Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Letter from Jane Austen, Godmersham, to Cassandra Austen, 1813 October 11-12 : autograph manuscript signed.

BIB_ID
282344
Accession number
MA 977.33
Creator
Austen, Jane, 1775-1817, sender.
Credit line
Purchased by J.P. Morgan, Jr. in 1920.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 22.8 x 37.2 cm
Notes
With postmark and wafer, addressed to Miss Austen, Chawton, Alton, Hants [Hampshire].
The first two pages are written on Monday, Oct. 11; "Tuesday" appears at the top of p. 3.
Includes two lines between the date and the salutation: "My dearest At: Cass -- I have just asked At: Jane to let me write a little in her letter but she does not like it so I won't -- good bye." This is probably in the hand of Edward Austen's daughter Fanny.
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: Horn inside shield over "1810".
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
Describing a dinner party; lamenting the stormy weather for outdoor events like the Basingstoke Races and "Weyhill week"; mentioning various visitors and others they are expecting to visit; discussing her nephews; giving her opinion of Mary Brunton's Self control and saying she will read Southey's Life of Nelson if her brother Frank is mentioned in it; responding to queries and comments in her sister's last letter.