Mansfield Park. by AUSTEN, Jane - 1833

London: Richard Bentley, 1833. First Bentley edition, in contemporary binding First Bentley edition, the third edition overall, and the first edition to be illustrated.
Mansfield Park was first published in 1814, with the second edition in 1816. In 1832-3 Richard Bentley bought the copyright to all Austen's novels, none of which had been republished since 1818, to include them in his Standard Novels series, of which this is no. XXVII. The Bentley illustrations, by the obscure Ferdinand Pickering, played an integral part in the reception of Austen's novels; according to one Austen scholar, they "promoted a sense that her novels were best understood as familial, female focused, and sensational. For decades, these illustrations would have served to steer readers away from the conclusion that Austen's fiction ought to be understood as social, comic, or didactic" (Davoney Looser, The Making of Jane Austen, 2017, p. 20). Octavo (162 x 98 mm). Contemporary half calf, spine lettered in gilt, compartments blocked in blind, marbled edges, light brown endpapers, marbled edges. Engraved vignette title and frontispiece by William Greatbach after Ferdinand Pickering. Bound without initial series title and terminal advertisements. Neat 19th-century bookseller's stamp to initial binder's blank. Lightly rubbed, front hinge expertly strengthened and rear hinge slightly split but holding, slight foxing (more pronounced to plates); a very good copy. Gilson D3.