This new critical edition of Jane Austen's comic masterpiece is based on the 1816 text, which has been carefully edited in light of later editions, including the Chapman edition. "Backgrounds" supplies an abundance of documents that shed light on Austen's life and reveal some of her private attitudes toward her writing.

Readers should enjoy comparing real events in her life with her fictionalized accounts in the novel. "Reviews and Criticism" presents a wide variety of perspectives, both contemporary and recent, including essays by Sir Walter Scott, Henry James, A.C.

Bradley, E.M. Forster, Robert Alan Donovan, Marilyn Butler, Mary Poovey, Claudia Johnson, Juliet McMaster, Ian Warr and Suzanne Juhasz.

New to this edition are essays by Maggie Lane, Edward Copeland and Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield, the last of which discusses the film adaptations of "Emma".

A chronology and selected bibliography are included.