An attractive early Bentley edition of Jane Austen’s first novel.
Many biographers and bibliographers have noted that after Jane Austen’s death her writing fell into relative obscurity. Certainly, there were no English editions of Jane Austen’s works after 1818 until the 1832 - 33 Bentley editions. Richard Bentley decided to include Austen in his standard novel’s series and bought the copyrights for the author’s works for £250. In 1833 Bentley published the novels together as a complete set, and Bentley would go on to reprint the books consistently up until at least 1886. The appearance of the Bentley editions is significant as it did much to revive interest in Austen’s novels by making them accessible to a new generation of readers.
In very good condition, some wear and rubbing to edge, some foxing to initial and final leaves, sadly though not unsurprisingly particularly effecting the frontispiece and vignette title page. Otherwise internally very clean, though pages are aged.
David Gilson, A Bibliography of Jane Austen, D7.
