Ask AustenBlog: What Edition of Jane Austen’s Novels Should I Buy?
We received an e-mail from Gentle Reader Jenn, who wanted to purchase a good annotated edition of Jane Austen’s novels, perhaps with some commentary. We thought it a timely subject for Books Are Nice Week, and decided to share our own favorites and invite our readers to share theirs.
The workhorse of the library at AustenBlog World Headquarters is the Oxford Illustrated Editions of the novels. Not only are these the definitive edition for JASNA and the Jane Austen Society’s publications, they are good solid hardback editions, a great size to easily hold or tuck into a bag, and have well-edited texts as well as invaluable supplemental material such as notes, chronologies, characters lists (with their Christian names, the names of their estates, their education, their fortunes, and their family connections), explanations of period details, excerpts from works mentioned in the novels (such as “Lovers’ Vows” and Catherine Morland’s Gothic reading material), period illustrations of costumes and carriages, and other information. The six volumes of the series include the six novels (Persuasion and Northanger Abbey are combined in one volume) and a volume of “Minor Works” including the unfinished pieces, Lady Susan, and the juvenilia. This set was first published in the 1930s, and we know Janeites with very early editions, carefully kept and full of years of handwritten marginalia. This set, quite plainly, is a keeper.
However, there are more modern editions that also are excellent additions to a Janeite’s library. One of the most recent, and making a determined bid to replace the Oxford Editions in the Janeite pantheon, is the Cambridge Edition of the novels. These books are absolutely jam-packed with information and essays by the most respected Austen scholars in the world today. They are, however, really, really spendy. ($999 for the nine-volume set.) You can pick up individual volumes more cheaply on the used market, but we suspect CUP is not really shooting for the rank-and-file Janeite’s library but for the university library market.
Fortunately, there is a solution for the Janeite who just wants a good, reasonably priced set of the novels or who prefers paperback editions. Oxford World’s Classics has just released refreshed versions of their series, which features scholarly introductions and editing. The series includes a refreshed edition of James Edward Austen-Leigh’s Memoir, and Northanger Abbey includes Lady Susan and the two unfinished works. Cub Reporter Heather L. has reviewed the series for AustenBlog.
Another very popular set of the novels is published by Penguin Classics. They are trade-paperback-size and contain scholarly introductions and notes. We received a recent, inadvertent review of these books from the Editrix’s sister, who is new to Jane Austen. She purchased this edition of Persuasion and raved about how the notes and additions increased her understanding and appreciation of the novel (which she raved about as well!). We immediately purchased P&P and S&S in the same editions for her. 
Any of these editions would be an excellent addition to a Janeite’s library. We know there are lots of others; do please share your favorites in comments!
August 7th, 2008 at 6:19 am
They’re not always super-easy to get (compared to Penguins and Oxfords) but the Broadview editions are very nice to actually read - well printed - and they have really good introductions and contextual material included. Not a lot of explanatory notes though.
Hopefully the Cambridge editions will be out in paper tolerably soon….
August 7th, 2008 at 6:30 am
I recommend the Norton Critical Editions of Jane Austen’s novels. For example, in their edition of Pride and Prejudice, there are more than 150 pages of what they call “Backgrounds and sources” and “Criticism”. Also included a “Conversation with Colin Firth” (extracted from The Making of Pride and Prejudice, published in 1995).
August 7th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Thanks for this post! It’s still a difficult decision (I’m French, so I’m totally lost with all these editions)
August 7th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I should probably have added to the post that the companion volume to the Cambridge Edition, Jane Austen in Context, is available in a very affordable paperback edition (and in fact I have purchased it). I am also hoping they release the Cambridge editions in pback–or even an ebook edition!!!
August 7th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Amazon is running a special promotion on the paperback Oxford World Classics editions of Austen. If you buy any 4 eligible items, you get the lowest-priced item free. I’ve been needing a replacement for my almost crumbling paperbacks and treated myself to the entire Austen set, and I got Persuasion free!
August 7th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I heartily recommend the Norton Critical Editions as well. They are not all equally good with textual notes (every novel has a different editor with a different background), but the appendixes are all very good and very extensive. Lots of early and recent essays on subjects concerning the novel and also very much of useful background information. For example: “Lover’s Vows” is included in MP, excerpts of several referenced novels with NA. And the differences between editions during Austen’s lifetime are noted as well.
I also like the type-setting and the paper quality.
August 7th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Penguin editions for me. It’s the folks who read the non-annotated versions who have given Jane her chick-lit status.
August 7th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Talking of notes. Could I ask where are the notes in the new Oxford editions? Because that is a small detail to take into consideration. I hate to be shifting between pages to look at the endnotes and then return to the text, so what I like is footnotes. That is an advantage of the Norton Critical editions, they have footnotes, not endnotes, which my old Oxford and Penguin paperback editions have.
August 7th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
My favorites are the Penguin editions. I have a major problem with Norton because, in my copy of the Norton Persuasion (yes, I confess to owning multiple copies of Persuasion) has several rather glaring errors in the notes. I don’t have my copy in front of me, but I do remember one example in particular. I distinctly remember being appalled that the Norton edition said that baronets were members of the peerage. This is obviously not the case. So one has to wonder what else they got wrong.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
This is a great help for me. I have two copies of each novel so far, one for home and one for my car (reading at traffic lights reduces the desire to run over my fellow drivers), but I wanted to expand my understanding of all aspects of the novels. Thanks Mags for the recommendation of Jane Austen in Context — I’ll get that too.
August 7th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I have the Broadview Literary Text edition of S&S and I’m very pleased with it. I love the map of London, showing the streets where the characters are staying in town. But I sent back the BLT version of Mansfield Park because it didn’t include the complete “Lover’s Vows,” just excerpts.
I really like the notes in the OWC and Penguin versions, but unfortunately, their previous editions have always placed the notes in the back of the book–none on the page bottoms. I prefer footnotes on the same page. I find it tedious to have to continually flip to the back of the book to read the notes. Broadview and Norton both footnote at the page bottoms.
August 7th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I’m a big fan of the Oxford Illustrated Classics edition; it’s the one on which all other editions are based, and the editor, R.W. Chapman, was a very well-known textual scholar and bibliographer. (His paper on cancels is still the work on the subject.) If you’re interested in that set, OUP has a sale about three times a year, and during the sales you can usually get the set for about $40, so it can be a great deal in addition to being the definitive edition. Jane Austen in Context is also excellent, but I don’t know that I will be purchasing the complete Cambridge series. I would like to take a closer look at them, though, to see what has changed since the Oxford ones.
August 8th, 2008 at 7:57 am
I’m not keen on the Nortons, either, for the same reason Julie mentioned - mistakes. There are a lot of typos in the Norton S&S.
The Cambridge editions are very different to the Oxford Illustrated.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I love collecting books, especially in series. I starting collecting in the Oxford World Classics — so in a way these new releases put a damper on that, haha. They’re very good but more scholarly, and sometimes I find the notes annoying, and other times they’re helpful.
I also love the new Penguin “Red Classics” series — the covers are very pretty, and they are more like regular novels (without the extra text.)
August 8th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
what does everyone think of the Modern Library editions? They’re the ones I’m thinking about getting. And Sarah Marie, what is OUP?
August 9th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Alysia, OUP is Oxford University Press.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Ahhh thank you Patty. Acronyms are not my forte