From A to Z, the Penguin Drop Caps series collects 26 unique
hardcovers-featuring cover art by type superstar Jessica
Hische.
A is for Austen
Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother; in 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until in May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on 18 July 1817. As a girl Jane Austen wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were only published after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives. JESSICA HISCHE is a letterer, illustrator, typographer, and web designer. She currently serves on the Type Directors Club board of directors, has been named a Forbes Magazine "30 under 30" in art and design as well as an ADC Young Gun and one of Print Magazine's "New Visual Artists". She has designed for Wes Anderson, McSweeney's, Tiffany & Co, Penguin Books and many others. She resides primarily in San Francisco, occasionally in Brooklyn, and can otherwise be found in airplanes en route to speaking engagements.
Winner of the 2012 Fifty Books/Fifty Covers show, organized by
Design Observer in association with AIGA and Designers & Books
Winner of the 2014 Type Directors Club Communication Design
Award
Praise for Penguin Drop Caps:
"[Penguin Drop Caps] convey a sense of nostalgia for the tactility
and aesthetic power of a physical book and for a centuries-old
tradition of beautiful lettering."
—Fast Company
“Vibrant, minimalist new typographic covers…. Bonus points for the
heartening gender balance of the initial selections.”
—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
"The Penguin Drop Caps series is a great example of the power of
design. Why buy these particular classics when there are less
expensive, even free editions of Great Expectations? Because
they’re beautiful objects. Paul Buckley and Jessica Hische’s fresh
approach to the literary classics reduces the design down to
typography and color. Each cover is foil-stamped with a cleverly
illustrated letterform that reveals an element of the story. Jane
Austen’s A (Pride and Prejudice) is formed by opulent peacock
feathers and Charlotte Bronte’s B (Jane Eyre) is surrounded by
flames. The complete set forms a rainbow spectrum prettier than
anything else on your bookshelf."
—Rex Bonomelli, The New York Times
"Drool-inducing."
—Flavorwire
"Classic reads in stunning covers—your book club will be
dying."
—Redbook
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