Electronic Texts By, About and Related to Jane Austen
"In this age of literature, such collections on a grand scale are not uncommon." - Emma, Vol. I Ch. IX
Jane Austen's Novels and Other Works
Search the six novels and the minor works listed, or jump right to one of the novels or other works by expanding the list of titles below. The novels and other works are each individually indexed and searchable with chapter descriptions.
A Subject Guide to the Le Faye Edition of Jane Austen's Letters - A cross-referenced subject index to the third edition of Jane Austen's Letters (1995, ed. by Deirdre Le Faye). The Guide is designed to complement the Biographical, Topographical, and General Indices in the third edition.
Novel Illustrations Archive
We have archived scans of the illustrations of Jane Austen's novels by C.E. and H.M. Brock for various editions of Jane Austen's novels, as well as illustrations by other artists.
Austen Illustrators Henry and Charles Brock, by Cinthia García Soria - information about these prolific illustrators and their work with Jane Austen's novels.
Please read this before using the images. Thanks!
Biographical Works
Book-length biographies and shorter pieces about Jane Austen's life.
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A Biographical Notice of the Author, by Henry Austen (1816) - the very first biographical work on Jane Austen, published with the posthumous editions of
Persuasion and
Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen, by Samuel Stillman Conant (1870) - a biographical sketch of Jane and her family, with comparisons to contemporary writers
A Memoir of Jane Austen, by James Edward Austen-Leigh (1871) - the first book-length biography of Jane Austen, written by her nephew
More Views on Jane Austen, by George Barnett Smith (1895) - A bit of biography, a bit of lit-crit, from
The Gentleman's Magazine.
Jane Austen and Her Times, by G.E. Mitton (1905) - a book-length review of Jane Austen's life, work, and time
Jane Austen's Sailor Brothers, by J. H. Hubback and Edith C. Hubback (1906) - A book about Jane Austen's brothers Francis and Charles, who were officers in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and the first part of the 19th century
Jane Austen, by William Lyon Phelps (1906) - a biographical sketch included as an introduction to The Illustrated Cabinet Edition of
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters: A Family Record, by William Austen-Leigh and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh (1913) - another family biography, which expands upon J.E. Austen-Leigh's
Memoir and incorporates the letters published by Lord Brabourne
Jane Austen, by O.W. Firkins (1923) - a book-length work that is more critical than adoring
Austen, Jane, from the
Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition (1911)
Criticism
Critical looks at Jane Austen's work.
Janeites on Jane
These fall somewhere outside biography or criticism, and are written by enthusiastic fans of her work.
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Female Novelists (1852) - an unsigned article elevating Jane Austen's art above those of other novelists—and not just the females
Jane Austen, by Anna Waterston (1863) - an American Janeite writes of visiting the places associated with Jane Austen's life, including Winchester, Steventon and Chawton, and also pays a visit to Admiral Sir Francis Austen, Jane's only surviving sibling
Hunting Snarkes in Lyme Regis, anonymous, assumed to be by Fanny Caroline Lefroy (1879) - Jane's great-niece, the daughter of Anna Austen Lefroy, gives a light-hearted travelogue of Lyme Regis from a Janeite point of view
Is It Just?, anonymous, assumed to be by Fanny Caroline Lefroy (1883) - Fanny defends Aunt Jane against an accusation of cold-heartedness
A Bundle of Letters, anonymous, assumed to be by Fanny Caroline Lefroy (1883) - A companion piece to "Is It Just?"; includes letters from Jane Austen and William Cowper, Jane's favorite poet
Miss Austen's Country (1875) - an anonymous discussion of real places in Jane Austen's novels.
Style and Miss Austen (1884) - a tough-love review of Lord Brabourne's edition of Jane Austen's letters
An excerpt from Memoirs of John Murray, by Samuel Smiles (1891) - correspondence relating to Jane Austen's novels; John Murray published
Emma,
Northanger Abbey and
Persuasion
To Jane Austen, by Andrew Lang (from
Letters to Dead Authors, 1892) - a gentleman writes Jane a
billet-doux
A Girl's Opinion on Jane Austen, by Edith Edlmann (1892) - Edith is a very Victorian lady, who thinks that Jane Austen should have written with less sense and more sensibility to be attractive to modern young ladies
A Jane Austen Letter, with other 'Janeana' from an old book of autographs, M. A. DeWolfe Howe (1925) - a companion piece to the Anna Waterston article; an exchange of letters between Eliza Susan Quincy (Mrs. Waterston's sister) and Admiral Sir Francis Austen, including one of Jane's letters that Frank sent to Miss Quincy at her request