"FOR WHAT DO WE LIVE, BUT TO MAKE SPORT FOR OUR NEIGHBORS, AND LAUGH AT THEM IN OUR TURN?": PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, THE FAMED "PEACOCK" EDITION, ILLUSTRATED BY HUGH THOMSON

(THOMSON, Hugh, illustrator) AUSTEN, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: George Allen, 1894. Octavo, publisher's elaborately gilt-decorated dark green pictorial cloth, all edges gilt. $9000.

First "Peacock" edition of Jane Austen's second and most popular novel, the first illustrated by Hugh Thomson, with 101 charming line drawings, in lovely publisher's elaborately gilt-decorated cloth depicting a peacock spreading its feathers.

"Elizabeth's own energy and defiance of character respond to Rousseau's and the popular notion of the pliant, submissive female… None of her novels delighted Jane Austen more than Pride and Prejudice… She had given a rare example of fiction as a highly intelligent form… This remains her most popular and widely translated novel" (Honan, 313-20). The illustrator of this lovely edition, Hugh Thomson, "takes first place… among the genteel book illustrators" (Harthan, 238). "His style reflected the nostalgia of the time, his fine line drawings of rural characters and gentle countrified society appealed to the imagination of the public" (Olivia Fitzpatrick). He had a knack for "period costumes, coaches and horses, and elegant furniture; and his brisk style give his work irresistible charm" (Hodnett, 218). With Preface by George Saintsbury. First published in 1813. This trade edition preceded by a limited large-paper edition of 275 copies. Gilson E78. Small bookseller's ticket.

A beautiful copy, with the cloth crisp and the gilt exceptionally bright.