Jane Austen 
Emma Volume II 
Novel

“Emma” was first published by John Murray in December of 1815. It was the last of Austen’s novels to be published before her death, and, like her earlier works, was published anonymously. Shortly before the publication of “Emma, ” Austen was invited to meet with the Prince Regent’s librarian, who encouraged her to dedicate her next novel to the Prince Regent a great admirer of her work. Although Austen was not particularly fond of the Prince, she chose to follow the librarian’s suggestion and later satirized her meeting with him in “Plan of a Novel, according to hints from various quarters.”There were two thousand copies of “Emma” printed in the first edition, but more than a quarter remained unsold after four years. The novel was generally well-received by the public. Unfortunately, Austen earned very little from its publication: most of the profits were used for the ill-timed printing of a second edition of “Mansfield Park” a few months later, and she ultimately only earned 40 pounds from the novel in her lifetime.