A pristine first edition of Sense and Sensibility dated 1811 is simply stated as “by a lady” on its author page. It is, of course, by the “culture industry juggernaut known as novelist Jane Austen”, says John D. Larson, Swann’s specialist for literature and art books. The tome is a rarity: printed across three volumes, all in surviving period binding, it is part of a series of four “triple-deckers” published during her lifetime offered at the auction house, including Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma. Increasingly scarce on the market, “it is scarcer still to find all of them going under the hammer in one sale”, Larson says. Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility (1811). Fine Books and Manuscripts, Swann, New York, 20 February. Estimate: $30,000-$40,000.