BIB_ID
282260
Accession number
MA 977.15
Creator
Austen, Jane, 1775-1817, sender.
Credit line
Purchased by J.P. Morgan, Jr. in 1920.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 22.8 x 36.8 cm (unfolded)
Notes
With postmark and remnant of seal, addressed to Miss Austen, Godmersham Park, Faversham, Kent.
Most of the letter is written on Sunday, Feb. 8; "Monday" appears near the bottom of p. 4.
Forms part of a collection of 41 letters from Austen to her sister and two prints (MA 977.1-43).
High reserve.
Most of the letter is written on Sunday, Feb. 8; "Monday" appears near the bottom of p. 4.
Forms part of a collection of 41 letters from Austen to her sister and two prints (MA 977.1-43).
High reserve.
Inscriptions/Markings
Watermark: Shield with horn inside over "1803".
Provenance
Bequeathed by Cassandra Elizabeth Austen to Fanny, Lady Knatchbull, in 1845; inherited by Lord Brabourne, 1882; probably in the Puttick & Simpson sale of 26-8 June 1893; Alfred Morrison sale, 10 December 1918, lot 2154; purchased by J.P. Morgan, Jr. from the New York dealer Ernest Dressel North in 1920.
Summary
Expressing sorrow that Cassandra's return is to be delayed; mentioning alterations to the garden and the house; complaining about her brother Edward's visits because "his Chat seems all forced, his Opinions on many points too much copied from his Wife's." The letter mentions the writers Cowper and Dr. Johnson and a character from Fanny Burney's Evelina. Austen is also reading Sarah Burney's Clarentine and is "surprised to find how foolish it is."
Catalog link
Department