Adelphi edition of the works of Jane Austen, The

London: Martin Secker, 1923. The Adelphi Edition of Jane Austen Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe

AUSTEN, Jane. The Adelphi edition of the works of Jane Austen. London: Martin Secker, [1923].

Seven small quarto volumes (6 3/4 x 4 7/8 inches; 171 x 124 mm.). Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility; Northanger Abbey; Mansfield Park; Emma; Persuasion; Lady Susan and The Watsons.

Bound ca. 1923 by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in three quarter orange Morocco over patterned boards ruled in gilt. Spines with five raised bands decoratively tooled in gilt, three brown morocco labels lettered in gilt, matching endpapers, top edge gilt. Spines a little dull and very slightly rubbed. A very good set, that includes, as a seventh volume Lady Susan and the Watsons.

Lady Susan is an epistolary novella by Jane Austen, likely written around 1794 but unpublished until 1871. This early, complete work - never submitted for publication by the author - follows the manipulative schemes of its titular character. The Watsons is an unfinished novel, probably begun around 1803. While the reasons for Austen’s abandonment of the work remain uncertain, various theories have been proposed, and several authors have since attempted to complete it. A continuation by Austen’s niece was published in 1850, while the original manuscript fragment appeared in print in 1871.

Lady Susan, with its dazzling and unconventional heroine - wicked, beautiful, intelligent, and irresistibly charismatic - is a bold and spirited melodrama imbued with the energy of the eighteenth century. The Watsons, written later and possibly set aside after the death of Austen’s father, is an engaging and charming story. Filled with vitality and hope, it explores the fortunes and romantic prospects of the Watson sisters in a quiet provincial town. (Inventory #: 06145)