The Novels of Jane Austen, in ten volumes. Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion

London: J M Dent and Company, 1892 A very good to near fine set of the limited large paper edition of Austen's novels illustrated by William C Cooke. 150 sets were printed, of which 100 were for England and 50 for America. This set is no 66. This edition, edited by Reginald Brimley Johnson is the first Austen edition with commentary, and the first volume of Sense and Sensibility contains a biography of the author. The set originally belonged to Andrew Pears of Spring Grove in Isleworth and has his armorial bookplate with some shelf notes to front pastedown endpaper of each volume. Andrew Pears was a member of the Pears soap family, being a great grandson of the inventor of the transparent soap, and was a Liberal politician. He was responsible for the renovation and enlargement of Spring Grove. The set is bound in a light brown buckram cloth with gilt titles to spines. The spines and board edges have darkened and the boards have some colour variation. All are sound, clean and bright with slight cocking of the spines to the front. Corners with relatively little wear and slight turning. The paper used is high quality and watermarked 'Spalding'. Side and bottom page edges are untrimmed. All have a tissue-guarded frontispiece ( in the first volume - Sense and Sensibility part I, this is a portrait of Jane Austen by Johann Zoffany - and in the remainder the frontispieces are illustrations by Cooke) and a decorative title. All have 2 further Cooke illustrations with tissue-guards bar Sense and Sensibility part I which has 3. Each novel has half title to the set; title; note of publication and limited edition number; and a preface by Brimley Johnson. All the books are in very good to near fine condition. In detail - Vol I, Sense and Sensibility Part I: pp xxxii; text 1-163; 4 plates. Vol II, S&S Pt 2: pp 1-218; 3 plates. Vol III, Pride and Prejudice Pt 1: vii; text 1-191; 3 plates. Vol IV, P&P Pt 2: pp 210; 3 plates. Vol V, Mansfield Park Pt I: vi; text 1-245; 3 plates. Vol VI, MP Pt 2: text 1-249; 3 plates. Vol VII, Emma Pt I: vi; text 1-245; 3 plates. Vol VIII, Emma pt 2: text 1-258; 3 plates. Vol IX, Northanger Abbey: v; text 1-245; 3 plates. Vol X, Persuasion: iv; text 1-261; 3 plates. Contents exceptionally clean with the occasional small mark and there is light toning to free endpapers. There is some spotting at the uncut page edges - generally the side edge. All the plates are tissue guarded - some with guard attached at the top, but not the bottom. Persuasion has a couple of pinprick indentations at the bottom of the back board and a small bump at the top spine end at the joint with the back board. Board size: 20.7 cm x 13 cm. Please enquire if you would like to see additional images.