Emma. Illustrated by Hugh Thomson. With an introduction by Austin Dobson. London: Macmillan, 1902. Reprint. Publisher’s dark red cloth covers with elaborate gilt design to spine and title within decorative frame to upper cover. A nice bright copy.

First published in December 1815, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England: “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” The first Thompson illustrated edition was published in 1896.

Hugh Thomson was one of the most notable book illustrators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.