|
Jane Austen's Emma |
||
|
|
"Emma
seems the most English of English novels and beyond question one of the
very best. More than Pride and Prejudice, it is Austen's
masterpiece, the largest triumph of her vigorous art." --Harold Bloom |
|
|
AUSTEN, Jane. Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes, by the Author of "Pride and Prejudice." London: Printed for John Murray, 1816. 12mo, contemporary three-quarter calf rebacked with original spines laid down. Three volumes. $20,000. "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her..." First edition in contemporary binding, one of only 2000 copies printed. Bookplates of John Angerstein (1735-1823), noted merchant, philanthropist, and collector of fine art whose collection of paintings formed the nucleus of England's National Gallery. Without half-titles (as usual). Light stain to two pages, text uncommonly clean with only light scattered foxing, initial blanks in Vol. III loose; some rubbing to bindings. A very handsome copy in contemporary bindings of one of the great classics of English literature. |