9. Pride and Prejudice documented society of the Regency Era in novel form
In January, 1813, an advertisement appeared in The Morning Chronicle, a popular London newspaper. It announced the publication of Pride and Prejudice at a price of 18 shillings. Published in three volumes, it received mostly favorable reviews. Those and the earlier success of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility caused it to rapidly sell out, and a second edition appeared later that year. The first foreign-language edition (French) also appeared that year. Despite the impressive sales, Austen received no royalties, having sold the copyright to her publisher, Thomas Egerton, for £110 (approximately $7,200 today). Nor did Austen’s name appear in the book when it first appeared. Instead, it was attributed to “the author of Sense and Sensibility“.
The novel, of a category known as novels of manners, offers a window into British society during the Regency Era. It depicts the relationships of marriage to money, education, and the legal system of the time, in which circumstances prevented women from inheriting property. Since its publication over 20 million copies of Austen’s work have been sold. It has been adapted into films, plays, television presentations and opera. It also generated a cottage industry in its characters appearing in other works of fiction and non-fiction. The novel was influential during the Regency as well, with young opinion shapers often discussing the book. The Prince Regent kept copies of all of Austen’s works in his houses, and invited the author to visit him in London in 1815. The Austen personally detested the Prince Regent, she accepted the invitation.