The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen (Six Volume Set) [Hardcover]

Jane Austen (Author), R. W. Chapman (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Oxford Illustrated Austen | Publication Date: November 17, 1988

"R.W. Chapman's fine new edition has, among its other merits, the advantage of waking the Jane Austenite up.... The novels continue to live their own wonderful internal life...freshened and enriched by contact with the life of facts. His illustrations are beyond all praise."--E.M. Forster, Abinger Harvest. This beautiful set provides the definitive text of Austen's six great comic masterpieces and her minor works (the latter include three high-spirited efforts written at about age fifteen; a charming fragment, The Watsons, which has been thought to be a sketch for Emma; and a tantalizing fragment, Sanditon, written in the last year of her life). All six volumes feature splendid early 19th-century illustrations as well as Chapman's detailed explanatory notes. Chapman has collated all the editions published in the author's lifetime and previously unpublished manuscripts, establishing an authoritative text that retains the punctuation, the spelling, and division into volumes of the originals. In addition, at the end of each work he supplies notes on textual matters and appendixes on such matters as the modes of address, or characters, or carriages and travel, as these seem warranted by the text. Additional changes have been incorporated by Mary Lascelles.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'an appropriately restrained and tasteful package' Sunday Times

About the Author

Jane Austen (1775-1817), one of Britain's best-loved authors, led an uneventful life. Her novels deal with the relationships and manners of the English middle-class, and she wrote with a wit and sharpness of observation that have made her famous to this day.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 2832 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3rd edition (November 17, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192547070
• ISBN-13: 978-0192547071
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Though the domain of Jane Austen's novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775, she was educated mainly at home. At an early age she began writing sketches and satires of popular novels for her family's entertainment. As a clergyman's daughter from a well-connected family, she had an ample opportunity to study the habits of the middle class, the gentry, and the aristocracy. At twenty-one, she began a novel called "The First Impressions" an early version of Pride and Prejudice. In 1801, on her father's retirement, the family moved to the fashionable resort of Bath. Two years later she sold the first version of Northanger Abby to a London publisher, but the first of her novels to appear was Sense and Sensibility, published at her own expense in 1811. It was followed by Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). After her father died in 1805, the family first moved to Southampton then to Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Despite this relative retirement, Jane Austen was still in touch with a wider world, mainly through her brothers; one had become a very rich country gentleman, another a London banker, and two were naval officers. Though her many novels were published anonymously, she had many early and devoted readers, among them the Prince Regent and Sir Walter Scott. In 1816, in declining health, Austen wrote Persuasion and revised Northanger Abby, Her last work, Sandition, was left unfinished at her death on July 18, 1817. She was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Austen's identity as an author was announced to the world posthumously by her brother Henry, who supervised the publication of Northanger Abby and Persuasion in 1818.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

137 of 147 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of the complete editions, October 26, 2005

By 

J. Fitzpatrick "Jim" (Cincinnati, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen (Six Volume Set) (Hardcover)

Not long ago (once upon a time), one might correctly have declared Chapman's edition of Jane's complete works as 'the definitive collection.'

And today, although one might find more 'meat' in the Norton editions, these books remain a pleasure to pick up and hunker with for a bit of a read. The size of each volume fits my hand comfortably enough and the weight is light enough to allow the other hand the freedom to grasp a petite glass of red wine (with, perhaps, a bit of sliced fruit siddled comfortably on the side).

Each volume has a small bundle of bonuses (not unlike an expanded DVD!). I like the pictures of various buggies on which folks jolted around way back in the '90s (the 1790s, naturally). And for you fashion freaks, Chapman gives a couple of nice sketches of proper attire for a ball.

Fun stuff.

But the essence remains the words of Jane Austen. And these volumes offer you just that and in a nice package, too.

You won't go wrong with these books.

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Muddyboo's Misunderstanding, February 17, 2008

By 

Edward C. Hobbs (Wellesley, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen (Six Volume Set) (Hardcover)

Muddyboo's review claimed that he had twice received this set with a flaw at the bottom of every page, "an erroneous word" there by mistake.

Apparently he is unacquainted with books printed in the 19th century and early 20th century. They regular print, at the bottom right of every page, the first word of the following page. This was believed to be helpful to the reader.

It is NOT a "flaw" nor a misprint. It show how exactly correct this wonderful edition is. It is much the finest edition of the many editions of Austen's works I personally own.

65 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother with this edition, February 9, 2008

By 

Victoria Deni - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen (Six Volume Set) (Hardcover)

Yes, Oxford alright, but a facsimile edition of the first printings from Jane Austen's own lifetime plus a facsimile of the Chapman edition from 1923 (that's as much as I could make out; it requires quite an amount of historical criticism in itself to reconstruct this edition) In other words, it has charm but for our modern eyes, spoiled by superclean desktop publishing, the print is too small, too narrow and WAAAAAY too irregular. I could accept this if it were either an original first edition, or else, if this edition were really cheap. But it isn't. In fact, it's quite costly. My advice: go with the Barnes and Noble editions; they are set in clean type and the introductions are interesting and readable. Plus, they cost a fraction of this edition