CURRENT LITERATURE.
Sense and Sensibility. Vols. I. and II. of "The Win-
chester Edition of Miss Austen." (Grant Richards. 5s. net each vol.)—The present charming edition of Miss Austen Is called by the name of the town in which she lived in her last days, and in whose cathedral she is buried. With truly English reticence, the flat stone under which she lies bears no record of her life's work. For all the information which the passing stranger can gather from the inscription which marks her grave, Jane Austen might have been the most commonplace spinster that ever tended dogs and canary birds under the shadow of an English cathedral. A bare " Hic Jacet " marks her tomb, and we must look for her monument elsewhere. And perhaps no better proof of the greenness of her memory can be found than the constant editions of her works which publishers are giving to the world. For our part, we hail each new one with renewed delight, as giving so excellent an excuse for the re- reading of these incomparable books. The Winchester Edition has special claims to gratitude through the delightful quality of its print and paper. The print is of a generous size, and very black and clear, and the paper, while untransparent, not so heavy but that the book can be held comfortably in one hand. Altogether, this promises to be one of the most delightful reprints ever given to the public. There is a charming frontis- piece to the first volume, in the shape of a reproduction of a painting of Jane Austen by her sister Cassandra. Cassandra obviously was no great draughtswoman, for there is a disproportion about the size of the neck compared with head and body which it would be melancholy to think existed in the original of the portrait. Yet for all her failings Cassandra knew her model so well that some of that model's wit and spirit survive in the little ill-drawn head. The eyes (and most ridiculously large they are) still keep a look of the insight into the failings of her neigh- bours which Jane Austen. shows in every line of her work, and
the turn of the head under its funny little white frilled cap gives a look of the alertness we expect in the creator of Emma and Elizabeth. Altogether it is a clever face, with a curious look of living force in it which even Cassandra's inexpertness was unable quite to conceal. We shall await the further volumes of this edition with great interest in the hope that the publishers will not fall below the high standard they have set themselves in Sense and Sensibility.
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