This boxed set of 8 volumes, was produced by Cambridge University Press to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen in 1775. Each book cover is in a different colour, making a delight to look at on the bookshelf.
No article about Jane Austen books in 2026 can ignore the out-pouring of adaptations on the both the silver screen, and television. The film Sense and Sensibility will reach cinemas next week, and later this year Netflix will air Pride and Prejudice. Afficioandi will be able to compare the new film to the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility, and the 1995 BBC television series Pride and Prejudice. To offer a guide to those who are not familiar with it, the 1995 Sense and Sensibility is widely considered to be the finest Austen adaptation of all. And of course, that just covers two of her six completed novels. To name a third, the 1996 film Emma is also widely admired, and many have found the 2020 film Emma to be delightful.
While each generation adapts Austen’s novels to fit their own times (think of the 1940 film Pride and Prejudice starring Sir Laurence Olivier), the novels themselves never change. It is to these one must return. Even after the passage of two centuries, they remain the most famous, and most readable, English novels of all time. Sure, several Dickens novels are iconic too, but as for readability, Austen wins.
The list price of this set is $195, but Amazon has it for $146 (link below). To put this in perspective, The Folio Society also recently released a limited edition set of all 6 Austen novels. With a print run of 750, this set sold for $1200. There are none remaining from the publisher. The Cambridge set has all six novels and more, for roughly a tenth the price.
There is a tradeoff. None of the books in this Cambridge edition has any illustrations, although the covers of each book feature a different scene. The blue-coloured Persuasion has the mast of a sailing ship on the cover, while Pemberley graces the bright red cover of Pride and Prejudice and the gates leading to Sotherton Court are on the dark red cover of Mansfield Park.
Created by book designer Lauren Downing, the typography used is Bell, paired with distinctive vertical alignment in gold foil across the collection’s quarter-bindings to strike a balance between traditional period aesthetics and a clean, modern design style. Small illustrations in gold foil grace the spine of each book. It works beautifully.
The only potential downside of the books comes in the text itself. No information is given as to the font used, but it will be difficult for older readers. It is both small and fine. Both expedients, combined with lack of illustrations, were necessary to fit everything in.
It consists of 2,816 pages (!!), and it weighs just over 9 pounds. The dimensions of the box of this rather compact edition are 6.8 x 5.3 x 8.7 inches.
Each book begins with a 4-page Preface by famed Austen scholar Janet Todd, formerly a Professor of English at several universities including Glasgow. Concluding Notes, of about 12 pages each, cover thematic issues such as professions, marriage and illness. The reader is directed to The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen, published between 2005 and 2008, “for a more detailed textual account and in further exploration of the novels.”
I mentioned that there is more here than the six completed novels. The set begins with Childhood Writings. Todd notes that unusually for such writings, “Jane Austen’s earliest pieces are literary: they mock adult writing…and they openly display the usually hidden traits of Ambition, Envy and Self-admiration.” I especially found her short history of England, which ends with the reign of King Charles I, to be a delight. “I shall satisfy myself with vindicating him from the Reproach of Arbitrary and tyrannical Government with which he has often been Charged.” Her reason is given in the following sentence, and it is priceless, but you will have to buy this set to read it for yourself!
Likewise, the Later Manuscripts, comprising the eighth volume bound in brown, hold many treasures. One is the text of Sanditon. Even though this is an unfinished novel, it was adapted for a TV series that ran for 20 episodes between 2019 and 2023. I thought it was marvellous. Another gem here is Lady Susan, a “novella in letter form” that dates from around 1795. It is given 71 pages here out of 255 pages. The book concludes with a genre that may surprise: poetry. Just 19 pages of it, but as with anything done by Jane Austen, so precious.
A fine addition to any library, this is the most economical way to acquire Austen’s complete works.
Image: Jane Austen in 1810