Jane was sitting in a chair in her father's library, her sister in the chair next to hers. While Cassandra was reading she was imagining all different stories. She stood up and walked over to the desk.
"What are you doing?" Her older sister asked. Jane didn't answer, she was too absorbed in her work. Little did she know that she would become one of the world's most famous authors and write some of the world's most iconic books.
For this post we’re going back to the late 1700s, December 16, 1775 to be exact. Her parents were Reverend George and Cassandra Austen. She was the seventh of eight children. In age order from oldest to youngest here are the Austen siblings: James, George, Edward, Henry, Cassandra, Francis, Jane, and Charles. She was closest with her brother Henry who inspired some of her characters.
In 1783, Jane and Cassandra were sent to a boarding school. They learned French, dancing and music. When they returned home she learned mostly everything from her brothers and father. Since her father was part of the church they had a library where Jane would spend many hours reading. The family would often share their works of writing or art and sometimes put on plays. In 1787 Jane started to take writing more seriously. She wrote plays and short stories. One of which was ‘Marianne and Elinor’ ; those names were used for the main characters of her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility. In 17959 Jane met Thomas Lefroy, the two spent lots of time together and soon she fell in love. Sadly Thomas was born of a high rank, and Jane wasn’t so his family intervened and Jane never saw Thomas Lefroy again. She and Cassandra returned home and she began the book, First Impressions, which became her most famous piece, Pride and Prejudice. We believe the first draft was created sometime in 1799. Her father sent the piece to a publisher in London, who didn’t even open the package. It is unknown whether her father made more attempts after that. Jane began to revise Marianne and Elinor after this, she made major changes like telling the story in a third person. She also began a novel she named Susan which later became Northanger Abbey. But Jane soon abandoned the piece and worked on some older plays like Sir Charles Grandinson and Happy Man. In December of 1800 Jane’s father announced he was retiring from the clergy. This was a surprise to the Austen’s because he had not told any of them of his plans. This meant that Jane would have to move with her family to Bath, England. She was still with them even though she was 27, because as an unmarried single woman it would be almost impossible to live by herself.
December of 18032 brought another surprise. A man named Mr. Bigg-Withers was the first and only man to propose to her. Our heroine originally accepted the proposal, but revoked her response the next day. After this experience she later wrote to her niece not to marry if there is no affection. This reflects many of her characters who chose to marry for love or not marry at all. Though attempts to publish Susan failed before her brother Henry attempted again with a publisher named Benjamin Crosby. In the end he sold the copyright to Susan for ten pounds for exchange of the work being punished, sadly he never followed through. Thus began the war for copyright over the novel which lasted years. While fighting for her rights in court, Jane still worked and started another piece named The Watsons.
On January 21st Jane's Father passed away. Jane stopped her work on The Watsons since her mother had no one to help support her and her two daughters. Luckily for them all of Mrs. Austen’s sons agreed to help with their financial situation. Despite this the girls would constantly have to move.
After a while Edward, Janes older brother, offered to let them move into a cottage on a property nearby his own. At this time she was 33 and started to work again.
When she began work again she was almost as successful as she was in her younger years when it comes to writing. First, she wrote a furious letter to Crosby, the man who bought the copyright but never published to book, demanding that he publishes a revised version of Susan or return the copyright to her so she could give it to a more willing publisher. Crosby agreed only if she could pay the ten pounds he paid. She was unable to do this.
The brother she was always closest to, Henry, was the one to bring her work to publishers. So when she finished the manuscript of Sense and Sensibility she gave it to Henry who gave it to Thomas Egerton, the first publisher to publish one of her books. The book was published in 1811 and sold out completely by 1813. In January of 1813 she published Pride And Prejudice, her most famous novel. Even though her first novel was a hit Egerton still didn’t invest much in her second novel, but it ended up being so successful that the second edition was quickly ordered. After that was Mansfield Park, which was also a success, the public LOVED Jane Austen. After the success of her first three novels she left Egerton and went to John Murray, a well known publisher at the time. The first book she published under his supervision was Emma.
In 1816 her health started to decline, but she continued to work. Some of her works during this time were, The Elliots, which was finished in January of 1817. She then began The Brothers. When she was 41 she could barely walk. Finally she was confined to bed rest.
On July 18th 1817 Jane Austen died in Winchester, England. After her death Henry and Cassandra worked together to get her final works published, those works are Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. In Persuasion Henry wrote a foreword explaining the real identity of the author and her tragic demise.
If you want to learn more about Jane the best place is Jane Austen.org which gives a detailed story of her life and books. I also highly recommend reading her books. In many of the books her characters resemble her and other important figures in her life.
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated I've been busy with things at home.
Sources:
Jane Austen.org
Encyclopedia Britannica
"What are you doing?" Her older sister asked. Jane didn't answer, she was too absorbed in her work. Little did she know that she would become one of the world's most famous authors and write some of the world's most iconic books.
For this post we’re going back to the late 1700s, December 16, 1775 to be exact. Her parents were Reverend George and Cassandra Austen. She was the seventh of eight children. In age order from oldest to youngest here are the Austen siblings: James, George, Edward, Henry, Cassandra, Francis, Jane, and Charles. She was closest with her brother Henry who inspired some of her characters.
In 1783, Jane and Cassandra were sent to a boarding school. They learned French, dancing and music. When they returned home she learned mostly everything from her brothers and father. Since her father was part of the church they had a library where Jane would spend many hours reading. The family would often share their works of writing or art and sometimes put on plays. In 1787 Jane started to take writing more seriously. She wrote plays and short stories. One of which was ‘Marianne and Elinor’ ; those names were used for the main characters of her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility. In 17959 Jane met Thomas Lefroy, the two spent lots of time together and soon she fell in love. Sadly Thomas was born of a high rank, and Jane wasn’t so his family intervened and Jane never saw Thomas Lefroy again. She and Cassandra returned home and she began the book, First Impressions, which became her most famous piece, Pride and Prejudice. We believe the first draft was created sometime in 1799. Her father sent the piece to a publisher in London, who didn’t even open the package. It is unknown whether her father made more attempts after that. Jane began to revise Marianne and Elinor after this, she made major changes like telling the story in a third person. She also began a novel she named Susan which later became Northanger Abbey. But Jane soon abandoned the piece and worked on some older plays like Sir Charles Grandinson and Happy Man. In December of 1800 Jane’s father announced he was retiring from the clergy. This was a surprise to the Austen’s because he had not told any of them of his plans. This meant that Jane would have to move with her family to Bath, England. She was still with them even though she was 27, because as an unmarried single woman it would be almost impossible to live by herself.
December of 18032 brought another surprise. A man named Mr. Bigg-Withers was the first and only man to propose to her. Our heroine originally accepted the proposal, but revoked her response the next day. After this experience she later wrote to her niece not to marry if there is no affection. This reflects many of her characters who chose to marry for love or not marry at all. Though attempts to publish Susan failed before her brother Henry attempted again with a publisher named Benjamin Crosby. In the end he sold the copyright to Susan for ten pounds for exchange of the work being punished, sadly he never followed through. Thus began the war for copyright over the novel which lasted years. While fighting for her rights in court, Jane still worked and started another piece named The Watsons.
On January 21st Jane's Father passed away. Jane stopped her work on The Watsons since her mother had no one to help support her and her two daughters. Luckily for them all of Mrs. Austen’s sons agreed to help with their financial situation. Despite this the girls would constantly have to move.
After a while Edward, Janes older brother, offered to let them move into a cottage on a property nearby his own. At this time she was 33 and started to work again.
When she began work again she was almost as successful as she was in her younger years when it comes to writing. First, she wrote a furious letter to Crosby, the man who bought the copyright but never published to book, demanding that he publishes a revised version of Susan or return the copyright to her so she could give it to a more willing publisher. Crosby agreed only if she could pay the ten pounds he paid. She was unable to do this.
The brother she was always closest to, Henry, was the one to bring her work to publishers. So when she finished the manuscript of Sense and Sensibility she gave it to Henry who gave it to Thomas Egerton, the first publisher to publish one of her books. The book was published in 1811 and sold out completely by 1813. In January of 1813 she published Pride And Prejudice, her most famous novel. Even though her first novel was a hit Egerton still didn’t invest much in her second novel, but it ended up being so successful that the second edition was quickly ordered. After that was Mansfield Park, which was also a success, the public LOVED Jane Austen. After the success of her first three novels she left Egerton and went to John Murray, a well known publisher at the time. The first book she published under his supervision was Emma.
In 1816 her health started to decline, but she continued to work. Some of her works during this time were, The Elliots, which was finished in January of 1817. She then began The Brothers. When she was 41 she could barely walk. Finally she was confined to bed rest.
On July 18th 1817 Jane Austen died in Winchester, England. After her death Henry and Cassandra worked together to get her final works published, those works are Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. In Persuasion Henry wrote a foreword explaining the real identity of the author and her tragic demise.
If you want to learn more about Jane the best place is Jane Austen.org which gives a detailed story of her life and books. I also highly recommend reading her books. In many of the books her characters resemble her and other important figures in her life.
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated I've been busy with things at home.
Sources:
Jane Austen.org
Encyclopedia Britannica