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Batgrl's commentary: See that illustration of Elizabeth and Darcy - the one at the top? Randomly, there's a footstool at the bottom of the drawing which seems to take up a lot of art-space for no real reason, since the footstool isn't involved in the discussion. Er, not that I wanted to comment on footstools - that just sort of happened. It's an odd placement though.
Back to the point! That's the image in the hardcover book of Pride and Prejudice that I grew up with. The book belonged to family member, I think (could be a product of a used book sale somewhere) - there's no date in it.The book's title page says New York, Thomas Y. Crowell Co. Publishers. I'll have to post photos of the cover later - it's a very understated, art deco-ish looking design of faded green and gold on a grey background.
The reason you're seeing these illustrations used in this infograph is because the British Library has posted them on Flickr, along with many other illustrations from classic novels, and they're all public domain. (It's a fabulous resource if you're into collage and/or decoupage!) Here's some links:
The full set of Pride and Prejudice Illustrations (not in order as they happened, plotwise)
and
The Elizabeth and Darcy Image I'm referring to.
Title: "Pride and prejudice"
Author: Austen, Jane
Contributor: Brock, C. E. (Charles Edmund)
Contributor: Dobson, Austin
Place of Publishing: enk
Date of Publishing: 1895
Publisher: Macmillan & Co.
So here's the thing - Thomas Crowell (publisher of my book) was sold (eventually) to Harper & Row which became Harper Collins - and I can't see that it was snagged by Macmillan. (My usual resource for who owns what doesn't mention Cowell publishers.) So I'm not sure about the publication of this set of illustrations. Or maybe it was used by more than one publisher? (Hop in if and tell me if you have any links or info!) Oh well, at least I now have more information on the illustrator, Charles Edmund Brock. Here's a link to some of Brock's illustrations for other Austen novels and some more biography. And here's Brock's P&P illustrations in watercolor (and here are more!) - a few similar scenes, but different arrangements (just to give you another view of the couple).
This was the first art I'd seen of Elizabeth and Darcy, and I remember thinking how incredibly stuffy he looked. (See also this illustration. Where you can get a close look at men's dancing shoes - or slippers. Which look exactly like some I had in high school, another giggleworthy thought.) I think a lot of that pompousness (aside from the fact that the artist is trying to show that) is attributable to the fashion in neckties of the time which made all the men look like their necks were as wide as their skulls. Anyway, neither character looked as I had imagined them. Except for the illustrations of Mr. Collins, which are really fun: here and here. Although Darcy (2nd link) did not have a monocle in the book!
