Which edition of Pride and Prejudice should you read?
Austen wrote in English and the novel has been out of copyright for a long time, so every edition below prints the same novel. What they differ on is what comes with it: an introduction, notes at the back, a note on every page, critical essays, pictures, or a voice.
So the question is not which text. It is how much help you want, and in what form.
| Edition | What comes with the novel | Length | Made for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penguin Classics (2002) | Introduction and notes by Vivien Jones; Tony Tanner’s original introduction | 448 pp, paperback | A first read, with a good introduction |
| Oxford World’s Classics, 3rd ed. (2020) | Introduction by Christina Lupton; explanatory notes, chronology, bibliography | 384 pp, paperback | A careful first read with help at the back |
| Norton Critical Edition, 4th ed. (2016) | The 1813 text; family and biographers’ portraits of Austen; fifteen critical essays; writers on Austen | 432 pp, paperback | A second read, with the arguments |
| The Annotated Pride and Prejudice (2012) | David M. Shapard’s annotations throughout, with maps and illustrations | 816 pp, paperback | Understanding every reference as you go |
| An Annotated Edition, ed. Patricia Meyer Spacks (2010) | Notes in columns beside the text; 74 color illustrations | 464 pp, large hardcover | A slow second read, and a book to keep out |
| Macmillan Collector’s Library (2016) | Hugh Thomson’s original illustrations; afterword by Henry Hitchings | 496 pp, pocket hardback | Reading with pictures, or giving it away |
| Read by Rosamund Pike (2015) | One voice for the narrator and every character | Audiobook | Taking it in by ear |
The text is also free on Project Gutenberg, with no notes at all.
Two more versions keep the novel’s period and plot in another form: Manga Classics draws it as manga, and the L.A. Theatre Works recording performs it with a cast. Neither is the full text.
Each edition, in more detail
Penguin Classics, ed. Vivien Jones (2002)
You have never read it, and you want the complete novel with one good introduction. the complete novel, with notes by Vivien Jones.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Clothbound hardcover — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Oxford World’s Classics edition (2020)
You want to read the novel properly once, with notes at the back for the words whose meaning has drifted. the complete novel, in James Kinsley’s text.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Norton Critical Edition, fourth edition
You have read it and you want the arguments about it, bound into the same book. the text of the 1813 first edition, with explanatory annotations.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Annotated Pride and Prejudice, ed. David M. Shapard
You want every reference explained as you read it, from incomes to carriages, and you do not mind carrying 816 pages. the complete novel.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition, ed. Patricia Meyer Spacks
You want a slow second reading, with a scholar’s notes and color pictures on the same page as the text. the complete novel.
Buy the hardcover — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Hardcover — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Macmillan Collector’s Library edition, with Hugh Thomson’s drawings
You want the novel with pictures in it, in a small book you could give someone. the complete novel.
Buy the hardcover — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Hardcover — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Audible recording read by Rosamund Pike
You take books in by ear, and you want the novel itself in one voice. Austen’s text, read aloud.
Other ways to get it: Listen — Audible
Borrow it free: Find at your library — WorldCat
Common questions
Which edition of Pride and Prejudice should I read first?
For a first read, the Penguin Classics or the Oxford World’s Classics edition. Both print the complete novel with an introduction; Oxford’s 2020 third edition adds explanatory notes, a chronology and a bibliography in 384 pages, and Penguin’s 448-page paperback carries Vivien Jones’s introduction and notes plus Tony Tanner’s original introduction.
What is the difference between the Norton Critical Edition and the annotated editions?
The Norton prints the 1813 first-edition text and puts the commentary after it: portraits of Austen, fifteen critical essays and a section of writers on Austen. David M. Shapard’s Annotated Pride and Prejudice puts thousands of notes beside the text as you read, in 816 pages. Patricia Meyer Spacks’s Belknap edition also annotates beside the text, in a large hardcover with 74 color illustrations.
Is there an illustrated edition of Pride and Prejudice?
Yes. The Macmillan Collector’s Library edition reprints Hugh Thomson’s original illustrations in a pocket-sized clothbound hardback. Patricia Meyer Spacks’s annotated edition from Harvard’s Belknap Press has 74 color illustrations beside its notes.
Who reads the Pride and Prejudice audiobook on Audible?
Rosamund Pike, who played Jane Bennet in the 2005 film, reads Audible’s recording, ℗ 2015. L.A. Theatre Works also sells a full-cast dramatization with Kate Burton and Miriam Margolyes.
Is Pride and Prejudice free to read?
Yes. The novel is in the public domain and Project Gutenberg has the full text free. The editions on this page add introductions, notes, essays, pictures or a narrator.
Or see every version — all 35 of them.