The Annotated Sense and Sensibility

By Jane Austen and David M. Shapard

From the editor of the popular Annotated Pride and Prejudice comes an annotated edition of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility that makes this tale of two sisters in love an even more enjoyable read. Here is the complete text of the novel with more than 2,000 annotations on facing pages, including:
 
-Explanations of historical context
-Citations from Austen’s life, letters, and other writings
-Definitions and clarifications
-Literary comments and analysis
-Multiple maps of England and London
-An introduction, bibliography, and detailed chronology of events
-More than 100 informative illustrations
 
Filled with fascinating information about everything from the rules of inheritance that could leave a wealthy man’s daughters almost penniless to the fashionable cult of sensibility that Austen so brilliantly satirizes, David M. Shapard’s Annotated Sense and Sensibility is an entertaining and edifying delight.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9780307950222

Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born in 1775 in rural Hampshire, the daughter of an affluent village rector who encouraged her in her artistic pursuits. In novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma she developed her subtle analysis of contemporary life through depictions of the middle-classes in small towns. Her sharp wit and incisive portraits of ordinary people have given her novels enduring popularity. She died in 1817.

Reviews for The Annotated Sense and Sensibility

[tytania-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The five stars are for Jane, not for the annotator. I bought this for my Kindle for one of those “need reading now” situations. Now I realize that Harvard University Press also has an annotated edition with a different editor which is probably the one I really wanted. Also, a book with what appear to be beautiful illustrations like this is really one you want in hardcover, not a screen. Finally, footnotes are something I’ve now thoroughly learned are things you really want to see on a physical page as well. The reading experience on Kindle was greatly marred by having to click footnotes – I am an old-school typist who hates “clicking” in general, persnickety clicking in particular, like when you have to cursor your mouse right in the middle of a tiny checkbox; or, in this case, position your fat fingertip precisely on the little superscript, else find yourself thrown onto the next page instead of into the footnote. That happened to me more than 50% of the time in the beginning, I’d say only a little less than 50% by the time I’d trained myself as best I could to hit the superscript. And the nasty icing on the cake, and the reason I am not thrilled with this annotated edition – half the footnotes are mere definitions of words and expressions that are pretty damn obvious to someone with more than an eighth-grade education. Once I’d clicked (with difficulty) a footnote on the word “amusing” which, I swear, did nothing more than define “amusing” as “entertaining” – then I had to train myself to identify which footnotes were most likely to be mere, stupid definitions vs. those which were likely to actually enrich my reading experience. End of the sentence was more likely to be worthwhile; middle of the sentence, on a word more than four letters long, was more likely to be a stupid definition.Back to Jane! The inspiration for this purchase was that I’d recently read Reading Jane Austen which made me want to re-read Jane Austen. Even with all my complaints, annotations make a re-read much more fun. And re-reads of excellent, beloved books always bring some new discovery, feeling, or interpretation. I was surprised this time at how much I loved Marianne. Most touchingly, I loved her love for her sister. She makes clear upon first making Edward’s acquaintance that he is not her cup of tea; but once she understands that her sister loves him, she practically loves him even more on her behalf. When he pops in for a visit, she’s almost more thrilled than Elinor – well, she is more thrilled than Elinor, because the visit is complicated, to say the least, by the presence of Elinor’s rival; but she is SO loving towards Edward, and genuinely happy to have her sister’s love interest there, on Elinor’s behalf, it’s just adorable and endearing.I reconcile myself a bit more to her ending, too, which I used to feel was a disservice to her, fobbing her off on an old Colonel who wore flannel waistcoats who was totally contrary to all her predilections… but I’ve decided to take heart in the phrase “Marianne could not love by halves.” Once she had found herself developing a fondness towards Colonel Brandon, it could not help but develop into full-fledged love, I’m sure.

[murphy4jacobs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is always delightful to me to read (and re-read) Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility. This annotated version just added to and expanded on that delight. The extensive notes, illustrations, and maps explain much -- in language, in social behavior, in culture and in period of time -- that either no longer exists in the 21st century or has altered greatly over 200 years. Here, at last, I understand the ideas behind the "Cult of Sensibility". I know now the significance of the word "picturesque" so often invoked in the novel, and why it means much more in context and in that era than it means now -- which made many a bit of irony and comedy suddenly funny to me. Like the other edition in this series, it included a detailed chronology of the novel and an extensive bibliography of source material, making this a perfect edition for anyone taking a scholarly approach to Austen (or late 18th/early 19th century literature in general). As always, the format of text on the left side and notes on the right made for easy reading.

In short, this edition did exactly what good annotation does -- expand, illuminate, explain, and reveal. While I probably won't read this version exclusively when I reread the novel, I expect to revisit it periodically.

[bkwurm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have "The Annotated Pride and Prejudice" and I LOVE it, so how could I resist this one? I have read both P&P and S&S a few times, but I still get so much out of reading these annotated versions. These include much that is of interest to both an avid fan or to someone just getting to know Austen's work: history, notes about society, notes about Jane Austen herself, tidbits about clothes, customs, transportation--everything! If you're reading "Sense and Sensibility" for the very first time and for fun then I recommend getting the regular version so you can simply focus on the story; if you're re-reading, or reading it for school, then this is definitely the way to go!