Next week, publisher The Folio Society is releasing a gorgeous new bound edition of Sense and Sensibility to complement its previously released hardcovers of Pride and Prejudice and Emma. The book wil be available on October 14 at TheFolioSociety.com.
In addition to the thick pages and illustrations that make collector’s editions of classic novels what they are, Austen fans will get an extra dose of fascination: an introduction penned by the elusive Elena Ferrante focusing on the subject of Austen’s anonymity, among other aspects of the novel: “In her introduction to this edition, the best-selling Italian author Elena Ferrante – a notoriously private figure whose true identity remains unknown – suggests that Austen’s anonymity only makes her work more intriguing,” The Folio Society’s press release reads.
And there’s another Austen treat in store that day. Folio is also reissuing A Memoir of Jane Austen by her nephew J. E. Austen-Leigh, which critics say whitewashed Austen’s image quite a bit to be acceptable to the gender norms of the time, but also gave us much of what we know about her life and family.