Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson, 1900

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. New York: The Macmillan Co, 1900. Macmillan’s Illustrated Standard Novels, Later reprint. Illustrated by Hugh Thomson. Octavo. Original red cloth boards with burgundy floral design to cover, gilt titles to front board and spine, all edges gilt. With 40 black and white illustrations. 

Presented is a beautiful 1900 edition of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Published by The Macmillan Company, as part of their "Macmillian’s Illustrated Standard Novels" series, this is a scarce, early Hugh Thomson edition in decorative A. A. Turbayne designed binding. It has original red cloth boards with a burgundy stamped floral design to the front board and spine, gilt titles on the front board and spine, and all edges gilt. The book is further embellished with forty in-text illustrations by renowned artist Hugh Thompson. A jewel of a book, and a collectible edition, this 1900 edition was issued at the height of Austen’s popularity and celebration as part of 19th century literary canon. 

Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favorable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Austen’s use of biting irony, along with astute social commentary, have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars. 

With the publications of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), Austen achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818. Her six full-length novels were published anonymously and brought her only minimal success during her lifetime. 

After 1818, Austen’s novels remained out of print for 14 years until the publisher Richard Bentley purchased the rights to all six novels from Austen’s publisher T. Egerton and family members Henry and Cassandra Austen. In 1833, Bentley reissued the books as part of his “Standard Novels” series. At the time of the Bentley reissues, Jane Austen was still regarded as a niche writer. Only a few hundred copies of her books were published and reprinted over the years. When Bentley’s copyrights expired, other printers began to publish her works, yet book sales remained modest. It was not until the 1869 publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen, written by her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh, that interest in Jane Austen was renewed. 

It was serious literary analysis that placed Austen firmly within the literary canon, elevating her status to a writer worthy of study and analysis. In an 1870 North British Review, Richard Simpson wrote that Austen, “began by being an ironical critic; she manifested her judgment ... not by direct censure, but by the indirect method of imitating and exaggerating the faults of her models. ... Criticism, humour, irony, the judgment not of one that gives sentence but of the mimic who quizzes while he mocks, are her characteristics.” Twenty years later, Godwin Smith published the Life of Jane Austen, the first formal analysis of Jane Austen’s writing in 1890. In 1892, London publisher J. M. Dent issued the first collected edition of her works to include critical commentary, which resulted in very strong sales.

Just before the turn of the century, Austen’s popularity soared, with book sales to match. A 1895 edition of Pride and Prejudice was issued at the peak of Austen’s popularity and appreciation. It features illustrations by Hugh Thomson, an Irish artist whose popularity rose in the 1880s after illustrating Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford and several titles by Charles Dickens. Earlier editions of Pride and Prejudice usually included only one or two illustrations, usually as a frontispiece, yet this “Peacock” edition was the first to include illustrations throughout, fully integrating them into the story. Thomson’s ability to capture the spirit of the novel’s scenes in his lively, often humorous drawings provided readers with a visual link to the story and characters and helped make this edition a collector favorite.

After the success of the Peacock edition of Pride and Prejudice, Thomson went on to illustrate all six of Austen’s completed novels. His illustrated editions of Emma and Sense and Sensibility were published in 1896 by Macmillan and Co. with Mansfield Park and a combined edition of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion both published in 1897. The public was so ravenous for these "Macmillan’s Illustrated Standard Novels" editions that they received numerous printings. Sense and Sensibility, first issued in 1896, was reprinted in 1897, 1898, and 1900, as seen here. 

CONDITION:

Very good + condition. Octavo. Original red cloth boards with burgundy floral design to cover, titles to spine and and cover gilt, gilt page edges. Pages lightly toned, previous owner pencil inscription to front endpaper, spine gently rolled, spine cloth faded, minor wear and bumping to ends of spine and corners. Very mild split and a small amount of separation, though still tight and intact hinge, with previous repairs at front and back. 343 pp. 

Book Dimensions: 7 3/8” H x 5 1/4” W x 1 3/4” D. 

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.