E-text prepared by Thierry Alberto, Emmy,
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Transcriber's Note:

Obvious punctuation errors have been corrected.

The title page lists the authors as Austen-Leigh.The text omits the hyphen. This was retained.

In the interests of maintaining the integrity of the Austen letters, archaic or unusual spellings were retained as was inconsistent capitalization. For example: expence, acknowlegement; d'Arblay, D'Arblay.

More detailed notes will be found at the end of the text.

[iii]

see p. 62

[iv]

JANE AUSTEN

HER LIFE AND LETTERS

A FAMILY RECORD

BY

WILLIAM AUSTEN-LEIGH

AND

RICHARD ARTHUR AUSTEN-LEIGH

WITH A PORTRAIT

LONDON
SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE
1913

[All rights reserved]

[v]

PREFACE

Since 1870-1, when J. E. Austen Leigh [1] published hisMemoir of Jane Austen, considerable additions havebeen made to the stock of information available forher biographers. Of these fresh sources of knowledgethe set of letters from Jane to Cassandra, edited byLord Brabourne, has been by far the most important.These letters are invaluable as mémoires pour servir;although they cover only the comparatively rareperiods when the two sisters were separated, andalthough Cassandra purposely destroyed many ofthe letters likely to prove the most interesting, froma distaste for publicity.

Some further correspondence, and many incidentsin the careers of two of her brothers, may be read inJane Austen's Sailor Brothers, by J. H. Hubbackand Edith C. Hubback; while Miss Constance Hillhas been able to add several family traditions to theinteresting topographical information embodied inher Jane Austen: Her Homes and Her Friends. Norought we to forget the careful research shown in[vi]other biographies of the author, especially that byMr. Oscar Fay Adams.

During the last few years, we have been fortunateenough to be able to add to this store; and everyexisting MS. or tradition preserved by the family,of which we have any knowledge, has been placedat our disposal.

It seemed, therefore, to us that the time had comewhen a more complete chronological account of thenovelist's life might be laid before the public, whoseinterest in Jane Austen (as we readily acknowledge)has shown no signs of diminishing, either inEngland or in America.

The Memoir must always remain the one firsthandaccount of her, resting on the authority of anephew who knew her intimately and that of histwo sisters. We could not compete with its vividpersonal recollections; and the last thing we shouldwish to do, even were it pos

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