Which London publisher first issued 'Pride and Prejudice' in 1813?

Thomas Egerton first issued Pride and Prejudice in London in 1813.

Egerton operated the Military Library at Whitehall and acquired the copyright from Jane Austen for £110. Austen had originally asked for £150, but accepted the one-off payment rather than publishing the novel on commission, the arrangement she had used for Sense and Sensibility.

The first edition appeared anonymously on January 28, 1813, in three hardcover volumes. Its title page described the author only as “the Author of Sense and Sensibility,” preserving Austen’s anonymity. Favorable reviews helped the first edition sell out, and Egerton issued a second edition later that same year.

A common mix-up is John Murray, who published several later Austen works, including posthumous editions of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Richard Bentley is also associated with later reprints, but not the original 1813 London issue of Pride and Prejudice.