[Austen, Jane] | A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel

[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)