Purchased by J.P. Morgan, Jr. in 1920.
1 item (4 pages) ; 23.2 x 37.5 cm (unfolded)
With postmark and wafer, addressed to Miss Austen, Edwd Austen's Esqr, Godmersham Park, Faversham, Kent; written from Castle Square.
Most of the first three pages are written on "Tuesday"; "Wednesday" appears near the bottom of p. 3.
Forms part of a collection of 41 letters from Austen to her sister and two prints (MA 977.1-43).
High reserve.
Watermark: GATER 1808 on wove paper.
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.
Noting the cold weather: "everything seems to turn to snow this winter"; mentioning the people who have left or returned to Southampton; commenting on her current reading, including "Ida of Athens by Miss Owenson" and "a third volume of sermons from Hamstall" by the Reverend Edward Cooper; discussing her mother's improved health following the "return of one of her old complaints"; noting that she and Martha will be attending the Assembly in honor of the Queen's birthday.