By a Lady

[Jane Austen] Sense and Sensibility: a Novel. In Three Volumes. By a Lady. London: Printed for the author by C. Rowarth […] and published by T. Egerton, 1811 3 volumes, 12mo (164 x 95 mm), with half-titles from the second edition watermarked "AP | 1811”; contents very faintly toned with occasional pale spots, spotting to the endpapers and adjacent leaves, a small stain in Vol. I on leaf D7. Modern speckled calf, gilt tooled boards, spines, and turn-ins, dark green spine labels lettered in gilt, all edges gilt, brown silk ribbons, signed “Bartlett and Co., Boston”; a few small spots of wear to spines and extremities, Vol. I with spine labels fading to brown, Vol. III with a tiny chip at edge of spine label. Custom clamshell case. First edition of Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen wrote a version of Sense and Sensibility, originally titled Elinore and Marianne, as an epistolary novel in 1795 when she was just 19 years old. She reworked the story into its present narrative form in 1797 and revised it for publication in 1809-1810 during her first year at Chawton Cottage. By then, she had already attempted to publish two other novels, an early version of Pride and Prejudice titled First Impressions, which was rejected, and a version of Northanger Abbey titled Susan, which had been sold to a publisher in 1803 but never came to fruition. Sense and Sensibility, on the other hand, was accepted by Thomas Egerton to be published on commission, or “for the author,” as stated on the title page. This meant that Austen would finance the printing of the book herself and then pay Egerton a commission on the sales. Her brother, Henry Austen, in his “Biographical Notice of the Author,” states that Jane’s “invincible distrust of her own judgement induced her to withhold her works from the public.” He goes on to explain that “it was with extreme difficulty that her friends… could prevail on her to publish her first work. Nay, so persuaded was she that its sale would not repay the expense of publication, that she actually made a reserve from her very moderate income to meet the expected loss” (Northanger Abbey & Persuasion, Vol. I). Henry's claims surrounding Jane's distrust of her own judgements should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt, but in any case, the novel was a success. All the printed copies of the first edition, estimated at 750 to 1000 copies, had been sold by 1813, and a second edition was issued that year. Jane wrote to her brother Francis on July 3, 1813 about her successful venture: “You will be glad to hear that every copy of Sense and Sensibility is sold and that it has brought me £140 beside the copyright, if that should ever be of any value.” Sense and Sensibility tells the story of the three Dashwood sisters, who are left in much reduced circumstances after the death of their father. The sisters and their mother are forced to rely on extended family—and sometimes friends—for support, renting a cottage on a second cousin’s estate. In some respects, the narrative echoes Austen’s own life—Jane experienced a similar chain of events after the death of her father, George Austen, in 1805. For example, in an important, intimate letter sent to her sister Cassandra, dated April 11, 1805, Jane writes from Bath about her changing life. “What a different set we are now moving in!” she writes, later noting: "I think we are just the kind of people & party to be treated about among our relations;—we cannot be supposed to be very rich" (see lot 3). In early 1809, Jane moved to Chawton Cottage on her brother Edward’s estate, easing her precarious financial situation. The peaceful setting and stability she found at Chawton allowed Austen’s final eight years to be the most productive of her career. REFERENCE: Gilson A1; Le Faye, Dierdre, ed., Jane Austen’s Letters (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995)

View 1 of Lot 4: [Jane Austen] | First edition of "Sense and Sensibility," Austen’s first published novel

[jane austen] | first edition of "sense and sensibility," austen’s first published novel

Fine Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana

[Austen, Jane] Sense and Sensibility: a Novel. London: Printed for the author by C. Rowarth […] and published by T. Egerton, 1811 3 volumes, 12mo (170 x 125 mm). Lacks half-titles, paper watermarked "IS | 1810”; contents very lightly toned, with occasional pale spots, a few stains and minor holes, vol. I with 1-inch marginal tears in leaves B5 and B7 not touching the text, leaves N2 to N12 just starting to separate from the text block, vol. III with the front free endpaper and adjacent flyleaf separated but holding on to the sewing. Later half black calf over, marbled paper boards, spines gilt lettered and tooled, green silk ribbons; rubbing to boards and edges, wear to corners, joints skillfully restored, hinges cracked or starting but the boards are holding soundly. First edition of Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen wrote a version of Sense and Sensibility, originally titled Elinore and Marianne, as an epistolary novel in 1795 when she was just 19 years old. She reworked the story into its present narrative form in 1797 and revised it for publication in 1809-1810 during her first year at Chawton Cottage. By then, she had already attempted to publish two other novels, an early version of Pride and Prejudice titled First Impressions, which was rejected by a publisher, and a version of Northanger Abbey titled Susan, which had been sold to a publisher in 1803, but was never printed. Sense and Sensibility, on the other hand, was accepted by Thomas Egerton to be published on commission, or “for the author,” as stated on the title page. This meant that Austen would finance the printing of the book herself and then pay Egerton a commission on the sales. Her brother, Henry Austen, in his “Biographical Notice of the Author,” states that Jane’s “invincible distrust of her own judgement induced her to withhold her works from the public.” He goes on to explain that “it was with extreme difficulty that her friends… could prevail on her to publish her first work. Nay, so persuaded was she that its sale would not repay the expense of publication, that she actually made a reserve from her very moderate income to meet the expected loss” (Northanger Abbey & Persuasion, Vol. I). Despite Austen’s apprehensions, the novel was a success. All the printed copies of the first edition, estimated at 750 to 1000 copies, had been sold by 1813, and a second edition was issued later that year. Jane wrote to her brother Francis on July 3, 1813, about her successful venture — “You will be glad to hear that every copy of Sense and Sensibility is sold and that it has brought me £140 beside the copyright, if that should ever be of any value.” Sense and Sensibility tells the story of the three Dashwood sisters, who are left in much reduced circumstances after the death of their father. The sisters and their mother are forced to rely on their family for support, renting a cottage on a second cousin’s estate. The story may have been inspired by Austen’s own life — Jane experienced a similar chain of events after the death of their father, George Austen, in 1805. For example, in an important, intimate letter sent to her sister Cassandra, dated April 11, 1805, Jane writes from Bath about her changing life. She says, “What a different set we are now moving in!” In early 1809, Jane moved to Chawton Cottage on her brother Edward’s estate, easing her precarious financial situation. The peaceful setting and stability she found at Chawton allowed Austen’s final 8 years to be the most productive years of her career. REFERENCES Gilson A1; Le Faye, Dierdre, Jane Austen’s Letters. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995 PROVENANCE Armorial bookplate of Burke Cuppage in Volume I, likely that of Lieutenant General Burke Douglas Cuppage, Lieutenant Governor of Jersey (1794-1877)

View 1 of Lot 1048: [Austen, Jane] | A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel

[austen, jane] | a handsome first edition of sense and sensibility, the author's first novel

The Library of an English Bibliophile, Part 1

12mo (187 x 114mm.), 3 volumes, first edition, half-titles, watermarks, uncut in the original publisher's boards, original pink paper labels on spines, preserved in folding brown cloth chemises and quarter brown morocco slipcase, rebacked preserving most of the original spines, occasional spotting and foxing, some slight marginal stains on D10-D11 in volume 1, minor discolouration and staining of a few gatherings in volumes 2 and 3, short tears on B11 and H5 in volume 2 (affecting three lines and two lines respectively), tiny paper flaw on I2 in volume 2, some slight wear to boards

sense and sensibility: a novel... by a lady. london: printed for the author by c. roworth and published by t. egerton, 1811

English Literature, History, Children's Books &amp; Illustrations

12mo (168 x 100mm.), 3 volumes, first edition, half-titles, contemporary or near contemporary polished calf, covers with double gilt fillets, gilt turn-ins, spines in six compartments lettered in gilt, top edges gilt, upper covers of volumes 1 and 3 neatly re-attached, tiny paper flaw to lower margin of I5 of volume 3 (not affecting text), offsetting to edges of endpapers, very minor browning to text, minor wear to edges of binding

sense and sensibility: a novel...by a lady. c. roworth for the author and published by t. egerton, 1811

12mo (177 x 105mm.), 3 volumes, first edition, the Austen editor R.W. Chapman's copy with 30 pencilled corrections or queries in the margins, bound without the half-titles or final blanks, contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spines gilt, ink inscription "T. Blyth's" [? circulating library] in each volume, preserved in brown cloth folding box, slightly foxed, small hole in E6 of volume 3 (repaired), boards rubbed, joints partially cracked

sense and sensibility: a novel... by a lady. c. roworth for the author and published by t. egerton, 1811

austen, jane sense and sensibility

L13404

12mo, 3 volumes, half-titles, Martha Lloyd's copy with her undated ownership signature on title pages of all 3 volumes, contemporary quarter calf, marbled boards, rebacked preserving most of the original spines, bindings worn, hinges and corners repaired, leaves heavily spotted

sense and sensibility: a novel… the second edition. for the author by c. roworth and published by t. egerton, 1813

Bibliophile III

12mo (192 x 110mm.), 3 volumes, second edition, with half-titles and final blanks in all volumes, uncut, contemporary half calf with marbled boards, in modern cloth chemise and leather-backed slipcase, some browning and spotting, skilfully rebacked with original spines laid down, some wear to edges and corners

sense and sensibility: a novel. in three volumes. by the author of pride and prejudice. london: printed for the author by c. roworth and published by t. egerton, 1813

 austen, jane.â sense and sensibility: a novel. t. egerton, 1811, 12mo, first...

English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations

3 volumes, 12mo, FIRST EDITION, half-titles, full calf by Riviere & Son, spine gilt in compartments, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, some browning

sense and sensibility: a novel. printed for the author by c. rowarth [...] and published by t. egerton, 1811

öausten, jane.ü sense and sensibility: a novel. t. egerton, 1811, 12mo, first...

12mo, FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK, 3 volumes, later brown morocco by Zaehnsdorf, spines in compartments, gilt inner dentelles, marbled end-papers, all edges gilt, lacking half-titles, some browning and spotting, author attribution ``Miss Austen'' to vol.I and ownership signature to vol.III This lot contains 1 item(s).

[austen, jane]. sense and sensibility. t. egerton, 1811

12mo, second edition, 3 volumes, nineteenth century half green morocco, marbled endpapers and boards, all edges gilt, some slight browning and spotting to text, without half-titles, upper cover of volume 1 nearly detached, slight wear to edges and corners This lot contains 1 item(s).

[austen, jane.] sense and sensibility: a novel. t. egerton, 1813

Jane Austen — The Women's Prize Collection of six novels, extensively annotated by contemporary authors Comprising: Sense and Sensibility. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Annotated by Sandra Cisneros on 135 pages, approximately 1,158 words [with] Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Introduction by Sandra Cisneros. New York: Penguin Random House, 2025. Signed on title page by Sandra Cisneros. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Annotated by Jo Baker on 351 pages, approximately 8,613 words Mansfield Park. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Annotated by Daisy Hay on 218 pages, approximately 3,942 words Emma. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Annotated by Bernardine Evaristo on 241 pages, approximately 3,566 words Northanger Abbey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Annotated by Kate Mosse on 110 pages, approximately 1,051 words Persuasion. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Annotated by Joanna Quinn on 161 pages, approximately 3,947 words

View 1 of Lot 30: Jane Austen — The Women's Prize | A complete set of Austen’s six finished novels, extensively annotated by six critically acclaimed women authors, sold to benefit The Women's Prize

jane austen — the women's prize | a complete set of austen’s six finished novels, extensively annotated by six critically acclaimed women authors, sold to benefit the women's prize

[Jane Austen] Northanger Abbey; and Persuasion; By the Author of "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield Park," &c. With a Biographical Notice of the Author. In Four Volumes. London: John Murray. Vols. I and II printed by C. Roworth Bull-yard; Vols. III and IV by T. Davison, Lombard Street, Whitefriars, [December 1817] 1818 4 vols., 12mo, (173 x 97 mm). Without half-titles, paper watermarked "AP | 1816 | 2", early ownership stamp of “T. Hope” to front pastedowns; pale spotting and staining throughout, a few minor holes and flattened creases, the front free endpapers in Vols. II and III are separating along the gutter, small marginal losses at the corners of two leaves in Volume IV (K7 and K8). Early three quarters calf, gilt, marbled paper boards; unobtrusive repairs to calf along the joints and at the corners, some light rubbing and scuffing to boards, a few spots of wear along the edges, hinges either cracked or starting, except for the front hinge of volume I which has been repaired, a pale stain to the front board of vol. II, small surface losses and chipping to the spines of Vols II and III, a scratch and repaired crack in the spine of Vol. IV. Custom clamshell case. First editions, published posthumously, of Austen's final works, containing the earliest biography of Jane Austen, and the first time her name appeared in one of her books. “The following pages are the production of a pen which has already contributed in no small degree to the entertainment of the public. And when the public, which has not been insensible to the merits of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma, shall be informed that the hand which guided that pen is now mouldering in the grave, perhaps a brief account of Jane Austen will be read with a kindlier sentiment than simple curiosity.” “Biographical Notice of the Author” Jane Austen initially tried to publish her first finished novel, Northanger Abbey, then titled Susan, in 1803. Austen’s elder brother Henry, acting as her agent, sold the manuscript to the bookseller Crosby & Co for £10 but, after advertising the book, they never published it. Finally, 13 years later in the Spring of 1816, Henry was able to buy back the manuscript. In the “Advertisement by the Authoress to Northanger Abbey,” Austen addresses her novel’s strangely delayed publication history, barely attempting to hide her contempt: “Why the business proceeded no farther, the author has never been able to learn. That any bookseller should think it worth while to purchase what he did not think it worth while to publish seems extraordinary.” Once she had her book back, Austen likely reworked parts of the novel, wrote the aforementioned “Advertisement,” and renamed it Catherine, before finally deciding to shelve the project. She died soon after. Six months later, Henry renamed the book Northanger Abbey and published it as the first two volumes in a four-volume set. The story is a romantic bildungsroman, a book about reading, and a satire of the then popular genre of gothic fiction. It centers on a very normal seventeen-year-old girl named Catherine Morland, who has an overactive imagination from reading too many novels, especially gothic fiction and romance novels, such as Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho, Fanny Burney’s Cecilia and Camilla, and Maria Edgeworth’s Belinda (see lot 8 for a rare presentation copy of Emma sent to Maria Edgeworth, and a longer discussion of the two novelists’ association). The third and fourth volumes in the set contain Persuasion, the final novel by Austen. It was composed over a relatively short timeframe, from 1815 to 1816. In a letter to her niece, Fanny Knight, from March of 1817, Austen wrote that she had a novel "which may appear about a twelvemonth hence." After her death at the age of forty-one on 18 July 1817, the novel remained unpublished and untitled. Six months later, Henry named it Persuasion and published it with Northanger Abbey in December of 1817, though the title page gives its date as 1818. In the intervening centuries, these posthumous works—Persuasion in particular—have been the source of much critical attention. Two manuscript chapters of Persuasion hold the position of being the only surviving holograph pages of a novel that Austen completed and intended for publication, offering Austen scholars the ability, for the first and only time, to glimpse her creative process. Besides adding or changing the books’ titles, Henry Austen is also credited with writing the "Biographical Notice of the Author,” which appears in Volume I of this set. Up until that point, all four of Austen’s novels had been published anonymously. As such, Henry’s biography revealed Jane to her public, naming her and providing her readers with a few basic facts about her life. However, likely in the hopes of protecting Henry wrote a sanitized profile of his sister, made up of minor facts, vague anecdotes, and a few falsehoods. For example, he writes that, “Everything came finished from her pen; for on all subjects she had ideas as clear as her expressions were well chosen.” Despite its faults, the “Statement” remains an important source for any author who attempts to write Austen’s biography - a notoriously difficult task due to the scarcity of available information. All things considered, Henry’s biggest lie may have been his statement that, “short and easy will be the task of the mere biographer.” REFERENCE: Gilson A9; Sutherland, Kathryn. Jane Austen's textual Lives: from Aeschylus to Bollywood. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005; Kelly, Helena. Jane Austen, the Secret Radical. New York: Vintage Books, 2018 PROVENANCE: Early ownership stamp of “T. Hope,” possibly Thomas Hope (1769-1831), the Regency banker, designer, collector, and connoisseur

View 1 of Lot 8: [Jane Austen]. First editions, published posthumously, of Austen's final works

[jane austen]. first editions, published posthumously, of austen's final works

Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana. Part 1

[Austen, Jane] Pride & Prejudice: A Novel. By the Author of "Sense and Sensibility." London: T. Egerton, 1813 3 volumes, 12mo (165 x 105 mm). Half-titles; scattered light foxing, offsetting and soiling, ownership signatures at upper margins of title-pages closely trimmed, Vol. I half-title in facsimile. Early 19th-century half green morocco and marbled boards, spines ruled and lettered in gilt, edges speckled red; upper board of Vol. III detached, other joints starting, restoration at spine ends, covers trifle rubbed. In custom black cloth clamshell case, gilt-lettered green morocco label to spine.

View 1 of Lot 1007: [Austen, Jane] | An important association copy of Austen's most beloved novel

[austen, jane] | an important association copy of austen's most beloved novel

Fine Books and Manuscripts

Property from an Important American Collection

Property from an Important American Collection [Austen, Jane] Pride and Prejudice: a Novel. London: G. Sidney for T. Egerton, 1813 3 volumes, 12mo (172 x 102 mm). Half-titles; occasional light spotting, some leaves lightly toned, marginal tear to B2 of volume II and C3 of volume III, minor marginal water damage to a few leaves in volume III, slight adhesive show through to corners of endpapers. Later half calf over contemporary marbled boards; expertly rebacked and recornered to style, evidence of adhesive at edges, corners lightly bumped, minor shelfwear. Housed on custom quarter calf over marbled boards clamshell case. "...that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." The first edition of the tale that brought us the wonderfully complex relationship between tenacious and witty Elizabeth Bennet and haughty and handsome Fitzwilliam Darcy. Austen particularly cherished her heroine, Elizabeth, writing the day after Pride and Prejudice was published, "I must confess that I think her [Elizabeth] as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, & how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know." Jane Austen began the novel as First Impressions, initially written in 1796 and 1797. The manuscript was originally rejected by Thomas Cadell and it was consequently left unfinished until 1811-1812 when Austen took it up again following the success of Sense and Sensibility. Here it evolved into Pride and Prejudice and was published by Thomas Egerton in January 1813 in a run of approximately 1500 copies priced at 18 shillings. At this time, Austen wrote excitedly to her sister, "I want to tell you that I have got my own darling Child from London...The Advertisement is in our paper to day for the first time...". It sold immensely well, and a second edition followed in the autumn of that year. However, because the publisher had bought the copyright, Austen made little money from its success. Oft-cited as the most-loved book of all time, the novel of manners has inspired countless adaptations and has sold over 20 million copies. A handsome copy of one of the best-loved novels in all of literature. REFERENCES: Gilson A3; Keynes 3; Sadleir 62b; Tinker 204; Grolier English 138

View 1 of Lot 1003: [Austen, Jane] | "It is a truth universally acknowledged..."

[austen, jane] | "it is a truth universally acknowledged..."

From the Library of the Earls of Haddington

From the Library of the Earls of Haddington MONTOLIEU, ISABELLE DE Caroline of Lichtfield; a novel. Translated from the French. By Thomas Holcroft. G. G. J. and J. Robinson, 1786 3 volumes, 8vo, half-titles, contemporary calf, red morocco spine labels, browning, bumped THE AUTHOR'S FIRST NOVEL TRANSLATED. Montolieu penned over 100 volumes of translations herself, including the first French translation of Austen's Sense and Sensibility. LITERATURE: ESTC T129190 PROVENANCE: George Baillie (1664-1738), engraved armorial bookplate applied posthumously; Hon. George Baillie (c.1721-1797), signature on title; thence by descent to the Earls of Haddington Please see shipping calculator link: click here

montolieu--holcroft | caroline of lichtfield, 1768

Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana. Part 2

[Austen, Jane] Mansfield Park: A Novel. Printed For T. Egerton, 1814 3 volumes, 12mo (185 x 110 mm). Half-titles; lacking blanks, early ownership signature washed from half-title of vol. III and short closed tear to inner margin of half-title of vol. III, scattered browning and spotting, expert restoration to inner margins. Full tan calf, covers with double gilt rules, spines with raised bands in six compartments, second and third with gilt morocco lettering pieces, others decoratively gilt, all edges gilt, inner dentelles gilt, marbled endpapers; expertly rebacked, retaining original spines. The first edition of Austen's third novel. The first printing of Mansfield Park was a commercial success, with 1,250 copies selling out within six months. John Murray later "expressed astonishment that so small an edition of such a work should have been sent into the world" (Gilson p. 49). Austen’s third published novel represents a departure from Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813) in both tone and structure. Significantly, it is also the first of her works to be fully drafted at Chawton Cottage, the living offered to Austen, her sister Cassandra, and her mother by Edward Austen Knight. Edward was Jane’s brother, who as a child had been adopted by wealthy relatives, and this good fortune allowed him to offer his mother and sisters the financial and domestic security they’d been lacking since his father’s death in 1805. This stability would coincide with what was arguably the most productive period of Jane Austen’s life. Austen herself deemed Pride and Prejudice “too light & bright & sparkling” in a letter to her sister Cassandra (see previous lot), though the earnestness of this appraisal is debatable (Chawton 77). Still, she created a very different sort of novel through Mansfield Park and its heroine, Fanny Price. When considering this stylistic departure, it is worth noting that Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813) were initially drafted between 1795-98, when Austen was in her early 20s. These works were then redrafted between 1810-12, when the author was in her 30s and living in comfort at Chawton. “Mansfield Park has a recorded gestation and composition period of three some three years, from February 1811 to mid-1813,” Kathryn Sutherland states, “which if correct means that for some months in 1811 she had three novels on the go” (Sutherland p. 124). That Austen was juggling three novels, which would be published in the span of four years, is extraordinary, and it is perhaps natural, then, that Mansfield Park would represent something of a fresh start once she saw Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice safely with the printer. Though it sold well, Mansfield Park didn’t receive any public reviews until 1821. Indeed, while it is one of Austen’s most textually and thematically complex novels, it was frequently overlooked by critics and scholars alike. This changed somewhat in 1923, when Robert Chapman published the first scholarly edition of Austen's works. (Incidentally, this was also the first scholarly edition of any English novelist to be produced.) The Chapman text has remained the basis for all subsequent editions of Austen's works, and it was Chapman who decided to append Elizabeth Inchbald’s play Lovers’ Vows (1798) to Mansfield Park “thereby crediting it with a unique intertextual status within his edition and determining its seeming compulsory significance for subsequent critical readings of the novel through the twentieth century” (Sutherland 32). Lovers Vows, itself an adaptation of August von Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe (1780), address themes of extramarital sex and illegitimate birth, and it is performed by the characters of Mansfield Park as a sort of amateur theatrical meant to innocently pass the time. With her trademark wit and skill, through allusions to Lovers’ Vows Austen managed to introduce deeply subversive themes into the most respectable drawing rooms of Regency England. Mansfield Park takes Austen’s readers far outside of England as well. In his edition, Chapman failed to—or perhaps chose not to—draw attention to the “West Indian property” of Sir Thomas Bertram, the patriarch, and sometimes villain, of the narrative (Mansfield Park, Chapter I). Bertram’s “strange business…in America” also goes without mention (Chapter XII). For an author who is often criticized for the narrowness of her scope—for confining her novels to comfortable English homes—Mansfield Park demonstrates just how broad her view was, and how deep her understanding of Britain’s interests beyond its shores was. In fact, Fanny Price is originally from Portsmouth, and is taken in by her uncle Sir Thomas, when she’s a child. Through the ebbs and flows of the narrative, Fanny is sent back to Portsmouth as a sort of punishment, but Austen would have her readers see that there is something essential in this setting. In Austen’s lifetime, just as it is now, Portsmouth was the base for the Royal Navy, and a city actively engaged in trade. Two of Austen’s brothers joined the navy at an early age, and the Napoleonic Wars (May 1803-November 1815) formed the geopolitical backdrop for most of her adult life. By juxtaposing the setting of Portsmouth with that of Mansfield Park, Austen is clearly demonstrating that there is a very real world that lays beyond the boundaries of great estates. And with the line “‘Why, you know, Sir Thomas’s means will be rather straitened if the Antigua estate is to make such poor returns’,” uttered by Mrs. Norris, who is supported by Sir Thomas, Austen is exposing her readers to the slave trade, and exactly the sort of labor and commerce that is necessary to support the Mansfield Parks of England. Thus, Mansfield Park stands as one of the greatest achievements of the 19th century. REFERENCES: Garside and Schöwerling 1814:11; Gilson A6; Keynes 6; Sadleir 62c; Sutherland, Kathryn (ed.), The Chawton Letters. Oxford: Bodleian Library, 2018; Sutherland, Kathryn, Jane Austen’s Textual Lives: from Aeschylus to Bollywood. Oxford: Oxford university Press, 2005

View 1 of Lot 1026: [Austen, Jane] | "Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, because there is no hope of a cure.”

[austen, jane] | "selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, because there is no hope of a cure.”

[Austen, Jane] Pride and Prejudice: a Novel. London: G. Sidney for T. Egerton, 1813 3 volumes, 12mo (168 x 96 mm). Half-titles; lacking blanks, half-title to vol. I supplied from an early copy, early ownership signature washed from half-title of vol. I, scattered browning and spotting, expert restoration to inner margins. Full tan calf, covers with double gilt rules, spines with raised bands in six compartments, second and third with gilt morocco lettering pieces, others decoratively gilt, all edges gilt, inner dentelles gilt, marbled endpapers; expertly rebacked, retaining original spines. "...that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." The first edition of the novel that introduced the world to Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Austen particularly cherished her heroine, Elizabeth, writing the day after Pride and Prejudice was published, "I must confess that I think her [Elizabeth] as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, & how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know." Jane Austen began the novel as First Impressions, initially written in 1796 and 1797. The manuscript was originally rejected by Thomas Cadell and it was consequently left unfinished until 1811-1812, when Austen took it up again following the success of Sense and Sensibility. It evolved into Pride and Prejudice, and was published by Thomas Egerton in January 1813 in a run of approximately 1,500 copies, priced at 18 shillings. At this time, Austen wrote excitedly to her sister: "I want to tell you that I have got my own darling Child from London...The Advertisement is in our paper to day for the first time..." It sold immensely well, and a second edition followed in the autumn of that year. However, because the publisher had bought the copyright, Austen made little money from its success. One of the most-loved narratives of all time, the novel of manners has inspired countless adaptations and has sold over 20 million copies. REFERENCES: Gilson A3; Keynes 3; Sadleir 62b; Tinker 204; Grolier, English 138

View 1 of Lot 1025: [Austen, Jane] | "It is a truth universally acknowledged..."

[Jane Austen] Mansfield Park: A Novel. Printed For T. Egerton, 1814 3 volumes, 12mo (170 x 101 mm). Half-titles, 1p. publisher's advertisement at end of volume III; light spotting, mainly to volume I, lower outer corner of flyleaf in volume II lacking, short tear to lower gutter of volume III, closed marginal tears. Quarter morocco over marbled boards, "Ardencaple" gilt-lettered along hinges; rebacked, corners bumped, covers lightly worn. First edition of Austen’s third novel—the Duke of Argyle's copy. Mansfield Park sold out within the year of publication, with John Murray later “express[ing] astonishment that so small an edition of such a work should have been sent into the world” (Gilson, p. 49). Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813) had both been drafted in Austen’s twenties and later revised for publication; Mansfield Park, by contrast, was the first of her novels to be fully composed at Chawton Cottage, during what was arguably her most productive period. Kathryn Sutherland has noted that “for some months in 1811 she had three novels on the go” (Sutherland 124). Though it sold quickly, the novel attracted no reviews until 1821 and remained critically under-examined until Robert Chapman’s landmark 1923 scholarly edition, which appended Elizabeth Inchbald’s Lovers’ Vows , thus underscoring its intertextual importance. Without question, Mansfield Park represents a deliberate departure from the “light & bright & sparkling” tone Austen herself associated with Pride and Prejudice. In the morally serious figure of Fanny Price, who resists both patriarchal pressure and family coercion, Austen broadened the scope of female agency in fiction. The novel also gestures beyond the drawing room to the wider world: Sir Thomas Bertram’s Antigua estate, Mrs. Norris’s allusions to its profits, and the Portsmouth setting all anchor the narrative in the realities of Britain’s imperial economy and the Napoleonic Wars. Far from narrow in scope, Mansfield Park engages with both domestic morality and global commerce, and stands today as one of Austen’s most ambitious and socially incisive works. This copy bears early Scottish provenance, from the libraries of Archibald Smith, barrister and amateur mathematician, and John Douglas Edward Henry Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll of Ardencaple Castle. Given Mansfield Park's references to colonialism, it is interesting to note that Campbell, along with other British and Irish Noblemen, established the British American Colonization Association. REFERENCE: Garside and Schöwerling 1814:11; Gilson A6; Keynes 6; Sadleir 62c; Sutherland, Kathryn, Jane Austen’s Textual Lives: from Aeschylus to Bollywood (Oxford: Oxford university Press, 2005) PROVENANCE: John Douglas Edward Henry Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll (1777-1847) (ownership inscription to title-page, Ardencaple lettered in gilt to covers) — Mr. J. Chappel (?) (ownership inscription to title-page) — Archibald Smith (1813-1872)

View 1 of Lot 6: [Jane Austen] | First edition of "Mansfield Park," Austen's third novel

[jane austen] | first edition of "mansfield park," austen's third novel

[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

View 1 of Lot 9: [Jane Austen] | The first American edition of "Pride and Prejudice"

[jane austen] | the first american edition of "pride and prejudice"

Austen, Jane Elizabeth Bennet; or, Pride and Prejudice. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832 2 volumes., 12mo in 6s (198 × 114 mm, uncut as issued). Vol. I with the scarce integral advertisement leaf; Vol. II lacking preliminary blank, tape repairs to verso of title of Vol. II, usual foxing and browning, some scattered stains, without publisher's catalogue. Publisher’s quarter brown cloth, drab boards; rubbed and worn with some loss, text blocks a little shaken and splitting in Vol. II. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” — Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice First American (from the third London) edition, one of only 750 sets printed. The author is not named, but is identified on the title-page as "the Author of 'Sense and Sensibility,' &c." Rare: only a handful of copies have appeared at auction during the last century. REFERENCES: Keynes 10; Gilson (1969) passim; Gilson (1982) B2

View 1 of Lot 1032: Austen, Jane | First American edition of Austen's most beloved book

austen, jane | first american edition of austen's most beloved book

Property from an Important American Collection [Austen, Jane] Mansfield Park: A Novel. Printed For T. Egerton, 1814 3 volumes, 12mo (185 x 110 mm). Half-titles, 1pp. publisher's advertisements at end of volume III for the second editions of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice; volume I with a few closed marginal tears, minor and scattered foxing, F1 with spot of browning affecting integrity of the margin, longer tear repaired to Q1, final gathering loose but holding with some marginal worming; volume II with very occasional and scattered foxing; volume III with occasional and scattered spotting, gathering F incorrectly bound but with all pages present. Original blue-gray paper-covered boards with darker blue-green paper spines, originally devoid of labels (as the Rhiwlas copy) with title and volume number on each spine in contemporary manuscript; extremities rubbed, chips to spines, joints weak but chords holding. Housed in custom blue morocco-backed case and folding chemise.

View 1 of Lot 1004: [Austen, Jane] | Mansfield Park, the first edition in original boards — a rare survival

[austen, jane] | mansfield park, the first edition in original boards — a rare survival

Austen, Jane Elizabeth Bennet; or, Pride and Prejudice. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832 2 vols., 12mo in 6s (195 × 114 mm, uncut as issued). Vol. 1 with the scarce integral advertisement leaf, vol. 1 lacking pp. 45–48, which are supplied in sympathetic facsimile, usual foxing and browning, some scattered stains. Publisher’s quarter brown cloth, drab boards, plain wove pastedowns and one free endpaper, 14-pages of publisher’s adverts bound at end of vol. 1; rebacked to style. Cloth folding-case. First American (from the third London) edition, one of only 750 sets printed. The author is not named, but is identified on the title-page as "the Author of 'Sense and Sensibility,' &c." Rare: only a handful of copies have appeared at auction during the last century. REFERENCE: Keynes 10; Gilson (1969) passim; Gilson (1982) B2 PROVENANCE: Mrs. M. L. Lyon (signature, nineteenth-century, on page [5] in each volume, replacing an earlier signature clipped away, perhaps her maiden name) — Robert Hartshorne (1866–1927, of Highlands, New Jersey, Grolier Club 1903–27) — by descent, sold 2021

View 1 of Lot 118: Austen, Jane | The first American edition of Pride and Prejudice

austen, jane | the first american edition of pride and prejudice

Property from an Important American Collection [Austen, Jane] Sense and Sensibility: A Novel. Printed for the Author by C. Rowarth [...] and published by T. Egerton, 1811 3 volumes, 12mo (184 x 111 mm). Half-titles, uncut; faint ownership inscription to upper margin of volume I title, light spotting, volume I with faint dampstaining to a few leaves relegated primarily to the upper margins. Original blue-gray paper-covered boards, cream paper spines, labels to spines; extremities rubbed, loss chipping to heads and feet of spines, second volume skillfully rebacked with label in facsimile, light soiling, corners bumped. Morocco clamshell box. The first edition in the original boards of Austen's debut novel. "I am never too busy to think of S & S. I can no more forget it, than a mother can forget her sucking child; & I am much obliged to you for your enquiries." Jane Austen in a letter to her sister, Cassandra, 25 April 1811. Started as early as 1795 at Steventon, when Austen was 19, the novel follows the three Dashwood sisters through the trials and tribulations of love, heartbreak and financial troubles in late eighteenth century England. It was originally titled Elinor & Marianne, and allegedly began in epistolary form. Austen revised the text in 1797-8 into narrative style and again in 1809-10. According to the author's brother Henry, it was only with "extreme difficulty" that Austen's circle was able to convince her to publish her first book. Eventually, Austen paid for the book to be published herself, spending more than a third of her annual income on the publication costs. She chose to remain anonymous, with the title simply stating "By a Lady". At 35, Austen's "suckling child" was published at last. The investment was a success, and by July 1813 the first edition was sold out, and Austen wrote to another of her six brothers: "it has brought me £140 besides the Copyright, if that should ever be of any value. - I have now therefore written myself into £250..." (8 July 1813). A second edition followed in October 1813, Pride and Prejudice having been published earlier that year. An exquisite survival. REFERENCES: Garside and Schöwerling 1811:16; Gilson A1; Keynes 1; Sadleir 62a

View 1 of Lot 1002: [Austen, Jane] | A handsome first edition in boards of the author's debut novel

[austen, jane] | a handsome first edition in boards of the author's debut novel

[Austen, Jane] Northanger Abbey; and Persuasion; By the Author of "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield Park," &c. With a Biographical Notice of the Author. In Four Volumes. London: John Murray. Vols. I and II printed by C. Roworth Bull-yard; Vols. III and IV by T. Davison, Lombard Street, Whitefriars, [December 1817] 1818 4 vols., 12mo, (170 x 110 mm). Half-titles (between the preliminary leaves and first page of text in each volume, as issued), paper watermarked "AP | 1816 | 2", early ownership inscription in ink to titles and later embossed library stamps to initial blanks; the title page of vol. I starting to separate at the foot of the gutter, occasional faint spotting, minor marginal chips to one or two corners. Later full olive calf, boards with gilt-stamped fleurons at corners and blind-ruled triple fillet border, gilt-tooled spines in six compartments, each volume with two gilt-lettered red leather spine labels, edges and turn-ins decorated in blind; some faint scuffing and soiling to boards, a few small spots of wear at extremities, spines uniformly toned to a light brown, some unobtrusive restorations, a vertical scratch and small spot of wear in the rear board of volume I. First editions, published posthumously, of Austen's final works, containing the earliest biography of Jane Austen, and the first time her name appeared in one of her books. “The following pages are the production of a pen which has already contributed in no small degree to the entertainment of the public; and when the public, which has not been insensible to the merits of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma, shall be informed that the hand which guided that pen is now mouldering in the grave, perhaps a brief account of Jane Austen will be read with a kindlier sentiment than simple curiosity.” — Biographical Notice of the Author Jane Austen initially tried to publish her first finished novel, Northanger Abbey, then titled Susan, in 1803. Austen’s elder brother Henry, acting as her agent, sold the manuscript to the bookseller Crosby & Co for £10 but, after advertising the book, they never published it. Finally, thirteen years later in the Spring of 1816, Henry was able to buy back the manuscript. In the “Advertisement by the Authoress to Northanger Abbey,” Austen addresses her novel’s strangely delayed publication history, barely attempting to hide her contempt: “Why the business proceeded no farther, the author has never been able to learn. That any bookseller should think it worth while to purchase what he did not think it worth while to publish seems extraordinary.” Once she got her manuscript back, Austen likely reworked parts of the novel, wrote the aforementioned “Advertisement,” and renamed it Catherine, before finally deciding to shelve the project. She died soon after. Six months later, Henry renamed the book Northanger Abbey and published it as the first two volumes in a four-volume set. The story is a romantic bildungsroman, a book about reading, and a satire of the then popular genre of gothic fiction. It centers on a very normal seventeen-year-old girl named Catherine Morland, who has an overactive imagination from reading too many novels, especially gothic fiction and romance novels, such as Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho, Fanny Burney’s Cecilia and Camilla, and Maria Edgeworth’s Belinda. The third and fourth volumes in the set contain Persuasion, the final novel by Austen. It was composed over a relatively short timeframe, from 1815 to 1816. In a letter to her niece, Fanny Knight, from March of 1817, Austen wrote that she had a novel "which may appear about a twelvemonth hence." After her death at the age of forty-one on 18 July 1817, the novel remained unpublished and untitled. Six months later, Henry named it Persuasion and published it with Northanger Abbey in December of 1817, though the title page gives its date as 1818. In the intervening centuries, these posthumous works—Persuasion in particular—have been the source of much critical attention. Two manuscript chapters of Persuasion hold the unique position of being the only surviving holograph pages of a novel that Austen completed and intended for publication, offering Austen scholars the ability to glimpse her creative process. Besides adding or changing the books’ titles, Henry Austen is also credited with writing the "Biographical Notice of the Author,” which appears in Volume I of this set. Up until that point, all four of Austen’s novels had been published anonymously. As such, Henry’s biography revealed Jane to her public, naming her and providing her readers with a few basic facts about her life. However, likely in the hopes of protecting her, Henry wrote a sanitized profile of his sister made up of minor facts, vague anecdotes, and a few falsehoods. For example, he writes that, “Everything came finished from her pen; for on all subjects she had ideas as clear as her expressions were well chosen.” Despite its faults, the “Statement” remains an important source for any author who attempts to write Austen’s biography—a notoriously difficult task due to the scarcity of available information. All things considered, Henry’s biggest lie may have been his statement that, “short and easy will be the task of the mere biographer.” A complete copy of Austen's final two published works, as issued with all four half titles. REFERENCES Gilson A9; Sutherland, Kathryn, Jane Austen's textual Lives: from Aeschylus to Bollywood. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005; Kelly, Helena. Jane Austen, the Secret Radical. New York: Vintage Books, 2018 PROVENANCE C. Langston (contemporary signature on title) — A. J. V. Radford (embossed stamp)

View 1 of Lot 1050: [Austen, Jane] | First edition of Austen's final novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion

[austen, jane] | first edition of austen's final novels, northanger abbey and persuasion

Sense and Sensibility: a novel. T. Egerton for the author, 1813

[austen, jane.]

Mansfield Park:  A Novel. By the Author of "Sense and Sensibility," and "Pride and Prejudice." London: T. Egerton, 1814

Mansfield Park:  A Novel. By the Author of "Sense and Sensibility," and "Pride and Prejudice." London: T. Egerton, 1814 3 volumes, 12mo (6 5/8 x 4 in.; 167 x 102 mm). Half-titles, paper watermarked 1812; light scattered foxing, a few short marginal tears in vol. 1, long tear to vol. 1/O1 affecting 2 lines of text repaired, vol. 2 lacks final blank, small oxidized spot touching a few letters on vol. 2/D7, vol. 3/G5 stained. Crimson straight-grained morocco paneled gilt, by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, the spines in six compartments gilt, edges gilt.

austen, jane

Sense and Sensibility: A Novel. By a Lady. London: Printed for the Author and Published by T. Egerton, 1811

Sense and Sensibility: A Novel. By a Lady. London: Printed for the Author and Published by T. Egerton, 1811 3 volumes, 12mo (6 5/8 x 4 in.;167 x 102 mm). Half-titles, paper watermarked is | 1810 and 1808; all volumes lack final blanks, 2 minor marginal tears in vol. 1, lower right corner of E9 in vol. 1 remargined, repair to marginal tear on C3 of vol. 3. Crimson straight-grained morocco paneled gilt, by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, the spines in six comparments gilt, edges gilt.

Pride and Prejudice: A  Novel. By the Author of "Sense and Sensibility." London: Printed for T. Egerton, 1813

Pride and Prejudice: A  Novel. By the Author of "Sense and Sensibility." London: Printed for T. Egerton, 1813 3 volumes, 12mo (6 5/8 x 4 in.; 167 x 102 mm). Half-titles, paper watermarked 1808 and 1812; vol. 3 lacking final blank, a few short marginal tears, minor losses to 5 lower outer corners, 2 repairs to marginal tears with residual staining (one touching 4 lines of text on O6 in vol. 1). Crimson straight-grained morocco paneled gilt, by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, the spines in six compartments gilt, edges gilt; head of spine of vol. 3 slightly chipped.   

Pride and Prejudice: A Novel. By the Author of "Sense and Sensibility." London: Printed for T. Egerton, 1813

Pride and Prejudice: A Novel. By the Author of "Sense and Sensibility." London: Printed for T. Egerton, 1813 3 volumes, 12mo (6 7/8 x 3 7/8 in.; 173 x 98 mm). Half-title in vol. 3 only, watermarks dated 1808 and 1812 in all three volumes, indistinct monogrammed watermark at O2 in vol. 3; light scattered foxing, loss to lower corner of B11 and minor tear to lower right corner of K7 in vol. 1, Corner of C6 in vol. 2 torn, last 4 lines on L4v in vol. 2  faded. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards, red morocco lettering pieces, black morocco numbering pieces; rebacked, boards rubbed. Half green morocco folding case.

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