Review: Bedford Park edition has a serious flaw
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 18, 2012
REVISED 05-06-13: My initial inclination was to rate this set 4 or 5 stars until I realized it TOTALLY and consistently ignored Austen's use of italics in all her major works. Where Austen italicized a word for emphasis, this Bedford edition doesn't do so. Nor does it use all caps to equal italics, nor even before-and-after underlines (_like this_) the way some other editions do. When this was priced at only a dollar, some readers might have been willing to overlook this defect (if they were even aware of it), but now that the price has doubled to $1.99 (the same price as 2 superior editions in the Kindle Store), one shouldn't have to. I consider this a serious enough flaw to rate this Bedford edition only 2 stars (and as a fan of Jane Austen, I was sorely tempted to even rate it one lower).Some readers of this review may wonder why I consider this worthy of criticism. I do because Austen (whose wonderful works rate 5+ stars) was a true wordsmith; she meant precisely what she wrote and the manner in which she wrote it. The words she chose to emphasize contribute to the way she intended her stories to be read and understood. Since she is not excessive in her use of italics, when she does so it is significant to the precise nuance or witticism she is trying to put across. That's why it IS a big deal. Without italics, something of Austen is lost. Reputable print editions all have them; why not all ebook versions? Why not THIS one?Except for this defect the Bedford Park edition provides easy access to each title and to the chapters within each title. It provides the finished and unfinished novels plus a sampling of juvenilia. And the formatting is fine--except for the aforementioned lack of any indication of emphasis throughout (a defect which seriously mars an otherwise fine set).One can get virtually EVERYTHING Austen wrote for the same price ($1.99) from Delphi and from Palmera. (To see for yourself, type "Delphi Austen" or "Palmera Austen" in the Kindle Bookstore searchbox.) Delphi uses italics in 4 of the 6 major works; Palmera in 5 (so I lean toward Palmera). I did NOT recommend this Bedford edition when it was priced at only a dollar, and I do not recommend it now at twice that.