Product Description

Jane Austen's letters afford a unique insight into the daily life of the novelist: intimate and gossipy, observant and informative, they bring alive her family and friends, her surroundings and contemporary events with a freshness unparalleled in modern biographies. Above all we recognize the unmistakable voice of the author of Pride and Prejudice, witty and amusing as she describes the social life of town and country, thoughtful and constructive when writing about the business of literary composition. R. W. Chapman's ground-breaking edition of the collected Letters first appeared in 1932, and a second edition followed twenty years later. For this third edition Deidre Le Faye has added new material that has come to light since 1952, and re- ordered the letters into their correct chronological sequence. She has provided discreet and full annotation to each letter, including its provenance, and information on the watermarks, postmarks, and other physical details of the manuscripts, together with new biographical, topographical, and general indexes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12747 in Books
• Published on: 1997-02-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

Review
These are the letters of our greatest novelist ... they give glances and hints at her life from the age of 20 to her death at 41, the years in which she wrote her six imperishable books (Claire Tomalin, Independent on Sunday )

Customer Reviews

A must for all fans
This collection of Jane Austens letters is a must for all fans who would like a peek inside the mind of the author. It is the most extensive collection to date and Le Faye has done quite a lot to make it as accessible as possible. It features all of the surviving letters from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra plus some letters to some of her brothers, a niece, etc. It also includes three letters from Cassandra to various relatives from the time immediately after Jane Austens death and so also shows Jane Austen from another persons perspective. The only drawback of this book is that all the notes are in the back, arranged by the number of each letter, and so you find yourself flipping back and forth quite a lot but it is an annoyance well worth putting up with.

I have read quite a few bibliographies on Jane Austen but there is no competing with her own words. If you have any kind of interest in Jane Austen as a person then you should definitely get this book.

Interesting, but...
rather heavy going. The letters themselves are fascinating insofar as they reveal the everyday workings of the mind that created well-loved literary masterpieces. The turns of phrase are easily recognizable as Austen and in some cases exquisitely ironic or extremely funny. Any admirer of Austen's writing will appreciate them.

On the downside, they are not, for the most part, about anything important. Most of them were written to her sister Cassandra, with whom Austen lived during the whole of her life; for the most important events in her life Austen actually was with her sister and had no need to write to her. She also had no need to expound at length on any general subject; she could talk about these with her sister in person with more convenience and at no expense. They were written when one or the other were away visiting friends and are the normal, gossipy letters anyone might write to their sister, while they were away on holiday. If you are expecting revelations about Austen's life or great insights in what she thought on life, you are going to be disappointed.

I enjoyed them, but I am a great fan; I would not recommend to someone who wasn't.