Sixteen Things I Didn't Know about Jane Austen
Last night, I finished Claire Harman's Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World. I have two degrees in English, and I don't think I've ever read a biography or critical work on Austen. I don't remember reading Austen as an undergraduate. I enjoyed her works in graduate school in English and women's studies.
Harman does a great job of weaving biography, history, literature, and even a little pop culture into an interesting read about the famous Jane. She also does a nice job of debunking some of the myths about the popular writer. This book has a great bibliography if you're an Austen scholar.
Here are sixteen things that I didn't know about Jane Austen...
1. Her first biographer was James Edward Austen-Leigh, her nephew (1).
2. Her older brother James published a literary periodical, The Loiterer (11).
3. The author Fanny Burney sold subscriptions to her novel, Camilla. Jane Austen's name was in the first printing because she bought a subscription. This was "the only time she would ever see her name in print; her own novels were all published anonymously" (16).
4. Austen's novels are "full of books and readers" (21).
5. Pride and Prejudice was originally titled, First Impressions (28).
6. Jane Austen died at forty-one (61).
7. Her death notice in 1817 listed her four novels. It acknowledged the writer's identity (61).
8. Her original grave marker made no reference to her writings (61).
9. There was a pirated edition of Emma in the United States (during Austen's life) (74).
10. Queen Victoria liked Northanger Abbey. Their copy of Emma was sent to the servants' library. It was preserved in almost unread condition (95).
11. Rudyard Kipling was a huge fan (130). Mark Twain and Ralph Waldo Emerson were not (131).
12. Rudyard Kipling wrote "The Janeites" (148).
13. Laurence Olivier played Mr. Darcy in 1940 (175).
14. The Jane Austen Society was founded during WWII (177).
15. JASNA is the Jane Austen Society in North America (193).
16. Jane Austen's Regency World is a magazine devoted to the author (226).
Harman does a great job of weaving biography, history, literature, and even a little pop culture into an interesting read about the famous Jane. She also does a nice job of debunking some of the myths about the popular writer. This book has a great bibliography if you're an Austen scholar.
Here are sixteen things that I didn't know about Jane Austen...
1. Her first biographer was James Edward Austen-Leigh, her nephew (1).
2. Her older brother James published a literary periodical, The Loiterer (11).
3. The author Fanny Burney sold subscriptions to her novel, Camilla. Jane Austen's name was in the first printing because she bought a subscription. This was "the only time she would ever see her name in print; her own novels were all published anonymously" (16).
4. Austen's novels are "full of books and readers" (21).
5. Pride and Prejudice was originally titled, First Impressions (28).
6. Jane Austen died at forty-one (61).
7. Her death notice in 1817 listed her four novels. It acknowledged the writer's identity (61).
8. Her original grave marker made no reference to her writings (61).
9. There was a pirated edition of Emma in the United States (during Austen's life) (74).
10. Queen Victoria liked Northanger Abbey. Their copy of Emma was sent to the servants' library. It was preserved in almost unread condition (95).
11. Rudyard Kipling was a huge fan (130). Mark Twain and Ralph Waldo Emerson were not (131).
12. Rudyard Kipling wrote "The Janeites" (148).
13. Laurence Olivier played Mr. Darcy in 1940 (175).
14. The Jane Austen Society was founded during WWII (177).
15. JASNA is the Jane Austen Society in North America (193).
16. Jane Austen's Regency World is a magazine devoted to the author (226).
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