Editing Emma (novel) (section)

==Publication history==
[[File:Emma title page 1909.jpg|thumb|Title page from 1909 edition of ''Emma'']]
''Emma'' was written after the publication of ''Pride and Prejudice'' and was submitted to the London publisher [[John Murray (1778–1843)|John Murray II]] in the autumn of 1815.  He offered Austen £450 for this plus the copyrights of ''[[Mansfield Park]]'' and ''[[Sense and Sensibility]]'', which she refused.  Instead, she published two thousand copies of the novel at her own expense, retaining the copyright and paying a 10% commission to Murray.  The publication in December 1815 (dated 1816) consisted of a three-volume set in [[duodecimo]] at the selling price of £1.1s (one [[guinea (British coin)|guinea]]) per set.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Critical Companion to Jane Austen: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work|last=Baker|first=William|publisher=Facts on File: an imprint of Infobase Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8160-6416-8|location=New York|pages=37}}</ref>

Prior to publication, Austen's novels had come to the attention of the [[George IV of the United Kingdom|Prince Regent]], whose librarian at Carlton House, a [[James Stanier Clarke|Mr Clarke]], showed her around the Library at the Prince Regent's request, and who suggested a dedication to the Prince Regent in a future publication.  This resulted in a dedication of ''Emma'' to the Prince Regent at the time of publication and a dedication copy of the novel sent to Carlton House in December 1815.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Jane Austen: A Family Record|last=LeFaye|first=Deidre|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-521-53417-8|edition=2nd|location=Cambridge|pages=225–227}}</ref>

In America, copies of this first publication were sold in 1818 for $4 per copy, as well as an American edition published by [[Mathew Carey]] of Philadelphia in 1816.  The number of copies of this edition are not known.  A later American edition was published in 1833<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Bibliography of Jane Austen|last=Gilson|first=David|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1982|isbn=978-0-19-818173-6|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/97 97–98]|url=https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/97}}</ref> and again in 1838 by Carey, Lea, and Blanchard.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Bibliography of Jane Austen|last=Gilson|first=David|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1982|isbn=978-0-19-818173-6|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/239 239]|url=https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/239}}</ref> A French version was published in 1816 by Arthus Bertrand, publisher for Madame [[Isabelle de Montolieu|Isabelle De Montolieu]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Bibliography of Jane Austen|last=Gilson|first=David|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1982|isbn=978-0-19-818173-6|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/161 161]|url=https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/161}}</ref> A second French version for the Austrian market was published in 1817 Viennese publisher Schrambl.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Bibliography of Jane Austen|last=Gilson|first=David|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1982|isbn=978-0-19-818173-6|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/164 164]|url=https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/164}}</ref>

[[Richard Bentley (publisher)|Richard Bentley]] reissued ''Emma'' in 1833, along with Austen's five other novels, in his series of Standard Novels. This issue did not contain the dedication page to the Prince Regent.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Bibliography of Jane Austen|last=Gilson|first=David|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1982|isbn=978-0-19-818173-6|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/211 211, 218]|url=https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/211}}</ref> These editions were frequently reprinted up until 1882 with the final publication of the Steventon Edition.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Bibliography of Jane Austen|last=Gilson|first=David|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1982|isbn=978-0-19-818173-6|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/225 225–234]|url=https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/225}}</ref> ''Emma'' has remained in continuous publication in English throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In addition to the French translation already mentioned, ''Emma'' was translated into Swedish and German in the nineteenth century and into fifteen other languages in the twentieth century including Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, German and Italian.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Bibliography of Jane Austen|last=Gilson|first=David|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1982|isbn=978-0-19-818173-6|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/135 135–207]|url=https://archive.org/details/bibliographyofja0000gils/page/135}}</ref>