SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

  • Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1833
By Austen, Jane; [Rébora, Sol]
Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1833. Very good plus.. First US edition of Austen's first novel - in a stunning fine art binding by the acclaimed Argentinian design bookbinder Sol Rébora. Austen's first novel uses the love stories of two sisters to explore the complexities and contradictions in the gendered expectations of the Regency era: a woman will be praised for her capacity to feel emotion (her sensibility), but not too much; a woman will be praised for her independent and responsible nature (her sense), but not too much. First published in late 1811 in three volumes, this is the first edition to appear in the United States, published in two volumes by Carey & Lea in an edition of only 1250 copies.

Sol Rébora is an internationally recognized design bookbinder based in Buenos Aires. Her works embody a minimalistic elegance that is nevertheless subtly complex, as in the carefully structured multiple layers used here. They are not only visually stunning, but supremely tactile. From Rèbora's artist statement: "The cloth texture is achieved using silk with a patterned design that evokes the aesthetic of the time period in which the original edition was produced, creating a visual connection with antique paper. This design also appeals to the collective memory of how custom bindings from the early 19th century might have appeared, complete with deep-relief hot-stamping impressions." A magnificent, unique copy of an Austen first. Two 12mo volumes, 6.75'' x 4.25'' each. Modern full grey-pink design binding by Sol Rébora in Can Can structure with one layer of cotton cloth and two layers of Japanese paper, each element hand-painted with acrylics and textured with a patterned design impressed with deep-relief hot-stamping from silk; spines and boards stamped in dark grey. Cotton and abaca handmade paper grey-pink endpapers. 199, [1]; 189, [1] pages. Light pencil notation to fly leaf of Vol. I. Some offsetting marks to endpapers from earlier binding, archival paper repair to fly leaf; light browning to leaves, some staining. Solid.

Details

Title

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

Author

Austen, Jane; [Rébora, Sol]

Condition

Very Good

Publisher

Carey & Lea: Philadelphia

Date

1833


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Specializing in the avant garde in all its various guises, including: The Beats; artists' books; poetry; small journals and magazines (especially those associated with the Mimeo Revolution); modern and contemporary art; photography; music; archives and appraisals; as well as vernacular, folk, and outsider books of all kinds.