Jane Austen's Works [Sense and Sensibility; Pride and Prejudice; Mansfield Park; Emma; Northanger Abbey; Persuasion].

London: Robert Riviére & Son, [ca. 1934], 1898 Six titles bound in five volumes. Finely bound by Riviére, with half blue calf, blue marbled paper-covered boards, five raised bands to spines with compartments lettered and decorated in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, and tissue-guarded frontispieces to all volumes (Sense and Sensibility with frontispiece portrait of Austen, other volumes with frontispiece illustrations by William Cubitt Cooke). About fine set, with some toning to spines and top edges of boards, very mild edgewear, and some light ink staining to rear endpapers of Mansfield Park. Overall, a very well-preserved set that presents beautifully. This set includes Austen's six complete novels - Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), and Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey (1818), and Persuasion (1818) - in five volumes (Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously, are included in the same volume). Austen is well-known for the social criticism she weaves into her novels, using irony and realism to highlight gender roles in marriage and society. Interestingly, the novels that Austen published within her lifetime referred to her, the author, anonymously, her only identifier being her gender and the other books she had written. It was only upon the publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion after her untimely death that a biographical note written by her brother identified Jane Austen as the author of her first four novels, which have since earned their place as cornerstones of British literature. This set was published and bound by the prestigious English bookbinder, Robert Riviére. Rivére first published Jane Austen's Works in the 1920s with frontispieces in each volume by Charles E. Brock. In the 1930s, he switched to illustrator William Cubitt Cooke (1866 - 1951), who illustrated J. M. Dent's groundbreaking 1892 edition of Austen's complete novels. Today, Riviére bindings are highly sought after in the world of antiquarian book collecting because of their exceptional artistry and craftsmanship. . Hard Cover. Near Fine.