Emma: An Annotated Edition

Emma remains one of Austen’s most popular works, and in this annotated edition (the third in Harvard’s annotated series after Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion), readers will find the charming story enhanced by color illustrations and well-crafted annotations. In his introduction, Tandon (literature, drama, & creative writing, Univ. of East Anglia; Jane Austen and the Morality of Conversation) places Austen in literary and historical context before moving on to a discussion of Emma in particular. The novel follows, with the annotations arranged in the oversized book’s margins. The annotations, addressing topics from the mundane to the esoteric, comment on the prose itself and on the styles and etiquette of the times. The only arguable misstep is in the few instances when the notes become so lengthy as to interrupt the flow of Austen’s narrative; these long notes will be appropriate for scholarly use but possibly off-putting for others. The color illustrations cover everything from gaming tables to haberdashery.