Emma for two million

First edition Emmy , published in 1816, was sold at auction in London for the astronomical price of £375,000.

The book was one of 12 original copies that the publisher, Petr Murray, gave away Jane Austen . The next one, the 13th, was bound in red morocco at the author's expense and donated Prince Regent, the future King George IV. It is probably still in the library at Windsor Castle, although no one has ever actually seen it. Or at least, it has never been shown publicly. Austen's copies were sent to family members, her friend Frances Talbot, the Countess of Morley, and Anne Sharp.

The last one, with the inscription, was up for auction From the author . This is a real rarity, as there is no other known author's copy of an Austen book with a handwritten dedication. It was written at the writer's request by the publisher himself and sent to Anne Sharp.

Anne Sharp is said to have been the model for the novel's character, Miss Taylor (later Mrs. Weston). She was a close friend and reviewer of Austen's books. "She was part of an intimate circle among whom Jane circulated copies of her novels and recorded their responses. Jane took Anne's reactions to her novels seriously, asking her to be "entirely honest" in her assessments and to record her comments in her diary." Thus we know that in Sharp's opinion, "Emma" fell somewhere between Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park . Like Austen, she never married. After the writer's death, her sister Cassandra sent Sharp some mementos and a lock of her hair.

Emma It was bought by an American collector. However, in accordance with his wishes, it was to remain in Great Britain. So it was taken to Chawton House in Hampshire, where the writer's brother, Edward Austen Knight, once lived. Today, this palace, which dates back to the time of Queen Elizabeth, is a research centre dealing with the history of British women writers from 1600 to 1830. It was in Chawton that Jane spent the last years of her life.