 Title page from the original 1811 edition | |
| Author | Jane Austen |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Romance novel |
| Publisher | Thomas Egerton, Military Library (Whitehall, London) |
Publication date | 30 October 1811[1] |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| OCLC | 44961362 |
| Followed by | Pride and Prejudice |
| Text | Sense and Sensibility at Wikisource |
Sense and Sensibility is the first novel by the English author Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; By A Lady appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (age 19) and Marianne (age 16½) as they come of age. They have an older half-brother, John, and a younger sister, Margaret (age 13).
The novel follows the three Dashwood sisters and their widowed mother as they are forced to leave the family estate at Norland Park and move to Barton Cottage, a modest home on the property of distant relative Sir John Middleton. There Elinor and Marianne experience love, romance, and heartbreak. The novel is set in South West England, London, and Sussex, probably between 1792 and 1797.[2]
The novel, which sold out its first print run of 750 copies in the middle of 1813, marked a success for its author. It had a second print run later that year. It was the first Austen title to be republished in England after her death, and the first illustrated Austen book produced in Britain, in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series of 1833.[3] The novel has been in continuous publication since 1811, and has many times been illustrated, excerpted, abridged, and adapted for stage, film, and television.[4]
- ^ "This day was published, in three vols. 12mo. price 15s. in boards, Sense and Sensibility, a Novel; By Lady A— Published by Thos. Egerton, Whitehall; and may be had of every bookseller in the United Kingdom". Pilot (London). 30 October 1811. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Le Faye, Deirdre (2002). Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels. London: Frances Lincoln Publishers. p. 155. ISBN 0-7112-1677-0.
- ^ Looser, Devoney (2017). The Making of Jane Austen. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1421422824.
- ^ Looser, Devoney (2017). The Making of Jane Austen. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 106–7, 219–20. ISBN 978-1421422824.