Sense and Sensibility: A Novel. by AUSTEN, Jane - 1833

London: Richard Bentley,, 1833. First Bentley edition, in contemporary calf First Bentley edition, the third edition overall (pre-dating the first American edition by a few months), and the first edition to be illustrated; issued as the twenty-third in Bentley's Standard Novels series. Sense and Sensibility was first published in 1811, with the second edition in 1813. 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. 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). Duodecimo (161 x 100 mm). Contemporary calf, rebacked preserving original spine and black label, compartments and corners with blind floral devices, triple blind rule to covers, cloth hinge supports, new endpapers. Bound without initial series title and advertisements. Engraved vignette title and frontispiece by William Greatbach after Ferdinand Pickering. Some light foxing, contents gently toned with sporadic minor soiling, short nick at head of title page. A very good copy. Gilson D1.