Pride and Prejudice

Scrolling through Pinterest, as i love to do! I came across a beautiful cover for the well loved book, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It got me thinking that there must have been many beautiful covers over the many years this book has been in print. So I went a looking and I am sharing some of my favourites here. I only have one copy at home, I have two of Emma, my name sake, and I would happily by more as I love book design. They really are works of art.

I personally prefer the illustrative covers, using pattern or print as I feel the photographic or life-like illustrations steel my opportunity to imagine the characters. They come alive on the page, different for each reader.

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813 by Thomas Egerton, Jane was not quite 21 when she wrote it!

1895, illustrated by Hugh Thomson for Macmillan's edition of Illustrated Standard Novels

Another version of above, the peacocks symbolising pride

A 1946 school book from Laidlaw Brothers which has pictures from the 1940 movie starring Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy and Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennet

Perhaps the exception to my rule is the 2002 Penguin Classics edition with a detail from Double Portrait of the Fullerton Sisters by Sir Thomas Lawrence. I love the dresses! 

A more modern interpretation from 2000 

Brilliant green and pink 200th anniversary edition from Signet Classics

Lovely modern rendition that could be found in National Portrait Gallery and Anthropology. Found here. 

In 2013 Celebrating Pride and Prejudice was released, a book about the novel by Jane Austen Society of Australia, published by Voyageur Press. The two covers below were designed by Connie Gabbert

Typographic cover by Jessica Hische designed in 2011 as part of the Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics Series

Find more covers at The Wire.