About this Item
1948 - 1949. Five volumes bound in two. Edited by R. W. Chapman. Illustrated with more than 40 black and white plates. Later printings of the third edition thus (Gilson suggests that the second and third editions thus are not editions but in fact later printings of the first edition thus, as the text was printed from the same plates as the first edition thus). Finely bound in quarter green morocco with blue boards, spines lettered and decorated in gilt, ruled in black, top edge gilt, and India paper. Very good set, with light toning to spines, bright gilt, a touch of soiling and staining to cloth, light spotting to top edges, slight bump to bottom left corner of rear board of Vol. I, and some spotting to endpapers and flyleaves. Overall, a lovely set of this important scholarly edition of Austen's work. Gilson E150. This collection includes Austen's six complete novels - Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey (1818), and Persuasion (1818). Austen is well-known for the social criticism she weaves into her novels, using irony and realism to highlight gender roles in marriage and society. Interestingly, the novels that Austen published within her lifetime referred to her, the author, anonymously, her only identifier being her gender and the other books she had written. It was only upon the publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion after her untimely death that a biographical note written by her brother identified Jane Austen as the author of her first four novels, which have since earned their place as cornerstones of British literature. In his prefatory note to The Novels of Jane Austen, editor Robert William Chapman writes, "My purpose was to furnish an accurate text, based on full collations, made, it is believed, for the first time, of all the editions published in the author's lifetime." This edition features a number of illustrations from contemporary sources, such as fashion magazines, paintings, and more. Gilson quotes a memorandum from Oxford University Press (ca. 1915/1916) that stated "The publishers are bitterly opposed to any imaginative illustrations, and would cheerfully have no illustrations at all. But they would be in favour of a few objective illustrations.".
Seller Inventory # JA035
Contact seller
Report this item
