The Novels of Jane Austen and Jane Austen - a Life

Individual title(s): Sense and Sensibility (1811) [561 p.]. Pride and Prejudice (1813) [476 p.]. Manfield Park (1814) [429 p.]. Emma (1816) [436 p.]. Northanger Abbey (1817) [216 p.]. Persuasion (1817) [227 p.]. Jane Austen - A Life (1997) [341 p.]. About this item: 2, 686 Pp. total. (1) 4to, (6) 8vo. 3/4 cloth hardcovers, gilt title stamped/embossed on light gray cloth spine covers, colored paper [antique white, blue, green, lavender, marigold] covered boards, matte color photo illustrated dust jackets, profuse black/white illustrations throughout volumes. 8vo dimensions: 8.25 H x 5.75 D x 1-2 (8 overall; 6 vols.) W inches. 4to dimensions: 9.5 H x 6.75 D x 1.25 W inches. About the author: At the time of Jane Austen's birth in 1775, few would have predicted she was to become one of the most enduringly popular writers of any era. Born the seventh of eight children in rural Hampshire, England, Austen received the main portion of her literary education from her father, the Reverend George Austen, who encouraged her to write and to read the premier novelists of the day, such as Stern, Fielding, and Richardson. Otherwise, Austen's upbringing was as far as we know, markedly uneventful; like many of her heroines, she was a charming, attractive girl of small means who had many suitors but few chances--or little inclination--to marry. (Austen accepted only one proposal of marriage, reneging the next day.). She spent the greater part of her life among her large and spirited family, visiting friends and relatives in London and neighboring towns and composing her novels in the family parlor. Austen's fiction is beloved for its witty, charming, and detailed depictions of everyday loves, losses, and cruelties. Besides the novels present, listed above, her juvenilia and fragments of uncompleted novels have also been published. Also remaining is her sizable correspondence with her older sister and closest companion, Cassandra, and several letters to nieces, nephews, and family friends. Jane Austen died of Addison's disease in 1817. CONDITION NOTES: Fine; book and dust jacket are in light to be expected wear with age and use. Gift quality.