Today In History: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Is Published

It is a truth universally acknowledged that, a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

-- Jane Austen, Chapter 1, Pride and Prejudice

Written by English author Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice was published in London, by T.  Egerton on January 28th, 1813 with positive reviews and would become a beloved classic in English literature. A romance novel, and also considered a novel of manners, the work in three volumes follows the lives of the Bennet family, in particular the second eldest daugher Elizabeth Bennett and her romantic interest in the aloof Fitzwilliam Darcy,  most often referred to as Mr. Darcy. The novel is a masterpiece of social irony and commentary on marriage, wealth, and class, where the truth and nobility of love emerge.

Since the 1800s, Pride and Prejudice has been translated into many languages; adapted to stage, screen, and other works of literature; and read in countless classrooms, commonly in the high school and/or college English curriculum.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Jane Austen: A Centenary Appreciation. (1917, Jul 29). New - York Tribune (1911-1922) 
• William Lyon Phelps: Daily Talk About Books and Authors: Pride and Prejudice. (1933, Nov 11). The Washington Post (1923-1954) 
• The Launching of "Pride and Prejudice". (1939, Dec 12). The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• Boedeke, H. (1996, Jan 14). The Look of Love: Emotions, Characters and Period Details Ring True in Sterling 'Pride and Prejudice'. Chicago Tribune (1963-1996) 
• Rawson, C. (1997, Sep 14). Miss Austen Regrets: A New Biography of This Microscopically Attentive Novelist Relies Heavily on Her Revealing Letters.  New York Times (1923-) 
• Weeks, B. (2007, Dec 16). Thoroughly Modern Jane: Jane Austen (1775-2007). The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Krishnaswami, N. (2012, Jan 28). 200 Years On, Austen Alive and Kicking. The Times of India (1861-) 
• Alter, A. (2013, Jan 25). Austen Power: To Mark the 200th Anniversary of 'Pride and Prejudice,' Novelists, Moviemakers and Scholars Are Releasing a Flood of New Homages to Cash in on the Bottomless Appetite for All Things Austen. Wall Street Journal (1923-) 
• Loucaides, D. (2013, Jan 26). Austen Country: Travel This Year Is the 200th Anniversary of 'Pride and Prejudice', So There Is No Better Time to Visit the Places Associated with Jane Austen. The Irish Times (1921-) 
• Johnson, D. (2013, Oct 13). Pride, Prejudice and Drudgery: The World of the People Who Laid the Fires, Cooked the Meals and Fetched the Horses for Jane Austen's Bennet Family. New York Times (1923-) 

Tips:

• Austen, J. (2015). The Complete Works of Jane Austen in One Volume : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Lady Susan, the Watson’s, Sandition, and the Complete Juvenilia. Engage Books. e-book.
• Austen, J., & Sicha, F. (1917). Pride and Prejudice. Ginn and Company. Closed Stacks Juvenile ; PZ3.A93 Pr16 1917
• Auyoung, E. (2018). When Fiction Feels Real: Representation and the Reading Mind (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. e-book.
• Migliorelli, J. (2022). Implied Irony in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice : To Be Mistress of Pemberley! Cambridge Scholars Publishing. e-book.
• Moler, K. L. (1989). Pride and Prejudice :  A Study in Artistic Economy. Gale. e-book.

Images:

• Pride and Prejudice Title Page, Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
• Portrait of Jane Austen, Courtesy of Canva

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