Synopses & Reviews
The manuscripts that survive from Jane Austen's maturity offer a unique insight into her life as a creative writer. This volume collects together, for the first time, all the literary manuscripts from Austen's adult years (with the exception of the cancelled chapters of Persuasion, in this edition printed with the finished novel), together with letters discussing the art of fiction, and her record of responses to her novels. Included here are the novella 'Lady Susan', the novel fragments of 'The Watsons' and 'Sanditon', poems and charades, and the comic 'Plan of a Novel'. In an Appendix are collected other works ascribed to Austen, including the play 'Sir Charles Grandison' and three prayers. The introduction offers a history of the manuscripts and a full account of the current state of scholarship on them, and the texts are accompanied by explanatory notes and contextual information.
Review
"The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen performs an admirable service for readers--and particularly scholars - of Austen. It is a service that will no doubt last for generations to come."
-Devoney Looser, University of Missouri, Editionen in der Kritik
Review
"In what is probably the most venturesome and rewarding volume in the splendid "Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen, Todd and Bree present scrupulously re-edited texts of Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sandition, along with line-by-line transcriptions of the manuscripts of the last two, which allow readers to appreciate Austen's habits of revision. They also present Austen's letters and brief essays on fiction, and texts of her 18 poems and the late charades...[The editors] have provided both the best introduction to these later works of Austen and the most satisfying reading-texts of them to date."
--Choice
Synopsis
This authoritative edition of Jane Austen's surviving manuscripts includes Sanditon, Lady Susan and The Watsons, as well as her poems, prayers and shorter fragments.
Synopsis
This volume collects together, for the first time, all the literary manuscripts from Austen's adult years, together with letters discussing the art of fiction, and her record of responses to her novels. The texts are accompanied by an introduction, chronology, explanatory notes and detailed textual information about the manuscripts.
About the Author
Janet Todd is Professor of English Literature at the University of Aberdeen.Linda Bree is Publisher for Literature at Cambridge University Press.
Table of Contents
Chronology; Introduction; Note on the text; The Fiction: Lady Susan; The Watsons; Sanditon; Poems and Charades: Poems; Charades; Austen on Fiction: To Mrs. Hunter of Norwich; Letters on Fiction; Plan of a Novel; Opinions of Mansfield Park; Opinions of Emma; Appendices: A. Transcription of The Watsons; B. Transcription of Sanditon; C. Sir Charles Grandison; D. Prayers; E. Family poems; F. Attributed poems; Corrections and emendations; Explanatory notes.