Emma is Austen's most technically accomplished novel, with a hidden plot, the full implications of which are only revealed by a second reading.

It is here presented for the first time with a full scholarly apparatus.

The text retains the spelling and the punctuation of the first edition of 1816, allowing readers to see the novel as Austen's contemporaries first encountered it.

The volume provides comprehensive explanatory notes, an extensive critical introduction covering the context and publication history of the work, a chronology of Austen's life, and an authoritative textual apparatus.