Who Wrote Pride and Prejudice, When, and How Long Is It?
Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice. She drafted it in 1796-97 as First Impressions, revised it in 1811-12, and T. Egerton published it on 28 January 1813. It has 61 chapters and about 122,000 words.
It appeared anonymously, credited to "the Author of Sense and Sensibility".
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Jane Austen (1775-1817) |
| Written | October 1796 to August 1797, as First Impressions |
| Revised | 1811-1812 |
| Published | 28 January 1813, T. Egerton, London |
| Format at first | Three volumes, 18 shillings |
| Length | 61 chapters; about 122,000 words |
| Reading time | About 7 hours at 300 words a minute |
Who was Jane Austen?
Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, in 1775, the daughter of a clergyman, and died in 1817. She published four novels in her lifetime, all anonymously. Pride and Prejudice was the second, after Sense and Sensibility in 1811.
↑ Back to the topWhen did Austen write Pride and Prejudice?
Family tradition says she began First Impressions in October 1796, at 20, and finished it in August 1797. Her father offered it to a London publisher, who declined it. After the publication of Sense and Sensibility, Austen cut and rewrote the manuscript in 1811 and 1812. She changed the title because other books already used it, and the new title became Pride and Prejudice.
↑ Back to the topWhen was Pride and Prejudice published?
Thomas Egerton of Whitehall published it on 28 January 1813, in three volumes at 18 shillings. Egerton paid Austen £110 for the copyright, and he made more from the book than she did. The first edition sold out within a year, a second edition followed in the autumn of 1813, and a third in 1817.
↑ Back to the topHow many chapters, pages and words are there?
The novel has 61 chapters. Different counts put it at about 120,000 to 127,000 words depending on the edition, with a figure of 122,189 words often cited for the standard text. That is about 7 hours of reading at 300 words a minute, or 8.5 hours at 250.
Page counts depend on the edition and type size. One Signet Classics paperback, for example, runs to 380 pages with its extra material.
↑ Back to the topMore about Pride and Prejudice
This guide covers the book only. Film and TV versions differ in places.