A Memoir of Jane Austen and Other Family Recollections (Oxford World's Classics)

by James Edward Austen-Leigh (Author), Kathryn Sutherland (Editor)

• New

  Illustrated
  2008

  $10.77

  'I doubt whether it would be possible to mention any author of note, whose personal obscurity was so complete.' James Edward Austen-Leigh's Memoir of his aunt Jane Austen was published in 1870, over fifty years after her death. Together with the shorter recollections of James Edward's two sisters, Anna Lefroy and Caroline Austen, the Memoir remains the prime authority for her life and continues to inform all subsequent accounts. These are family memories, the record of Jane Austen's life shaped and limited by the loyalties, reserve, and affection of nieces and nephews recovering in old age the outlines of the young aunt they had each known. They still remembered the shape of her bonnet and the tone of her voice, and their first-hand accounts bring her vividly before us. Their declared partiality also raises fascinating issues concerning biographical truth, and the terms in which all biography functions. This edition brings together for the first time these three memoirs, and also includes Jane's brother Henry Austen's 'Biographical Notice' of 1818 and his lesser known 'Memoir' of 1833, making a unique biographical record. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.24

  This book includes an introduction by J.H. Stape, St Mary's College, Strawberry Hill. Enormously influential on all later biographies of Jane Austen, the Memoir of Jane Austen (1869) by her nephew James Edward Austen - Leigh enjoys the privileged perspective of first-hand knowledge. It displays the deft touch of a man trained in the compassionate observation of human fallibility and virtue. Austen-Leigh's highly readable and affectionate account of his aunt offers a vividly compelling portrait of Jane Austen's habits and personality. Accompanied by the novella Lady Susan and the unfinished The Watsons , this edition is simply essential reading for any admirer of a writer whom Virginia Woolf called 'the most perfect artist among women'.