Sense and Sensibility: The Bath Bicentenary Edition (The Bath Bicentenary Editions of Jane Austen) - Hardcover

Austen, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0956494242 ISBN 13: 9780956494245

Publisher: Palazzo Editions, 2012

Synopsis

Bicentenary edition of a beloved classic complete with original color plates and new silhouettes by illustrator Niroot Puttapipat, capturing the spirit of Regency England

The first of Jane Austen's published novels, Sense and Sensibility was originally published in October 1811. Originally entitled after its two heroines, Elinor and Marianne, the novel tells the tale of sensible Elinor Dashwood, the older of the two sisters, who believes in privacy, propriety, and logic, and flighty Marianne, who follows her heart without so much as a second thought for the consequences. As much a comment on social etiquette as a story about love and belonging, the timeless favorite illuminates Jane Austen's world. Featuring Jane Austen's complete and unabridged text, this is the first of six specially produced editions of her novels published to coincide with the bicentenary of their first publication.

About this title

Review

Though not the first novel she wrote, Sense and Sensibility was the first Jane Austen published. Though she initially called it Elinor and Marianne, Austen jettisoned both the title and the epistolary mode in which it was originally written, but kept the essential theme: the necessity of finding a workable middle ground between passion and reason. The story revolves around the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. Whereas the former is a sensible, rational creature, her younger sister is wildly romantic--a characteristic that offers Austen plenty of scope for both satire and compassion. Commenting on Edward Ferrars, a potential suitor for Elinor's hand, Marianne admits that while she "loves him tenderly," she finds him disappointing as a possible lover for her sister:

Oh! Mama, how spiritless, how tame was Edward's manner in reading to us last night! I felt for my sister most severely. Yet she bore it with so much composure, she seemed scarcely to notice it. I could hardly keep my seat. To hear those beautiful lines which have frequently almost driven me wild, pronounced with such impenetrable calmness, such dreadful indifference!

Soon however, Marianne meets a man who measures up to her ideal: Mr. Willoughby, a new neighbor. So swept away by passion is Marianne that her behavior begins to border on the scandalous. Then Willoughby abandons her; meanwhile, Elinor's growing affection for Edward suffers a check when he admits he is secretly engaged to a childhood sweetheart. How each of the sisters reacts to their romantic misfortunes, and the lessons they draw before coming finally to the requisite happy ending forms the heart of the novel. Though Marianne's disregard for social conventions and willingness to consider the world well-lost for love may appeal to modern readers, it is Elinor whom Austen herself most evidently admired; a truly happy marriage, she shows us, exists only where sense and sensibility meet and mix in proper measure. --Alix Wilber

Book Description

Jane Austen's first published novel introduced many of the themes which would dominate Austen's future work. Austen writes about everyday events of her own time with a subtlety and sensitivity unprecedented in the English novel. This edition, first published in 2006, follows the second edition of 1813, which corrects errors of the first edition.

Edition details

• Publisher: Palazzo Editions
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0956494242
• ISBN 13: 9780956494245
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 332
• Illustrator: Puttapipat Niroot