This is Pride and Prejudice exactly as it appeared to its first readers. If you were living in Jane Austen’s England and encountering this work for the first time, the words would have sprung from these pages and between these covers, or boards. Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice (originally titled First Impressions) between October 1796 and August 1797. She was not yet twenty-one—the same age as her fictional heroine, Elizabeth Bennet. It was published in late January 1813 in a small edition of approximately 1500 copies. This book is one of those 1500 copies.
This special exhibition at the Folger features rare books from the collection of Stuart and Mimi Rose that present literary, cultural, and historical high points.
