JANE AUSTEN — PRIDE AND PREJUDICE — By Jane Austen and The English Comedie Humaine, Limited Edition No. 16 out of 135 Copies, Illustrated by Charles Edmund Brock, Volume 5 — 1903, VERY SCARCE Publisher: The Century Company, New York (1903)
Very scarce, limited edition of 135 copies printed, of Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice" by English
Comedie Humaine, Luxury Edition. Published by The Century Company in 1903. Number 16 of 135 sets printed. The book is in exceedingly well preserved condition. Three-quarters leather binding with raised bands on spine and marbled boards and matching marbled endpapers. The
boards and binding are solid and tight with light shelfwear. The hand-cut pages
and Charles Edmund Brock engravings are crisp and clean. A lovely luxury edition of a classic story by Jane Austen. Please see below for more information on the illustrator, Charles Edmund Brock.
Biography of Illustrator Charles Edmund Brock
Charles
Edmund Brock (5 February 1870 – 28 February 1938) was a widely published
English painter, line artist and book illustrator, who signed most of his work
C. E. Brock. received his first book commission at the age of 20 in 1890. He
became very successful, and illustrated books for authors such as Jonathan
Swift, William Thackeray, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot. Brock
also contributed pieces to several magazines such as The Quiver, The Strand,
and Pearsons.
His work
resembled that of the so called black and white school led by Hugh Thomson, and
this is perhaps one of the main reasons why Macmillan and The Century Company chose him to illustrate
Pride and Prejudice in 1895 as part of its Illustrated Standard Novels. By
accepting such a commission, Charles Brock's name became forever linked to Jane
Austen's.
He used the Cambridge college libraries for his "picture
research." In illustration, Brock is best known for his line work,
initially working in the tradition of Hugh Thomson, but he was also a skilled colorist.
As a painter, he received plaudits for his realism and vibrancy he created in
his work. Only a small quantity of his known paintings have been located which
is why their prices have been so high. Brock did not publish any more work after 1910. He died on 28 February 1938 in Cambridge.
