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First edition

London: T. Egerton, 1813. Volume I printed by C. Roworth, Volumes II and III printed by G. Sidney.

The most popular of Jane Austen's novels, Pride and Prejudice, began as First impressions, possibly an epistolary novel, which Jane Austen completed in 1797 and was subsequently rejected by publisher Cadell. The work underwent major revisions in the following years; a novel by Margaret Holford entitled First impressions​​​​​​, published by the Minerva Press in 1800, likely precipitated the title change (Gilson). After the first edition of Sense and Sensibilty had nearly sold out, Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813 by Thomas Egerton, to whom Austen had sold the copyright for £110, in an estimated run of 1,500. It sold fast, going into a second edition the same year and a third in 1817 (or later) (Keynes).  It was favorably reviewed by the British Critic and the Critical Review, the former stating in 1813, "It is very far superior to almost all the publications of the kind which have lately come before us." Sir Walter Scott, who had previously praised Emma in 1816 of the Quarterly Review, wrote in a 14 March 1826 journal entry, "Also read again for the third time at least Miss Austen's very finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice. That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with... What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!" The story has remained popular as ever through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, spawning two Academy Award-winning film adaptations and a BAFTA-winning miniseries.