Regency Fashion Archives - Quickstep Travel Guide

Jane Austen’s Brother: Oh What a Henry!

May 2, 2023

Growing up in Steventon, the rectory was a happy and harmonious place partly due to Henry Thomas Austen. He was the third born son of his five brothers, James, George, Francis and Charles.

Henry had a lively personality and was good looking, which makes it surprising that he married late in life, first his cousin Eliza and then Eleanor Jackson. He chose a variety of careers, and was first a banker, then a soldier, a finally a clergyman.

He remained in the county of Hampshire and the nearby county of Surrey for most of his life, before a brief spell in France, before returning to Kent where he is buried.

Brother and Sister

Henry and Jane were particularly close, as Cassandra was to Edward. Jane’s niece Caroline commented that Henry was Jane’s ‘special pride and delight.’

They looked alike and had the same temperament, as both were positive, cheerful, and had an optimistic outlook. Whenever anyone did something funny, Jane and Cassandra would laugh.. ‘Oh, What a Henry!‘

Henry was good looking, had a lively personality and was loved. He was often welcomed at Godmersham by his brother Edward and his family, and his many nieces and nephews enjoyed his company.

A Banker, a baker, a candlestick maker

With Henry having such an outgoing personality, it made sense that he would have different careers throughout his life.

Being born into such a talented family, it may have been difficult for Henry to choose a profession his brothers had not already excelled at. His eldest brother James was a clever scholar, publisher and a curate of the church. His brothers Charles and Francis entered the Navy and fought for their country, winning many prizes and promotions. Edward was adopted by wealthy cousins, who trained him to manage estates with a view to inheriting a fortune.

He first went into Banking in Alton and London, which eventually went bankrupt. He had spell in the Oxford Militia, and was later ordained a priest and became a master at Farnham Grammar School in Surrey.

Life and Death

Henry caught a fever and became very ill, and almost died. It was Jane who nursed him back to health at his house in London, where she spent many months nursing him, and it was a close call. At one point she called the family to his bedside to pray for him.

It was during this time that the Apothecary that nursed Henry knew the Prince Regent’s librarian, a great admirer of Jane’s novels, and made the introduction that would lead to Jane dedicating her novel Emma to the Prince Regent.

For the Love of Eliza

Henry met his exotic cousin when she visited Steventon in his youth. The Austen children would put on plays together, similar to those Jane imagines in Mansfield Park. Eliza was married at the time, and it was only when her husband was killed in France, did she return to England and her Austen cousins. They were married on New Years Eve 1797 in London. Henry was heartbroken when Eliza died in April 1813 at the young age of 51, after a long illness.

After Jane’s Death

After Jane’s death Henry acted as her literary executor. He initially remained in Hampshire and was as curate of Chawton for three more years, and also served as chaplain to the British Embassy in Berlin for five months during that period.

In 1820, Henry remarried Eleanor Jackson who was the niece of the Reverend Papillon at Chawton. The same Reverend Papillon that Mrs Knight had hoped Jane would marry.

When he retired from the church, Henry lived in France for a time before returning to his family in Kent. He died at Tunbridge Wells on 12 March 1850 at the age of seventy-eight. He is buried at Woodbury Park Cemetery in Tunbridge Wells.

Further Reading – Henry Austen: The Banker’s Sister by E J Clery

Eight Lesser Known Facts About Mansfield Park

February 27, 2023

Mansfield Park is the first of Jane Austen’s three later novels she wrote in full whilst living at Chawton Cottage. Jane began Mansfield Park in 1811 whilst still revising Pride and Prejudice and she completed it in the Summer of 1813. The publisher Egerton accepted it in the November of that year, and it was published at the end of May 1814.

Jane read the novel to her brother Henry on a carriage ride to London and he liked it very much. He later became ordained and married Eliza, so he may have seen something of himself in the story.

Mansfield Park Reviews

Mansfield Park was not as well received as Pride and Prejudice. After the romantic and headstrong Elizabeth, the heroine Fanny was either thought to be very dull or too pleasant. As there were no official reviews Jane could refer to, she made her own list of feedback.

Jane’s mother had thought Mansfield Park was not as good as Pride and Prejudice and found the heroine Fanny ‘insipid’. Sister Cassandra was ‘fond of Fanny’ and ‘delighted much in Mr Rushworth’s stupidity’.

Miss Bramston commented having finished the first volume, she ‘flattered herself she had got through the worst!‘ and a family friend, Augusta Branstone, had thought Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice were ‘downright nonsense’, but expected to like Mansfield Park more. She preferred it to Jane’s other books, although Jane wrote that she ‘imagined that might be her want of taste – as she does not understand wit!’

There are some interesting facts about the novel, and although Jane seldom included events from family and friends in her novels, there does seem to be some impression of real events in Mansfield Park. And some interesting facts.

1. Jane Austen was a Self-Published Author

After the sparkle of Pride and Prejudice, the story did not impress Egerton and once again Jane had to publish it on commission and pay the printing costs upfront. A first run of 1500 copies were printed and an advert appeared in the Morning Chronicle.

Mansfield Park Title Page (Public Domain)

The title page showed it was ‘By the Author of “Sense and Sensibility” and “Pride and Prejudice”, which was a good endorsement, and the novel sold out quickly.

2. Mansfield Park Turned Out To Be Jane’s Most Profitable Book

The second edition of Mansfield Park came out after the first edition of Emma. As Egerton had declined to publish a second edition, Henry offered it to the publisher John Murray and it was reprinted in 1816.

The second edition also sold out quickly, and Mansfield Park became Jane’s most profitable book making her a profit of £350.

3. Fanny Price leaving home may have parallels with Jane’s brother Edward being adopted

Mansfield Park is a story about a young Fanny Price who at 10 years old is sent away from her family to live with relatives at Mansfield Park in Northampton. Some speculate that the story was inspired by Jane’s brother Edward who was adopted as a teenager and left to live at Godmersham Park in Kent. Jane was only 8 years old at the time, and his siblings must have missed him greatly.

4. Another Loving Brother and Topaz Cross

Jane’s brother Charles Austen bought Jane and Cassandra topaz crosses with his Navy winnings, and although Jane rarely wrote of actual events in her novels, she must have been so proud that she wrote this event into Mansfield Park.

In Mansfield Park it is Fanny’s brother William who is in the Navy and buys Fanny a topaz cross to share his good fortune with his sister. Then Edmund, Fanny’s cousin gives Fanny a gold chain on which to wear the cross.

Replica of Jane Austen’s Topaz Cross from the Jane Austen Centre Bath

5. The Abolition of Slavery in 1807

Jane was aware of current affairs from the newspapers and letters from her brothers. The planned changes in slavery at the time would have affected many of the families that Jane knew who operated in the West Indies.

Parliament were debating the use of slaves by the British in the West Indies and abolished their use by passing the Slave Trade Act of 1807.

Jane has Mr Bertram called away to his plantations in the West Indies when there is difficulty with its management, and makes Mr Bertram a member of Parliament which meant that he would have debated and passed this Bill.

6. Enter Henry and Mary Crawford

Mansfield Park is enlightened by two wonderful characters called Henry and Mary Crawford who come to Mansfield from London and shake up the household.

The character of Mary is thought to have been inspired by Jane’s cousin Eliza, who impressed Jane from a young age when she came to stay at Steventon. Eliza was flirtatious, exotic and fun. Jane had nursed Eliza through a long illness until her death in April 1813, and Mansfield Park was completed in the summer of that same year.

Jane describes Mary Crawford as having a lively dark eye, clear brown complexion, and general prettiness.. a sweet pretty girl.

Mansfield-Park-Movie — Mary and Tom Crawford from the film Mansfield Park 2007 (Public Domain)

7. A Wonderful Play – Lovers Vows

In Mr Bertrams absence, the characters decide to put on a popular play called Lovers Vows (just as Jane and her siblings put on plays at Steventon). The story is about intimate relationships outside outside marriage and illegitimate birth. Consequently, when Mr Bertram returns from his West Indies trip and finds the children at play, he throws it on the fire.

*Lovers’ Vows*, 1796 edition. The controversial play is rehearsed at Mansfield Park during Sir Thomas Bertram’s absence. (Public Domain)

8. A Most Perfect Clergyman, Edmund

Edmund was one of Jane’s fondest characters. She wrote the story when clergymen were much improved and admired, and as Jane was a religious person and devoted to God, she gave Edmund many devout qualities. It is often thought that if Jane would have married one of her characters – it would be Edmund!

As To The Ending..

Jane’s niece Louisa remembers Jane and Cassandra discussing the ending of the novel. Cassandra wanted Mary to marry Edmund and Fanny to marry Henry, where Jane argued that Mary would have tired of Edmund and his church duties and Fanny would have been unhappy with Henry and his fickle nature.

What do you think?

A Costume of Sport Exhibition

June 16, 2022

Exhibition Review

A Costume of Sport

“Her hair, so untidy, so blowsy! ..Yes, and her petticoat; I hope you saw her petticoat, six inches deep in mud. I am absolutely certain.- Pride and Prejudice

Chawton House Library
28 April to 4 September 2022

Did Jane Austen play sport? It looks like she did. She mentions playing cricket with her nephews, and was an expert with the cup and ball (if that could be classed as sport?!) and played games with her many nieces and nephews.

A Costume of Sport considers the typical physical exercises enjoyed by women in the Regency period, and what they wore whilst doing it, from cricket and riding to sea bathing using horse-drawn machines.You can also see the typical sporting pursuits that the gentry and the family held in the grounds of the house over the centuries.

I love visiting the ‘Great House’ as Jane called it. Walking up the long drive, you can see the small window above the door where Jane would sit and watch the visitors arriving. The large wooden door opens into a hallway that takes you into the Great Hall. Climbing the old wooden stairs at the far side, you can find the exhibition rooms on the top floor.

BATHING IN SANDITON

In the entrance to A Costume of Sport, your eyes are immediately drawn to the red gown in the corner. Miss Charlotte Heywood wore this bathing dress and matching cap in the UK TV series of Sanditon.

Charlotte Heywood and her Bathing Costume Worn in Sanditon (Photograph Authors Own)

Sam Perry who was inspired by the fashion plate called “Sea Bathing in Scarborough” made it, which you can see in the adjoining cabinet. The photograph next to it shows Charlotte laughing whilst wearing the dress and swimming in the freezing water!

Rose Williams as Charlotte Heywood Swimming in Sanditon (Photograph Authors Own)

The boards on either side of the room tell you about Regency women Riding, Bathing, Walking, playing Cricket and a variety of other sports. Quotes around the room are from Jane’s novel Northanger Abbey which she wrote in her teens which has Catherine rolling down grassy hills.

Other quotes are from Jane’s novel Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth walks across the fields to see her sister, “Her hair, so untidy, so blowsy!.. Yes, and her petticoat, … six inches deep in mud, I am absolutely certain and the gown which had been let down to hide it, not doing its office.”

Sport at Chawton House

We know that Jane’s brothers and nephews enjoyed hunting with their friends, and the second room of the exhibition is themed “Sport at Chawton House”.

There is an old framed family tree drawn by hand and you can use the magnifying glass to follow the lines of the Knight and Austen family. The open books date from the 19th century and contain paintings of both women and men at the hunts and playing sport alongside the old cricket bats used by the family.

In one of the cabinets on the far side you can see an oval ladies pill box decorated with both women and men playing cricket which is especially lovely.

The old pattens on display are what ladies wore to keep the mud off their shoes. Although these did not belong to Jane, they look like the ones that she wore in the winter. (Pattens are like flat pieces of wood in a shoe shape with a strap over to hold them onto your feet).

Patten Shoes to Protect Regency Shoes from Mud (Photograph Authors Own)

Women in the Arts

Going through to the Oak Room themed “Women in the Arts” you can see a selection of large impressive paintings of talented female writers and artists.

I love this room as it has the little alcove where Jane would sit and watch people and carriages pass by and who would be coming up the drive. There is a wonderful painting in this room of Lady Catherine who really was quite stunning.

Regency Clothing (Photograph Authors Own)

The Long Gallery

The last part of Costume of Sport exhibition is in the Long Gallery. The cabinets in are opened and show novels that date from 1744 through to 1976 and in-between. I particularly like the novel Cecilia by Fanny Burney that Jane loved to read that is shown here in five volumes.

Chawton-House-Library-Books — The Long Gallery Where Jane Austen Walked to Exercise at Chawton House Library (Photograph Authors Own)

Overall, this is a really well pulled together exhibition who show us that women did participate in sport and outdoor pursuits, and enjoyed doing so. The information boards tell you all about each topic at that period in history with the relevant items on display underneath.

The history found here in the exhibition is uplifting, and some of the items are rarely found on display and quite exquisite. I think you will love it.

Okay, I’m off downstairs now for some sumptuous cake and tea, and to buy some goodies from the shop. Now where is that quill necklace..?!

Jane-Austen-Necklace-at-Chawton-House-Library — Jane Austen Quill Necklace from Chawton House Library Shop (Photograph Authors Own)

The exhibition runs from 28 April to 4 September 2022 and is FREE with your entry ticket (valid for 12 months) which you can buy from Chawton House Library WEBSITE

On 23 June there is a Curator Tour taking place as part of Regency Week which you can BOOK HERE

For more Jane Austen see our EVENTS page.

Ten Lesser Known Facts About Mansfield Park

May 9, 2022

Mansfield Park is the first of Jane Austen’s three later novels she wrote in full whilst Jane was living at Chawton Cottage. She began Mansfield Park in 1811 whilst still revising Pride and Prejudice and she completed it in the Summer of 1813. Egerton accepted it in the November of that year, and it was published at the end of May 1814.

Jane Austen was a Self-Published Author

After the sparkle of Pride and Prejudice, the story did not impress Egerton and once again Jane had to publish it on commission and pay the printing costs upfront. A first run of 1500 copies were printed and an advert appeared in the Morning Chronicle.

The title page showed it was ‘By the Author of “Sense and Sensibility” and “Pride and Prejudice”, which was a good endorsement as the first edition sold out quickly.

Mansfield Park Turned Out To Be Jane’s Most Profitable Book

The second edition also sold out quickly, and Mansfield Park became Jane’s most profitable book making her a profit of £350.

A Sensible Heroine – Fanny Price

The story is about a young Fanny Price who at ten years old is sent away from her family to live with relatives at the Mansfield Park estate in Northampton. Some speculate that the story was inspired by Jane’s brother Edward who was adopted as a teenager and sent away to live at Godmersham Park in Kent. Jane was only eight years old at the time, and his siblings must have missed him greatly.

Fanny misses her family, especially her brother William who is in the Navy who she has not seen for seven years. Jane had two brothers in the Navy who would have been away for months if not years at a time.

Another Loving Brother and Topaz Cross

Jane’s brother Lieutenant Charles Austen bought Jane and Cassandra topaz crosses with his winnings, and although Jane rarely wrote of actual events in her novels, she must have been so proud that she wrote this event into Mansfield Park.

Fanny’s aunt, Mrs Bertram and her pug spend most of the novel on the sofa, surrounded by her spoilt children and her spiteful sister Mrs Norris, who treats Fanny like a servant. It is when Mr Bertram is called away to his plantations in the West Indies and leaves his family to their own devices that trouble ensues.

The Abolition of Slavery in 1807

Parliament were debating the use of slaves by the British in the West Indies and abolished their use by passing the Slave Trade Act of 1807. Jane makes Mr Bertram a member of Parliament which meant that he would have debated and passed this Bill.

Enter Henry and Mary Crawford

The novel is then lightened by two wonderful characters called Henry and Mary Crawford who come to Mansfield from London and shake up the household.

Jane describes Mary Crawford as having a lively dark eye, clear brown complexion, and general prettiness.. a sweet pretty girl.

A Wonderful Play – Lovers Vows

In Mr Bertrams absence, the characters decide to put on a popular play called Lovers Vows (just as Jane and her siblings put on plays at Steventon). The story gathers momentum with intertwined love interests until Sir Thomas returns from his trip and throws the play on the fire.

As the novel progresses there are scandals and drama, jealousies and rebuked proposals until we return to the heroine Fanny who finally gets her happy ending.

A Most Perfect Clergyman, Edmund

Edmund was one of Jane’s fondest characters. She wrote the story when clergymen were much improved and admired, and as Jane was a religious person and devoted to God, she admired Edmund’s devotion to his duties. She had told Cassandra before starting the novel that it was going to be about ordination.

Mansfield Park Reviews

Mansfield Park was not as well received as Pride and Prejudice, and as there were no official reviews Jane made her own list of feedback. After the romantic and headstrong Elizabeth, the heroine, Fanny, was either thought to be very dull or too pleasant.

Jane read the novel to her brother Henry on a carriage ride to London and he liked it very much. He later became ordained and married Eliza, so he may have seen something of himself in the story.

Her mother had thought Mansfield Park was not as good as Pride and Prejudice and found the heroine Fanny ‘insipid’. Her sister was ‘fond of Fanny’ and ‘delighted much in Mr Rushworth’s stupidity’. Miss Bramston commented having finished the first volume, she ‘flattered herself she had got through the worst!‘

A family friend, Augusta Branstone, had thought Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice were ‘downright nonsense’, but expected to like Mansfield Park more. She preferred it to Jane’s other books, although Jane wrote that she ‘imagined that might be her want of taste – as she does not understand wit!’

As To The Ending..

Jane’s niece Louisa remembers Jane and Cassandra discussing the ending of the novel. Cassandra wanted Mary to marry Edmund and Fanny to marry Henry, where Jane argued that Mary would have tired of Edmund and his church duties and Fanny would have been unhappy with Henry and his fickle nature.

What do you think?

Jane Austen’s Cousin: For the love of Eliza

April 25, 2022

What gentleman among you am I to have the pleasure of making love to?
Mary Crawford, Mansfield Park, Jane Austen

Eliza de Feuillide was born on 22 December 1761 in Calcutta, India, and was affectionately known as ‘Betsy’ within the family. Cousin Eliza made quite an impression on all the Austen family and it seemed they would all come to love her in some way.

Portrait of Eliza Hancock (1761-1813), one of Jane Austen’s cousins, aka “Comtesse de Feuillide”. (Public Domain)

She was daughter of Rev George Austen’s sister, Philadelphia Hancock who married Tysoe Saul Hancock whilst living in India. Philadelphia and Tysoe were close friends of Warren Hastings, and it was whispered that he was actually Eliza’s father after years of a childless marriage. This could have been why Hastings settled Eliza with £10,000 upon his death.

Painting by Joshua Reynolds in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin showing Eliza’s father, Indian *ayah* Clarinda, Eliza and her mother Philadelphia, 1765 (Public Domain)

When she made her arrival in the sleepy little Hampshire village of Steventon she was 22 years old. She was pretty and petite, and thought of as quite exotic.

Jane was only 8 years old at the time, and she was quite taken with Eliza’s fun and beauty. Eliza loved to flirt, and you can see why many have thought that Eliza inspired Mary Crawford in Jane’s novel Mansfield Park. The theatricals that play such a significant part in Mansfield Park are reminiscent of the plays in which Eliza was the leading lady in their amateur productions that took place in the barn. ,Jane completed the novel a few months after Eliza’s death.

It was when she returned to Paris with her mother that Eliza met and married Jean-Francois Capot de Feuillide in 1781. He was an officer in the Queens Regiment of Dragoons, and although it was not official, had a title of his own.

With the money Eliza inherited from Hastings, she was a wealthy woman and moved within the royal circles and upper classes in Paris. Eliza often wrote home to her cousin Philadelphia Walter with descriptions of the many parties and fireworks she went to, and all the latest Paris fashions.

Eliza gave birth to her son Hastings on 25 June 1786, and named him after his Godfather. Although he was fairly robust as a baby, he was a sickly child and was 15 years old when he became ill and died in 1801.

Eliza was living back in London when Jane’s eldest brother James proposed to Eliza. As a clergyman he had a humble living and lived back in leafy Hampshire, a world away from Eliza’s life in Paris and London. She refused his proposal and he later asked Mary Lloyd, Martha’s sister, to be his wife.

It was Jane’s fondest brother Henry, in business and banking, who Eliza accepted. With his easy nature and sense of fun, it seemed they were suited in marriage and had a Christmas wedding on 31 December 1797.

They lived in Sloane Street, and Jane would often visit when Henry would be negotiating with her publishers on her behalf. It was on one of these visits that Eliza had decided to throw a party similar to one she had been to in Versailles.

Chateau de Versailles – Galerie des Glaces (Public Domain)

As Cassandra was at Godmersham, on Thursday 18 April 1811 Jane writes that preparations were underway,

Eliza is walking out by herself.  She has plenty of business on her hands just now - for the day of the party is settled, and drawing near; 80 people are invited for next Tuesday eveng. and there is to be some very good music.

And on Saturday 20 April both she and Eliza decided to go shopping,

If weather permits, Eliza and I walk into London this morng.  She is in want of Chimney lights for Tuesday and I an ounce of darning cotton.  It will be amusing to see the ways of a French circle.

The party was so lavish it was reported in the newspapers, and on Thursday 25 April Jane writes another long letter to tell Cassandra all about it.

Our party went off extremely well.. The rooms were dressed up with flowers &.. looked very pretty.  -A glass for the Mantlepiece was lent, by the Man who is making their own ... Including everybody we were 66 - which was considerably more than Eliza had expected, & quite enough to fill the Back Drawg room, & leave a few to be scattered about in the other, & in the passage. - The Music was extremely good.  ...The House was not clear till after 12.

Eliza became ill at the same time Jane was writing Mansfield Park. She was suffering from breast cancer, the same illness that had taken her mother, and it was to be a long illness which Jane helped nurse her through.

In February 1813, Henry was away in Oxford when he received news that Eliza had taken a turn for the worst. He took his carriage to pick up Jane from Chawton Cottage and returned to London on 21 April.

Eliza died four days later on Sunday 25 April 1813 and Jane was at her bedside when she passed away. She was 51 years old. Eliza is buried at the Cemetery of St John-at-Hampstead alongside her mother and son. Her gravestone was written by her husband Henry.

Also in memory of Elizabeth wife of H.T. Austen, Esq. formerly widow of the Comt. Feuillide a woman of brilliant, generous and cultivated mind just disinterested and charitable she died after long and severe suffering on the 25th April 1813 age 50 much regretted by the wise and good and deeply lamented by the poor.

Further Reading: Jane Austen’s Cousin: The Outlandish Countess de Feuillide

Ten Wonderful Things about Emma

March 29, 2022

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, …and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.
Emma, Jane Austen

So begins Jane Austen’s novel Emma, the last to be published in her lifetime. It is also the only novel by Jane that is named after its heroine, and Emma Woodhouse is certainly unique among Jane’s many characters.

Emma has everything. She is intelligent, beautiful, and the youngest and fondest daughter of a wealthy father who indulges her every whim. The only person who ever expresses any criticism of Emma is Mr Knightley, who owns the nearby Donwell Abbey and estate.. and you can guess the rest.

Unlike Jane’s other heroines who need to marry for status or money, Emma is only concerned about boredom (which was the word used by some critics upon its publication).

Despite this, Jane’s Emma as a character and story is usually voted second only to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. Emma sold the most copies of any of Jane’s novels at that time, and has only been surpassed by Pride and Prejudice in recent years.

1. EMMA WAS WRITTEN IN ITS ENTIRETY WHILST JANE LIVED AT CHAWTON

According to Cassandra, Jane started writing Emma on 21 January 1814 and finished it on 29 March 1815. She was then 39 years old.

Unlike three of Jane’s earlier novels which she started writing in her teens (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey), Jane wrote Emma in its entirety whilst living at Chawton Cottage. She started writing it once Mansfield Park was published and sold out which must have spurred her on!

2. JANE HAD DECIDED THAT EMMA WAS NO ELIZABETH BENNET!

Whilst Jane had described Elizabeth Bennet, ‘as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print’, she had told Cassandra that she was going to write about someone less perfect. ‘I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.’

As it turned out, many Jane Austen fans love her Emma and she is one of Jane’s most popular characters.

3. JANE REFERRED TO HER NOVELS AS HER OWN CHILDREN

Jane referred to her novels as though they were her children. She had called Pride and Prejudice her ‘Own darling child’.

Jane wrote in a letter to her niece Anna in 1815 (whose new daughter she had not yet seen), ‘As I wish very much to see your Jemima, I am sure you will like to see my Emma.’

4. EMMA WAS THE ONLY HEROINE IN JANE’S NOVELS THAT WAS NOT UNDER PRESSURE TO MARRY

Jane wrote the opening line of the novel, ‘Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition ..and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.’ Emma is the only heroine of Jane’s that is not under pressure to marry – for love, security or status.

Gwyneth Paltow As Emma Woodhouse in Jane Austen’s Emma

5. JANE WAS NEVER KNOWN AS THE AUTHOR OF EMMA OUTSIDE HER CLOSE FAMILY

Only Jane’s family and close friends knew Jane was the author of Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. When Emma was published the title page simply reads, ‘By the Author of “Pride and Prejudice, etc etc’.

Although Emma went on sale on 23 December 1815, the title page reads 1816 as it was so close to end of the year.

6. JANE’S FAME INCREASED IN THE LAST TWO YEARS OF HER LIFE

It was clear that Jane’s fame was increasing as the dedication inside Emma is to the Prince Regent.

It seems that whilst Jane was in London nursing Henry through a serious illness, his doctor was a friend of the Prince Regent’s librarian James Stanier-Clarke, and it was he who had made the introduction.

Although Jane disliked the Prince Regent as he was known to gamble and have many mistresses, she must have been flattered that he admired her novels and had copies in each of his residences. She sent a specially bound copy to Carlton House for the future King which is now in the Royal Household in London.

7. JANE’S NOVEL EMMA WAS ADVERTISED IN THE NEWSPAPERS

Much to Jane’s delight, the Morning Chronicle announced the publication of Emma on 23 December 1815.

8. JANE WAS WORRIED AS MOST AUTHORS ARE ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF EMMA

In a letter to John Murray written on 11 December a few weeks before Emma was published, Jane shared her worries about the public reception of her new novel. ‘I am very strongly haunted by the idea that to those Readers who have preferred P&P. it will appear inferior in Wit, & to those who have preferred MP. very inferior in good Sense.’

In receiving feedback and reading the reviews, it seems that the literary critics of the day enjoyed Emma and wrote positive reviews. Sir Walter Scott wrote in the Quarterly Review that he thought Emma was part of a new trend in fiction, ‘which has arisen almost in our own times, and which draws the characters and incidents introduced more immediately from the current of ordinary life than was permitted by the former rules of the novel.‘

9. JANE MADE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF MONEY FROM EMMA ALTHOUGH IT WAS HER MOST SUCCESSFUL

Written in 1814, Emma was ready in March 1815. Egerton was Jane’s previous publisher and he delayed publishing whilst he negotiated with Murray, another successful publisher. John Murray was a prominent London publisher of many famous authors and The Quarterly Review, which Jane read and admired which may be why she chose him.

They eventually agreed that Jane would publish at her own expense and as the first editions of her previous novels had sold out, it was decided to print 2,000 copies of Emma.

Murray received 10% of the profits and Egerton made a healthy £450 (around $600 USD) from this transaction.

The accounts show that Jane made much less at £222 (around $300 USD) from the initial sales. After the reprint of Mansfield Park was deducted, her royalties were £40 (around $55 USD) which she received in February 1817.

Although Emma was Jane’s most successful novel in the way of sales, it made her the least money.

10. JANE SHOWS YOU CAN BE HAPPY BEING SINGLE

Jane shows that you can be happy being single and marriage is not the key to happiness. (As long as you have a wealthy father, lots of shopping trips, great friends who forgive you, and a warm fire!).