This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest novelists of all time, Jane Austen. To honor her life’s work, legacy, and impact, The Folio Society has just published a landmark limited-edition set of The Complete Novels by Jane Austen in celebration of the occasion.
The Folio Society assembled an impressive group of writers and artists to create the finest edition of Jane Austen’s works possible. The Complete Novels by Jane Austen includes all six of Austen’s major titles: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. The box set is strictly limited to a run of 750 copies, priced at $1,250 a piece.
Every aspect of this edition was carefully considered and crafted with the utmost care. Each of the six novels includes a woodcut frontispiece, five linocut illustrations, and fifteen vignettes by painter, printmaker, and illustrator Sarah Young. Young’s delicate depictions bring a folkloric sensibility to Austen’s world. The books also feature a monogram commissioned from calligrapher Ruth Rowland, gilded edges, and a ribbon marker. Introductions for each novel have been written by Elena Ferrante, Sebastian Faulks, Lucy Worsley, Fay Weldon, Val McDermid, and Siri Hustvedt.
Mansfield Park
Pride & Prejudice
Emma
Sense & Sensibility
Persuasion
Each book is covered in silk-and-cotton jacquard cloth, woven by Stephen Walters, a luxury silk maker known for weaving the silk for Princess Diana’s iconic wedding dress. Graphic designer Emily Benton designed the box in which the set neatly stows.
This special box set is more than a collection of books, but a work of art in its own right, that celebrates exceptional book design while honoring a luminary.
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