We’ve seen this sort of thing before: new covers on old books because supposedly Young Persons won’t read them otherwise. Word has come that Penguin Classics will be releasing several classic novels, including Pride and Prejudice, with new covers by artist Ruben Toledo. ETA: Reading the Amazon entry, it looks like there may be more illustrations within the book, not just the cover, but it’s hard to tell for sure.

For an image-conscious age, Penguin brings the fashion makeover to the literary catwalk, testing the notion that you may be able to sell a book by its cover. (The tie-in is especially timely because Isabel Toledo, the artist’s wife, designed the outfit Michelle Obama wore to the Inauguration in January.) At a moment when the engine of the Jane Austen “brand” has propelled a zombie mash-up of “Pride and Prejudice” onto summer best-seller lists (an imitator, “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters,” comes out in September) this sort of strategizing isn’t frivolous, it’s shrewd.

We like the cover, for the record. (And it’s available at Amazon and we suppose at many other retailers online and offline.)