Jane Austen's Manuscript Works

by Jane Austen

When Jane Austen died, at the age of 41, she left behind her not only six novels but a large number of manuscripts, ranging from juvenile works to the novel that she was writing at the time of her final illness. The six published novels are now undisputed classics. The manuscripts, however, despite the extraordinary writing they contain and the way in which they illuminate Jane Austen’s work as a novelist, are much less well known. From the brilliance of the juvenilia to the urbane modernity of ‘Sanditon’ these works show Austen pushing the conventional boundaries of fiction, exploring the implications of vulgarity and violence, experimenting with different styles and tones, and practicing and refining her arts of narrative. This Broadview Edition includes “Lady Susan,’ “The Watsons,” “Sanditon,” and ten important early manuscript works. Historical appendices include Austen’s letters on fiction; continuations written by Austen’s niece and nephew of two of her early works; and Sir Walter Scott’s important critical appraisal of Austen from 1816.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, 18th Century

511 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 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

[Sarah Emsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved rereading "The beautifull Cassandra," "The first Act of a Comedy," Lady Susan, Sanditon, and other favourites from Austen's juvenilia and later manuscripts. The introduction makes the important point that R.W. Chapman's title for his edition of these manuscripts, "Minor Works," is "a questionable one. Austen's manuscript works might be minor compared with the achievements of the six published novels, but they contain within them flashes of the wittiest and most skilful writing, as well as numerous fascinating insights into the writing practice, of one of the world's major authors."

There are many wonderful lines I'd like to quote (and I did so yesterday, on Facebook and Twitter), but for now I'll quote just this passage from the introduction:

In "The First Act of a Comedy," Austen punctures the fiction-writer's perennial problem ... of how to fill in a back story: 

Pistoletta: Pray papa how far is it to London?
Popgun: My Girl, my Darling, my favourite of all my Children, who art the picture of thy poor Mother who died two months ago, with whom I am going to Town to marry to Strephon, and to whom I mean to bequeath my whole Estate, it wants seven Miles.

[Ghost of the Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

For sheer historical value alone - to Austen and English Lit fans - this would be worth your time, regardless of whether or not the actual writing made for easy/simple/engaging reading.
Thankfully, unlike some other earlier witting by masters of the trade, it does not disappoint on the quality/engaging factor - at least it didn't disappoint me!
Jane Austen is mostly remembered by the general public, almost entirely it feels at time, for her novels...oh lets admit it, for Pride and Prejudice (thanks Colin Firth Mr. Darcy!) and then some other books she wrote. ..lol.
Truth of the matter is, like all geniuses, she did not just wake up one day and stories started flowing from her mind to paper, actually when you think of it, with Jane creative process there was most definitely a beginning, middle and end very clearly established - and its the beginning of that literary outpouring we see here.
And this particular edition is actually especially helpful/interesting because it also includes extensive notes, letters from Jane herself on fiction and Sir Walter Scott's critical apraisal of Jane's work first published in 1816.
This is a great book for anyone loving Austen and/or studying her work - highly reccomend it!

Happy Readings!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Traditionally, Jane Austen classes teach her books in order of when they were published, but the one I took at University taught them instead in the order she wrote them. So instead of Sense and Sensibility being the first book we read, this one was because, though it ends with the two unfinished novels she was still writing before her death, it *begins* with the juvenilia that she wrote when she was a child and teenager.

I gotta say, I personally am SO glad that the juvenilia was my introduction to Jane Austen rather than Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility. No offense to those good books, but young Jane Austen had a sassiness to her that is not found nearly as much in her eventual novels (we also see a lot of sassiness/humor in Northanger Abbey, which she wrote when she was a late teen even though it was published until after she died).

Maybe if she had known they would be published after her death for the world to see she would've been embarrassed (because as writers we are all embarrassed by the things we wrote as children/teenagers) but I am glad they were and I got to have this silly, humorous side of Austen be my very first introduction to the author. It immediately broke all the preconceived notions I had going into the class of who she was and what her writing was about. I had assumed she was a lovey-dovey happily-ever-after author because that's the prevailing stereotype for some reason - but the juvenilia immediately broke that idea for me (in the best way) in just one lesson.

I did end up not being able to finish all of the manuscripts before it was time to move on to Northanger Abbey, but the great thing about collections like this is you can stick a bookmark in it at any point and then go back months later and experience a new story. Which is what I eventually did.

Long after the school year had ended (it's been a year and two days now since I started the Manuscripts according to GR) I returned to the collection to read the Manuscripts I had not read on time - Lady Susan and the unfinished novels The Watsons and Sandition.

Lady Susan was another one she began as a teenager, but she wrote the bulk of it from age 18 to 20. It is an epistolary short novel about a woman who, erm, loves to steal men from other women so that those other women cannot be happy. You spend the entirety of it laughing at the audacity of the main protagonist, much like Emma - but unlike Emma she never redeems herself as a person and is a Bad Woman to the end. I giggled a lot.

The Watsons has somewhat of an ending but I know for a fact it was not the final ending that would have been published if Austen had lived to see it through. Still, I felt like I got a good beginning, middle, and end for that one even if I knew it could've been more.

Unfortunately, Sandition does not have any kind of closure and I was left frowning at the last page realizing that was all she ever wrote of it. I wanted to know what would happen to Charlotte and the Parkers, but nobody ever will know. In some ways it's almost worse to read an unfinished novel and know it had so much farther to go than to not read it.

All in all this is a great collection that every self-professed Jane Austen fan should own. Even if you have read all of her novels several times over, you NEED to read her juvenilia too, and see that one of the greatest authors ever also started out as just a silly little kid who dreamed of being an author one day. I'm so glad it was my introduction to her work.

[averyslibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

not going to lie, i rolled my eyes a little when my english professor said we’d have to read manuscripts before getting into jane austens works. i fully understand now and would be upset if i hadn’t discovered these. it has fully shifted my perspectives and expectations as to who i think austen is as a writer and made me genuinely excited to read the rest of her works. filled with sarcastic, humorous, and historically critical short stories, jane austens manuscripts are like a deep dive into her life and person. each story is dedicated to someone close to her and often has characters that represent whom they’re dedicated to; they’re all so personal and fun. while they are different from her novels in the sense that these would have been considered too risqué to publicize at the time, you still get some aspects of classic austen writing here that allow you to look forward and see how far she came from the juvenilia. when i tell you i did not expect them to be so sarcastic and funny- i get that she was like 11-17 writing most of these but forgive me for thinking everyone in the 1700s were made of dust

[Layla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required reading for my Jane Austen class. I'm sure any fan of Jane Austen would love this.

[Riki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fascinating treasure of Jane Austen’s work outside of her six major novels, and will delight any Jane Austen fan. Her Juvenilia is absolutely delightful! And what a treat to read the unfinished Sanditon. Highly recommend this collection!

[Devoney Looser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a treasure-trove of Austen texts, notes, and contexts. It is also an incredibly good value, a collection of the best of Austen beyond her six full-length novels.

[Nora]

Really well-edited edition of Austen's unpublished work.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Love and Freindship"
4 stars

Even though it's an obvious and over-the-top satire of romantic conventions and sensibility in book characters of the time, it was hilarious. I also read it right after Sense and Sensibility, so it was cool to see how Austen's writing changed tremendously from when she was younger, and how she developed the trait of sensibility in her heroines to a point that it could be tempered and admired, not laughed at.


"Lady Susan"
3 stars

I love how much Lady Susan was hated by (most of) the de Courcys, how sensible Mrs. Vernon was, and how absolutely insane Lady Susan was in her letters to Alicia (and Alicia's in reply). But there was also just a lot that went along and was talked about, not as much that happened, and the ending was a little abrupt. There was also no one, wonderful, standout character, and in Austen's books there usually is so I missed that.


"The Watsons"
4 stars

I can't believe this is unfinished! I'm so upset that I'll never know what Austen intended for the ending, because the story starts so strong with such a unique cast of characters, and it's getting so interesting as the family comes together. All I want is to know how this would have concluded, and I'll NEVER KNOW. *sighs sadly*


"Sanditon"
4 stars

Yet another book by jane Austen that the world will never see the ending to. And just when it was about to pick up! While of this work, this book was most obviously in it's rough-draft form, it was intriguing. What I wouldn't give to see how it ended, to see the characters develop more, to see the plot take shape. I would have devoured this full story.


While I didn't read all the letters and juvenilia presented in this text (yet), I read the biggest and most important ones for a class this semester. I hope to be able to pick up the rest this summer, because I'm so happy that I know this exists! It's so fun to see the stuff that never will be (in a super unfortunate way...)

[Sasha G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it for the course in university (English major) but I have truly enjoyed it. People still debate whether her earlier works are stepping stone to her more grown-up novels (not juvenilia) or whether it is good on its own. I belong to the second group of people and thought it incredibly well-written and witty, especially for a woman at the time and of such age.

[Mairéad (is roaming the Undying Lands) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for University.

3.5 Stars.

[Amii Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the humor but didn't quite understand everything. there was a lot of talking. I liked lady Susan. we just read a couple stories for class

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane's short stories are razor sharp. She's just as hilarious, without the civilized filter that you get with her novels.