Jane Austen: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Mint ICL Edition!

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for a Jane Austen fan (or someone who should be a fan???? Here it is – or part of it!!!! Buy Pride and Prejudice and its companions listed by AllTheRightBooks this week and give someone a very special gift…one they’ll always cherish!!!!

The International Collectors Library was a publishing program that ran from the late 1940s through the early 1960s (with a brief revival in the’70s), dedicated to preserving "immortal masterworks of the past and significant books of our time...the great classics of fiction, history, biography, poetry, drama, travel, and adventure...clothed in bindings truly worthy of their imperishable contents."

The ICL books are notable for their exceptional high quality in cover design, paper, and printing. The covers are leather-like with 24K gilt designs, adaptations of historic bindings designed by some of the great artisans of centuries past, often for the collections of monarchs or other notables. The paper is unusually high quality, heavier than most other books; many have gold-coated edges. Each book has a silk marking ribbon.

This volume is bound in the ICL's "Louis XVI" style, a beautiful dark green with 24k gilt border and lettering. It re-creates a binding designed in 1783 by Nicolas-Denis Dérome, on the special order of the French king for his young son, the Dauphin (French for Crown Prince), and used exclusivelyfor a series of classical volumes for the young prince's education! The re-creation is the work of a 20th century American artist, Rafael Palacios, reflecting the elegant taste of a by-gone era. The book measures about 8-1/2" x 5-3/4" and has 282 pages.

This copy is in excellent, near-mint condition. The cover shows a very little wear at the corners, but generally is about as good as you can ask for a half-century-old book (there is no copyright or edition date, but I’d guess it dates from the 1950s). Inside, it’s just about mint: no marks, torn pages, names written/stamped, or other flaws. The silk place-keeping ribbon is a bit raveled at the loose end, but that’s as bad as it gets. This edition is unfortunately not illustrated.
I can’t testify to its history all the way back to its publication, but for the last few years it’s been in a smoke-free environment.

Jane Austen (1771-1817) achieved, in her relatively short life, a literary output of only six novels and a few fragments she never finished, but today she is acknowledged to have been among the foremost novelists -- not just "woman novelists" or "women's novelists," either -- in the English language. Pride and Prejudice, first published as a novel in 1813, is the most popular of her novels and, though experts ("Janeists") argue about the relative merits of each, most readers think P&P is the best.

Perhaps that’s because we recognize in Elizabeth Bennet, variously called "Eliza" or "Lizzie in the story, is an incredibly modern, spirited woman to whom today's readers, female and male alike, can easily relate. Yet Eliza is no corset-burning revolutionary, not even a 19th century feminist. She's not seeking equality -- not even the right to hold a job, much less equal pay for equal work! She accepts and never questions the strictures of her time, even when they threaten to make her life a miserable one. But she demonstrates that intelligence, spirit, understanding, and -- of course -- love could conquer even the limitations imposed on women by 19th century society.

Many of us know the story, if not from reading then from one of two very good television adaptations of recent years (my preference is for the A&E/BBC 6-hour series (recently re-run as part of the new PBS “Masterpiece” series); others may like the BBC's own 4-hour version), or from the two big-screen film versions: the original which had a fabulous cast but seriously (and fatally) reworked the plot and dispensed with most of Austen's sparkling dialog; or the 2005 remake, with a good-to-excellent cast but serious (and in my view unsuccessful) modernizing the Bennets’ world and manners. But briefly:

The Bennet family, minor landed gentry, have five daughters and no male heir; under the "entail" laws of the time the family estate -- house, furnishings, land, and even library -- will, when Mr. Bennet dies, go to the nearest male relative, a clergyman-cousin called Mr. Collins. The 5 Bennet sisters will have very little wealth to take into their marriages, or to support themselves if -- horror! -- they don't find husbands. Career options for young women were limited to being a governess to the daughters of some privileged family (if they were well educated and lucky enough to find a position), becoming a servant, or…well, the world’s oldest profession was always available, though certainly not desirable. So the quest for a suitable spouse occupies most of these young ladies’ time (hmmm…guess some things haven’t changed much, after all!)

Jane, the eldest and a good-natured beauty, attracts the interest of Mr. Bingley, a wealthy young man who moves into the area; but his sisters and domineering friend, Mr. Darcy, persuade him of her lack of interest. The proud and silent, Mr. Darcy, meanwhile, finds himself unaccountably and unavoidably attracted to, Lizzy,who considers him proud and overbearing and "the last man" she "could ever be persuaded to marry" -- despite his very substantial wealth.

Their dithering mother, Mrs. Bennet, wishes Jane well with Mr. Bingley, but wants Lizzyto marry Mr. Collins, so that the family home and estate will remain, in a way, in the family. Lizzy, of course, can't stand Mr. Collins, who is (not to put too fine a point on it) a pompous ass. And then there are the younger sisters, none of whom is exactly a jewel in the family crown, and one of whom creates the potential for irreversible family disgrace….

The plot involves these and other obstacles to the marital happiness of the Bennet girls, and its outcome provides eventual resolution of romantic difficulties, shows Mr. Darcy to be not just human, but thoroughly decent, and causes Lizzie to realize that first impressions can be, well, prejudiced.

Calling All Janeites!!!!
(that's Jane Austen fans) and others who know one or ought to be one!!!!
If you're a fan, or you know one, or you saw the “Complete Jane Austen” series on PBS’s “Masterpiece” series (or you saw that not-so-great movie version a couple of years ago), or you're homeschooling a young person and would like to introduce him (yes, guys read Austen, too!) or her to this superb English novelist (and notable 19th century woman!)....
Here's a beautiful edition of Emma -- very hard to find in the ICL edition -- for your library (or for someone you might want to give it to, maybe for Christmas!!!!!!

See also the seller’s listings for two other Jane Austen novels in matching editions: Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, also offered by AllTheRightBooks this week!!!! Buy all 3 at BIN price (or equal or higher bids) and receive $2.00 off each volume.. Buy 2 of the 3 or all 3 at prices below the BIN listed and receive a $1.00 per volume discount, both taken at closing. Also, since Emma needs a bookplate (see description), I will provide a set of three matching blank bookplates to purchaser of all three Austen books so the whole set can “match.”

The Nitty-Gritty: Please Read The Following Carefully!!!!!

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