of Jane Austen will ensure that this great author will never be forgotten. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral and her brother James composed the epitaph which mentions "extraordinary endowments of her mind" but not her writing.
Sense and Sensibilty
Published in 1811 by T. Egerton. First edition of the author’s debut novel, in three volumes.
With 24 coloured illustrations by C.E. Brock. Published in 1908 by J.M. Dent & CO.
Easton Press leather bound edition, accented in 22kt gold. Published in 1985.
Part of Penguin's hardback Clothbound Classics series. Designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith.
Graphic deluxe edition for the book's 200th anniversary. Cover by Audrey Niffenegger.
Pride and Prejudice
Published in 1813 by T. Egerton. First edition of the author’s debut novel, in three volumes.
The Peacock Edition with gilt decorated cloth, published by George Allen, 1894.
The Franklin Library edition. In full red simulated leather, gilt edges. Published in 1980.
Clothbound edition from White’s Books, 2010. Coloured page tops, decorated endpapers.
Comic version from Marvel Comics, rewritten by Nancy Hajeski, inked by Hugo Petrus.
Mansfield Park
Published in London in 1816 by John Murray. Second edition in three volumes.
Full vellum with 24 coloured illustrations by C.E. Brock. Published in 1908 by J.M. Dent & CO.
Macmillian and Co. London, 1897. 40 fine line engravings, illustrated by Hugh Thomson.
Another clothbound edition from Coralie Bickford-Smith, published in 2012.
Published by Penguin Books, Limited (UK) in 2006, paperback edition.
Emma
First edition, published by John Murray in 1816 in three volumes.
Illustrated by Chris Hammond with gold gilt floral illustrations on cover and spine. 1898.
Published in 1934, coloured illustrations by Maximilien Vox.
Cover art by Jillian Tamaki. Originally embroidered - covers have a tactile design.
Clothbound edition from White’s Books. Binding illustration by Amy Gibson. 2009.
Northanger Abbey
Published by J.M. Dent & Co. in London, 1907. Illustrated by C.E. Brock.
1935 edition from Queensway Press, London.
Limited Editions Club. Illustrated with 12 full-page paintings and 22 monochrome drawings.
Published by Williams & Norgate Ltd. First thus edition, 1948.
Penguin Books Ltd, UK, 2012. Hardback with clothbound covers.
Persuasion
London, J M Dent and Sons Ltd. 1934. First thus edition.
Easton Press edition. Leather bound, accented in 22kt gold with gilt edges.
Signet Classic, hardcover. Published in 1992.
Dover Publications Inc., 1997. Paperback edition.
Penguin Books Ltd, UK, 2012. Part of Penguin’s Clothbound Classics.
Biographies
Collections
Quirky Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
by Seth Grahame-Smith
Beloved Austen novel featuring scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem.
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
by Ben H. Winters
With all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents.
Mr. Darcy, Vampyre
by Amanda Grange
Paranormal Pride and Prejudice sequel, full of danger and deep romantic love.
Jane Bites Back
by Michael Thomas Ford
Jane is back, and this time she’s a vampire with sharp wit and sharper fangs.
The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After
by Elizabeth Kantor
Jane Austen shows us how to find the love we really want.
More Jane Austen
The Jane Austen Cookbook
Sophisticated dishes which Jane would have enjoyed at balls, picnics, and supper parties.
In the Garden with Jane Austen
This book strolls through the gardens that Austen would have known and visited.
Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen
Jane Austen's world was revolutionary in every sense including fashion.
Most Expensive Jane Austen Books Sold on AbeBooks
1. The Novels of Jane Austen - £3,330Published in London by Richard Bentley in 1836-1837.
2. The Novels and the Letters - £3,165
The text based on collation of the early editions by R. W. Chapman. With notes, indexes and illustrations from contemporary sources.
3. Pride and Prejudice - £2,495
First one-volume edition, first illustrated edition, and only the fifth edition overall.
4. Pride and Prejudice - £2,210
A beautiful Art Nouveau floral spine decorated copy.
5. The Novels of Jane Austen - £2,085
The text based on collation of the early editions by R. W. Chapman. Finely bound by the Bayntun-Riviere bindery in half crimson morocco.
6. The Novels - £2,020
Published in London by Richard Bentley in 1856.
7. The Works of Jane Austen - £1,880
Bentley edition of 1856. All five volumes expertly re-backed to preserve the original green cloth boards, contents very clean, all plates intact.
8. Austen's Novels - £1,840
Hardcover complete six volume set, frontispiece engravings, marbled endpapers and edges, half leather, marbled sides, raised bands with gilt tooling.
9. Pride and Prejudice - £1,815
Published in London by George Allen in 1906, this is a beautifully bound example of the Hugh Thomson illustrated edition.
10. Sense and Sensibility - £1,610
First Bentley edition, third overall. Bentley’s Standard Novels was an extremely successful series of reprints published monthly between 1831 and 1854, and it included the first inexpensive, single volume versions of Austen’s novels.
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