"IT IS A TRUTH UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED, THAT A SINGLE MAN IN POSSESSION OF A GOOD FORTUNE MUST BE IN WANT OF A WIFE"

AUSTEN, Jane. Novels and Letters. New York and Philadelphia: Frank S. Holby, 1906. Twelve volumes. Octavo, three-quarter crimson calf and morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, green morocco spine labels, marbled boards and endpapers, uncut and partially unopened, top edges gilt. $7000.

Stoneleigh edition of Austen's writings, number 270 of 1250 copies, illustrated with over 60 color plates by C.E. and H.M. Brock, a splendid 12-volume set beautifully bound in crimson calf and morocco gilt.

Edited by R. Brimley Johnson, this esteemed edition includes all six of Austen's major novels, her letters, the unfinished novels Lady Susan and The Watsons, and a biographical and critical essay by William Lyon Phelps, famed Yale professor of English literature. C.E. Brock was "a specialist in delicate Regency-style period illustration, in the tradition of Hugh Thomson. For over 30 years he was regularly asked to illustrate the favorite literary adult classics of the 19th century" (Dalby, 58). His younger brother, H.M. Brock, painted landscapes and was more gifted as a humorous artist. "Although meticulous in signing their drawings, H.M.'s can usually be told apart by their thicker ink lines and bolder handling" (Houfe, 75). The Brocks first created these illustrations for publisher J.M. Dent in 1898. Gilson E106.

A fine set, handsomely bound.