On this day in 1811, an advertisement for the novel Sense and Sensibility “By A Lady” appeared in the London newspaper The Star no. 7690. This was Jane Austen’s first published work and her entre into literary history.
Published by Thomas Egerton of the Military Library publishing house in London, it was priced at 15s and printed in three volumes. It was printed at the author’s expense. She also owed a commission to the publisher on sales. Her gamble paid off as all 750 copies sold by July 1813. She made a profit of £140 on the first edition which is about £4,754.40 in today’s currency. A second edition was advertised in October 1813. This year, a first edition of Sense and Sensibility sold at auction for £38,000. Quite a tidy sum indeed.
*Jane Austen, a family record, by Deirdre Le Fay
Austenprose 
Wow. Oh how I would love a first edition of a Jane Austen :)
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Happy Birthday!!!! I didn’t know the expense was on the authors for printing, very interesting.
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As usual, it’s a delight to find such original interesting posting in your blog, Laurel Ann! And of course, Happy Birthday to one of my favourite novels ever!
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Yay for Jane! I didn’t know that about self-publishing either. Great fact!
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Happy, happy birthday, dear Elinor and Edward, Colonel Brandon, Margaret, and even Marianne. I look forward to this day in two years, when it’s not only your birthday, but the 200th, a very special occasion indeed! I hope publishers come up with something special – perhaps a really cool illustrated edition, or somesuch!
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It’s interesting as we approach the 200th anniversary of these milestones in Austen’s life and the world’s literature. Lovely post, as usual.
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Great post – you always have such interesting information on your site!
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