Publication & Prejudice

Publication & Prejudice brings together more than twenty versions of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice based in the Yale collections. Every one of these books tells more or less the same story. The volumes, however, encompass a plethora of formats, editions, and re-imaginings. Some reinvent Austen’s text in bold and modern ways. Others use the tools of printing and publication to make claims about the original text itself. Even when they contain exactly the same words, many small choices by publishers combine to create a completely different reading experience. This exhibition tells a visual story of how a book can be changed by its publishers, and by its readers.

Watch a video interview with curator Emma Brodey ’21 to learn more about her course paper that inspired this exhibit, her curation process, and the versions of Pride and Prejudice that she included from the Yale collections.

Emma Brodey

“I’m an English major with a passion for Jane Austen and material texts. At Yale I’ve studied bookbinding, letterpress printing, and the history of the printed word. As vice-president of the Yale Guild of Bookmakers, I run workshops to teach members of the Yale and New Haven communities how to make their own books. Learning and teaching this process has completely changed the way I see the books I read, including Austen’s. This exhibition is an opportunity for me to show people the witty and wonderful Austen I love, through the lens of material texts.”