A MEMOIR OF JANE AUSTEN BY HER NEPHEW J. E. AUSTEN LEIGH, TO WHICH IS ADDED LADY SUSAN AND FRAGMENTS OF TWO OTHER UNFINISHED TALES BY MISS AUSTEN

Sixth edition. Original black cloth with gilt titles and decorations to the spine and blind stamped decorations to the boards. With a black and white tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Jane Austen. A very good copy, the binding firm, with a little wear to the corners and spine tips, the spine slightly rolled. There are a few small marks to the bottom edge of the closed text-block and some offsetting and faint spotting to the prelims, the contents are otherwise clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps.

The first full-length biography of Jane Austen, written and compiled by her nephew, James Edward Austen Leigh, with the help of his sisters and other family members. The epistolary novella 'Lady Susan', unpublished in Austen's lifetime, was first published as an addition to the 1871 second edition of Austen Leigh's memoir, along with an unpublished chapter of 'Persuasion' and fragments of the unfinished novels 'Sanditon' and 'The Watsons'. Austen Leigh's memoir provides a valuable early description of Austen's life, and vitally includes the first-hand recollections of people who had known her. However, as was usual for the time, it conforms to Victorian society's expectations of female character. Later critics have accused Austen Leigh of characterising Austen as a demure, domestic 'Aunt Jane' figure that does not accommodate for the acerbic wit found woven throughout her writing. 'Lady Susan' was adapted into the critically acclaimed 2016 film 'Love and Friendship', directed by Whit Stillman and starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny. 'Sanditon' was adapted into a television series that was broadcast on ITV and PBS between 2019 and 2023.