Happy 200th Birthday Lizzie and Mr. Darcy!

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" It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

200 Years after "a LADY" published Pride and Prejudice her novel about The Bennet Family and their quest for suitable suitors is perhaps more popular than ever before.  Beloved dog-eared copies remain on our shelves and we revisit favorite pages and parts whenever we need to spend time with an old friend. 

 

Title Page from the First Edition of Pride and Prejudice first published in 1813 via

 Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice before she turned 21, the same age, in fact, as her  heroine Lizzie Bennet. Jane's manuscript was rejected by a publisher who did not even read it and eventually was purchased by Thomas Egerton in 1812 for £110. An edition of just 1500 copies was published in January of 1813 and sold for 18 shillings. Writing to her sister Cassandra on 29 January 1813, Jane  Austen expressed  her feelings about her Lizzy: "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know."

 

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"The business of her life was to get her daughters married"

To celebrate the 200th birthday of Lizzie and Darcy I went in search of some of the covers that have wrapped around Jane's words in the past 200 years. Lots of "proud as a peacock" covers.  Since the original title of the novel was "First Impressions" the covers are a wonderful look into this most beloved story.  Here are some favorites of mine  with a few memorable quotes to go along with.  Whenever I re-read Pride and Prejudice I still hold my breath in anticipation to see whether Lizzie and Darcy will in fact get together.  
She was unlike any woman he ever met, spoke her mind, had her own will and did not fall at his feet-she could stand toe to toe with any man-even the proud Mr. Darcy-made for each other wouldn't you say!! 
 
"You were disgusted with the women who were always speaking and looking, and thinking for your approbation alone. I roused, and interested you, because I was so unlike them."

  Jane Austen could never have imagined 200 years later that Darcy and Lizzie would still be together in our hearts and on our bookshelves.  Happy Birthday! 

 

" It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy. I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples."

 

 "An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do."

 

"In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."...

"You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared me the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner. "

             

"Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?"

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn? "

 "My good opinion once lost, is lost forever."

"You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever. "

 Want a clue what I will watch tonight!!!  

Images Via The Atlantic Wire

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