Jane Austen earned £110 from the sale of the copyright of Pride and Prejudice. Austen sold the rights to London publisher Thomas Egerton around 1811–1812, after revising an earlier manuscript originally titled First Impressions. She had reportedly asked for £150, but accepted the lower one-off payment.
The arrangement proved costly for Austen because Egerton received the future profits. The first edition appeared on 28 January 1813 in three hardcover volumes, priced at 18 shillings. It sold well enough for a second edition to appear in October that year, and Egerton reportedly made about £450 from the first two editions.
The figure is often confused with Austen’s earnings from Sense and Sensibility. That earlier novel was published on commission, allowing Austen to receive profits after costs and the publisher’s commission; its first edition earned her £140. Pride and Prejudice, by contrast, gave her a guaranteed £110 but no continuing share of sales. The novel was initially published anonymously as being by “the Author of Sense and Sensibility.”