Jane Austen 6-book Boxed Set: 'Emma', 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Persuasion', 'Mansfield Park' and 'Northanger Abbey' (Collector's Library) - Hardcover

This elegant boxed set of all of Jane Austen's complete novels sets a new standard. Beautifully designed, with real cloth padded tops and matt laminated printed sides over 3mm boards, they will be as much at home in the living room as on the bedside table or bureau. As well as a free box, the price represents a saving of nearly GBP9.00 on the purchase of individual volumes. All the books contain dozens of Hugh Thomson's evocative illustrations.

Though the domain of Jane Austen's novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born in 1775, she was educated mainly at home. At an early age she began writing sketches and satires of popular novels for her family's entertainment. As a clergyman's daughter from a well-connected family, she had an ample opportunity to study the habits of the middle class, the gentry, and the aristocracy. In 1803 she sold the first version of "Northanger Abby" to a London publisher, but the first of her novels to appear was "Sense and Sensibility," published at her own expense in 1811. It was followed by "Pride and Prejudice" (1813), "Mansfield Park" (1814), and "Emma" (1815). Though her many novels were published anonymously, she had many early and devoted readers. Austen's identity as an author was announced to the world posthumously by her brother Henry, who supervised the publication of "Northanger Abby" and "Persuasion" in 1818.