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“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen, 1813
Details
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen, 1813
[AUSTEN, Jane (1775-1817).] Pride and Prejudice. London: Printed for T. Egerton, 1813.
First edition of Jane Austen’s most famous and beloved novel. Pride and Prejudice was written between October 1796 and August 1797 when Austen was not yet twenty-one, the same age, in fact, as her fictional heroine Elizabeth Bennet. After an early rejection by the publisher Cadell, Austen's novel was finally bought by Egerton in 1812 and published in late January 1813 in a small edition of approximately 1500 copies.
In a letter to her sister Cassandra on 29 January 1813, the author writes of receiving her copy of the newly published novel (her "own darling child"), and while acknowledging its few errors, she expresses her feelings toward its heroine as such: “I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, & how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know.” Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, and the gallery of finely drawn characters have continued to charm readers for over two centuries. As a contemporary reviewer put it two months after the novel’s publication: “There is not one person in the drama with whom we could readily dispense;—they have all their proper places; and fill their several stations, with great credit to themselves, and much satisfaction to the reader” (The Critical Review, March 1813). Gilson A3; Grolier English 69; Keynes 3; Sadleir 62b.
Three volumes, 12mo (170 x 105mm). Half-titles (vol. 2 half-title supplied from a second edition, vol. 2 title sized and reinserted with a blank corner repair). Contemporary tree calf (light wear to joints and corners, recased, vol. 1 & 3 upper joints starting); custom slipcase. Provenance: Nathaniel Bowden-Smith, Royal Navy officer, 1838-1921 (bookplates) – Philip M. Neufeld (his sale, Christie's New York, 25 April 1995, lot 47).
Jane Austen, 1813
[AUSTEN, Jane (1775-1817).] Pride and Prejudice. London: Printed for T. Egerton, 1813.
First edition of Jane Austen’s most famous and beloved novel. Pride and Prejudice was written between October 1796 and August 1797 when Austen was not yet twenty-one, the same age, in fact, as her fictional heroine Elizabeth Bennet. After an early rejection by the publisher Cadell, Austen's novel was finally bought by Egerton in 1812 and published in late January 1813 in a small edition of approximately 1500 copies.
In a letter to her sister Cassandra on 29 January 1813, the author writes of receiving her copy of the newly published novel (her "own darling child"), and while acknowledging its few errors, she expresses her feelings toward its heroine as such: “I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, & how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know.” Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, and the gallery of finely drawn characters have continued to charm readers for over two centuries. As a contemporary reviewer put it two months after the novel’s publication: “There is not one person in the drama with whom we could readily dispense;—they have all their proper places; and fill their several stations, with great credit to themselves, and much satisfaction to the reader” (The Critical Review, March 1813). Gilson A3; Grolier English 69; Keynes 3; Sadleir 62b.
Three volumes, 12mo (170 x 105mm). Half-titles (vol. 2 half-title supplied from a second edition, vol. 2 title sized and reinserted with a blank corner repair). Contemporary tree calf (light wear to joints and corners, recased, vol. 1 & 3 upper joints starting); custom slipcase. Provenance: Nathaniel Bowden-Smith, Royal Navy officer, 1838-1921 (bookplates) – Philip M. Neufeld (his sale, Christie's New York, 25 April 1995, lot 47).
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Heather Weintraub
Specialist, Books, Manuscripts, & Archives