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Emma

Jane Austen · 1815

Jane Austen's 1815 novel about a spoiled, clever matchmaker in a small English village, considered her most technically accomplished work.

Austen's own novel and the last she published during her lifetime, dedicated at royal request to the Prince Regent.

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Title page of the first edition of Emma, Vol. I. Text reads: EMMA: A NOVEL. IN THREE VOLUMES. BY THE AUTHOR OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, &c. &c. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED FOR JOHN MURRAY, 1816. Cream-colored paper with black serif type.
Title page, first edition of Emma, Vol. I. London: John Murray, 1816.

About this source

What it is

Emma is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in December 1815 (though the title page reads 1816). It was printed in London for John Murray and was the last of her novels published during her lifetime.

Why it matters

The story follows Emma Woodhouse as she meddles in the romantic lives of people around her, often misjudging situations. Scholars see the book as Austen's most refined use of free indirect discourse, a technique letting readers hear a character's private thoughts through the narrator's voice. It shows Austen's mature skill at creating a heroine who is deliberately flawed rather than simply likeable.

Look closer

  • Austen said she was writing "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like" — why might she have wanted that?
  • What does Emma's matchmaking reveal about the limited roles available to women of her class?
  • How does the title page describe the author, and what does that tell you about how novels by women were published at the time?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Jane Austen on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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1898

Title page of the 1818 first edition of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, printed in London by John Murray, Albemarle-Street. Text reads: Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion. By the author of Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield-Park, &c. With a biographical notice of the author. In four volumes. Vol. I.Book

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Title page of the 1818 first edition of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, printed in London by John Murray, Albemarle-Street. Text reads 'Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion. By the author of Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield-Park, &c. With a biographical notice of the author. In four volumes. Vol. I.' Aged cream paper with foxing.Book

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Jane Austen · written c. 1799, published 1817 (title page 1818)

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