200th anniversary for Jane Austen’s classic love story

In the next few days Jane Austen’s enduring publishing success Pride and Prejudice will reach the 200th anniversary of its first appearance in print.

Despite the numerous screen adaptations and ever-increasing ways to consume literary classics, the original book is still phenomenally popular and has been estimated to sell up to 50,000 copies each year in the UK.

Its continuing success in the old-fashioned paperback format comes despite the fact that as a work which is now out of copyright, it is possible to download it legally for free, with online retailers such as iTunes giving it away among dozens of classics for ereaders and iPads.

Novelist Austen’s opening line is ingrained on the memories of many of the millions who have read it over the years.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” she wrote.

It has certainly generated a fortune of its own over the years, although Austen herself missed out on any vast riches from the book.

The story, which at its heart follows the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, still continues to enthrall.

Despite being rejuvenated again and again, it holds a fascination on-screen as demonstrated by the BBC adaptation in 1995, with Colin Firth’s bullish portrayal of Mr Darcy making him into a household name.