[Jane Austen] | The first American edition of "Pride and Prejudice"

[Jane Austen]

Elizabeth Bennet; or, Pride and Prejudice. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832

2 volumes, 12mo in 6s (196 × 115 mm, uncut as issued). 34-pages of publisher’s adverts bound at end of volume 1; usual foxing and browning, some scattered stains, numerous areas of marginal loss with restoration, a long tear in the leaf containing pp. 159-160 in Vol. I, affecting about 9 lines per page, with no losses to text. Publisher’s quarter brown cloth and drab boards; rebacked with facsimile labels, rubbed and worn with some loss, and tear to front free endpaper of volume II. Folding clamshell box.

First American (from the third London) edition, one of only 750 sets printed.

Issued under the expanded title Elizabeth Bennet; or, Pride and Prejudice, this Philadelphia edition reflects the habit at the time of identifying novels by their heroine. Although Austen had been publicly named as the author of Pride and Prejudice by 1817, this edition is still attributed to “the Author of Sense and Sensibility, &c.,” a lingering vestige of early nineteenth-century propriety that regarded female authorship of fiction as potentially compromising.

The appearance of Austen’s works in the United States was influenced by the absence of international copyright law: American publishers were free to reprint British novels without payment or permission. The first Austen novel to appear was Emma, issued by Philadelphia printer Mathew Carey in 1816; in the 1830s, Carey’s firm of Carey & Lea followed with the full series of Austen’s works, beginning with Pride and Prejudice.

Production economy defined these editions. The customary three volumes were compressed into two, printed in a small, crowded typeface on inexpensive paper to minimize costs. At the same time, editorial changes softened religious oaths—“Good Lord!” became “Indeed!” and “By God” was excised—further distinguishing the American text from its London counterpart.

Perhaps due to the small number of copies printed, Jane Austen did not appear to be aware of US editions published before her death in 1817 (Emma was published in 1816 in Philadelphia). Austen's popularity increased dramatically in 1870, when her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, published her biography. Recent scholarship has revealed the significant influence American writers and collectors had in establishing Austen's global reputation.

Rare.

REFERENCE:

Keynes 10; Gilson B2