Works (Volume 12); The Letters of Jane Austen Selected from the Compilation of Edward, Lord Bradbourne, by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey

by Jane Austen

This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Volume: 12; Original Published by: Little, Brown in 1899 in 343 pages;

Genres: Nonfiction

134 pages, Paperback

Published July 8, 2012

About the author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.

The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.

Reviews

[Jeannette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fascinating look into the world of Jane Austen, not just because I enjoy her as an author, but because of how closely her letters match her novels. The writing style is of course, similar, but even the wit behind some of the lines would just fit delightfully into one of her books. I particularly liked her descriptions of the people around her, which seemed so very in line with her characters, and her comments referencing how her newly published books had been received, which was interesting. I also enjoyed the letters in which she helped her niece with her writing with critiques (as well as praise), and her other niece with her affairs of the heart. She was filled with wisdom as well as wit.

What did make these difficult to read is how obviously some letters are missing or have been edited or censored. This makes perfect sense to me, as this was real correspondence between two actual people and I'm sure there are things that she and her sister would rather not have seen published. I'm glad her family was sensitive to that. It does make it difficult to follow certain trains of thought and references to people and places, especially when there are large time gaps, but during the times where things do follow, it's an interesting picture of how people in general and she in particular lived and thought and communicated at the time.

I probably won't revisit these letters too often, but I was glad I read it overall. I don't often highlight in my Kindle, but there were a couple of times where I just couldn't help it. She was just so clever, and I both wanted to write letters of my own and read her books all over again while reading these letters.

[Leila Mota · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's almost funny to read the introduction (from 1892) to this volume in which it's said that through these letters we can see a "glimpse of the girlish and untroubled moments of Miss Austen's life; and the glimpse is a sweet and friendly one." I suppose this is a man's opinion, someone that doesn't see what is so clear before him, or pretends not to see. Because I don't think that, for instance, someone who writes that a woman had a dead child "some weeks before she expected, owing to a fright" and supposes "she happened unawares to look at her husband" is that sweet.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely adore Jane Austen, and I think her wit is incomparable. Reading her letters just confirmed this ability of hers and her amazing power of observing everything and everyone around her, therefore we can have almost as much pleasure reading them as we have reading her books. I say 'almost' because books can be more entertaining in its structure, and maybe because her sister Cassandra destroyed some (or a lot) of Jane's letters, we will never have a complete picture of our beloved writer.

I could talk forever of Jane Austen, but let me finish with the deep emotion that gripped me when I read her last letters, and knowing that soon it would be the end. Even though it was obviously to be expected, I was sad, and as always, I lamented a destiny that took the best one among so many others... well...

A letter from Cassandra to her niece Fanny "tells the tale of the event". It's curious that she declares that she "loved her only too well,-not better than she deserved", and she says that her affection for Jane made her "sometimes unjust to and negligent of others". She seemed to think that the untimely death of her beloved sister was kind of a divine balance. Well.

Really. It was what it was.

Jane Austen will live forever in her words. If she could have seen, she wouldn't believe that only two generations after her death her books were so widely known. It's said in the book that Lord Tennyson visited Lyme, and was shown some interesting features of the place, only to interrupt with -"Never mind all that. Show me the exact spot where Louisa Musgrove fell!"

It warms the heart, doesn't it? I only wish Jane Austen could have enjoyed her wonderful talent. And that someone could have inherited her copyrights, saving us from so many Jane wannabes.

[Marren]

How do I rate the letters of someone who did not intend on releasing them to the public. So for once, I will refrain from clicking on the stars.

Jane Austen was girly, girly, she bought and spoke some much about material for gowns for herself and Cassandra. I do not know why this aspect of her life stood out to be, I just never supposed it. (yeah, very prejudice view eh)

Another thing which stood out for me was similar names of relations and people she met to the characters in her novels such as Fanny and Elizabeth. I wonder if those persons influence the characters she wrote about. You can also see her love for writing when she took the trouble of carrying her writing desk everywhere she went. Jane Austen was possessive of her characters and she took pleasure in speaking about them. For example, she feared about Martha reading 'First Impressions' again, I am not sure if she was afraid that Martha would copy her characters. She always talks about her novel with Cassandra and Fanny and made reference of not meeting Mr. Darcy (or was it another male character) on her trip about.

Austen seem a dominating character of Cassandra. She served as Cassandra's editor for her writings (also for her niece Fanny as well) and also her fashion designer; she was always ready for tips in how Cass should dress. Jane Austen seemed to be a mixture between Elizabeth Bennett and Emma Woodhouse. She is very opinionated and she frequently judge a lady based on her appearances. She was also a guide counsellor to her niece Fanny on the issue of suitors and marriage.