6W Jane Austen. Illustrated by C. E. Brock. London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, ca. 1940.
Notes
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was originally published anonymously in three volumes in 1813 with the the three words ‘By a Lady’ in place of the authors name. This book stands as the ultimate masterpiece of regency0era romantic fiction and social satire. The narrative centers on Elizabeth Bennet, a fiercely intelligent, witty, and independent young woman navigating the rigid economic realities of the English gentry alongside her four sisters and her socially ambitious mother. When the wealthy, brooding aristocrat Fitzwilliam Darcy moves into their rural neighborhood, his initial snobbish refusal to dance with Elizabeth sparks her immediate, deep-seated resentment. The plot expertly unfolds through a series of sharp social encounters, catastrophic misunderstandings, and family scandals, tracing how both Elizabeth and Darcy must humble themselves to conquer their respective flaws—her hasty, biased judgment and his arrogant class consciousness. Beneath its sparkling veneer of drawing-room comedy and unmatched romantic tension, the novel delivers a brilliant, enduring critique of a society that systematically reduced women's lives to the cold calculations of financial marriage contracts.
The author, Jane Austen (1775–1817), crafted this beloved classic from a position of acute personal observation, living within the very provincial, middle-class world she so brilliantly lampooned. Originally titled First Impressions and drafted between 1796 and 1797 when Austen was just twenty-one years old, the manuscript sat rejected by publishers for over fifteen years before her brother Henry helped secure its publication following the modest success of Sense and Sensibility. Written in a revolutionary style that utilized free indirect discourse, the book gave readers unprecedented, high-fidelity psychological access to its protagonist's inner thoughts, shattering the melodramatic, sentimental tropes of late-18th-century literature. Published in a tight, three-volume format with a modest print run, the book achieved immediate commercial success, permanently transforming Austen from an anonymous provincial spinster into a defining architect of the modern novel. In the grand landscape of global rare book collecting, true 1813 first editions remain the ultimate, highly coveted holy grail of English letters, celebrating a text that permanently redefined the mechanics of irony, dialogue, and character development in Western storytelling.
Description
Red cloth pliable boards with gilt lettering to spine and original red dustwrapper. Inscription to preliminary flyleaf. Fine condition.
