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- Feb 8, 1999
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- Robert Harris
I've always found it interesting to see the prices that 1st and other early editions of literature bring on the world market, and it seems that the major works of Jane Austen are high on the list.
While a decent 2nd edition of Pride and Prejudice will go for $10 - 15,000, a first in very good or better condition can easily head toward the $100,000 mark. As a comparison to this 1813 first edition, consider Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, considered by some to be the first true English novel.
While P and P was apparently published in a first of 1,500 copies, Tom Jones was an immediate sell-out in 1749 at 2,000 -- with an additional 1,500 published from the same type (albeit re-set without errors) a few weeks later. A nice first of Tom Jones will run anywhere from $5 -10,000.
What does that tell us? Probably something more to do with followers of Ms. Austen than English literature in general.
But I'm reminded that this piece is about the new Blu-ray of the BBC presentation of 1995 at 5 hours, 23 minutes of Ms. Austen's work. Which is about the amount of time really necessary to tell the story with fully developed characters.
This is great television, and a superlative upgrade from the standard definition version. The BBC has done the right thing with P and P, going back to the foundation, in this case the original 16mm negative, as the basis for the Blu-ray, as their work has paid off in spades.
What we have appears to my eye as a Spirit image harvest, with occasional bumps at either splices or notches, but overall a glorious presentation of an extremely high quality show.
16mm shot correctly and with an image properly harvested can yield beautiful results, especially when the dirt which seems to rule the roost in 16mm is wiped clean.
Everything about this presentation is of the highest caliber.
Highly Recommended, especially for those who can enjoy the film with their first edition nearby.
RAH
While a decent 2nd edition of Pride and Prejudice will go for $10 - 15,000, a first in very good or better condition can easily head toward the $100,000 mark. As a comparison to this 1813 first edition, consider Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, considered by some to be the first true English novel.
While P and P was apparently published in a first of 1,500 copies, Tom Jones was an immediate sell-out in 1749 at 2,000 -- with an additional 1,500 published from the same type (albeit re-set without errors) a few weeks later. A nice first of Tom Jones will run anywhere from $5 -10,000.
What does that tell us? Probably something more to do with followers of Ms. Austen than English literature in general.
But I'm reminded that this piece is about the new Blu-ray of the BBC presentation of 1995 at 5 hours, 23 minutes of Ms. Austen's work. Which is about the amount of time really necessary to tell the story with fully developed characters.
This is great television, and a superlative upgrade from the standard definition version. The BBC has done the right thing with P and P, going back to the foundation, in this case the original 16mm negative, as the basis for the Blu-ray, as their work has paid off in spades.
What we have appears to my eye as a Spirit image harvest, with occasional bumps at either splices or notches, but overall a glorious presentation of an extremely high quality show.
16mm shot correctly and with an image properly harvested can yield beautiful results, especially when the dirt which seems to rule the roost in 16mm is wiped clean.
Everything about this presentation is of the highest caliber.
Highly Recommended, especially for those who can enjoy the film with their first edition nearby.
RAH
). But it's a terrific miniseries and the past releases have looked awful. It's very reassuring to know there's a good quality version of this series available.
