Part 28 (1/2)

Adieu, sweet You This is grievous news froe of such a son's death

Monday [January 30]

I a been guilty of no insult towards your handwriting; the diphthong I always saw, but knowing how fond you were of adding a voherever you could, I attributed it to that alone, and the knowledge of the truth does the book no service; the only merit it could have was in the na sound, but in Coelebs there is pedantry and affectation Is it written only to classical scholars?

I a, but though a very heroic son he ht not be a very necessary one to her happiness Deacon Morrell may be more to Mrs Morrell

I wish Sir John had united so of the Christian with the hero in his death Thank heaven! we have had no one to care for particularly a the troops--no one, in fact, nearer to us than Sir John hiain, for utter being choked up, and we have had it cleared We had reason to rejoice in the child's absence at the time of the thaw, for the nursery was not habitable We hear of similar disasters from almost everybody

Yours very affectionately, J AUSTEN

Miss Austen, Edward Austen's, Esq

Gods the Southampton series to an end The party were not to take up their residence at Chawton till the beginning of September; but they left Southampton in April, and we ramme mentioned in Jane's letter of January 10, and went by way of Alton to Bookham, and on to Godmersham

In the whole series of letters written fro engaged upon any novel; and it has been inferred--probably correctly--that her pen was idle during these years

The fact that she had already written three novels, but had not succeeded in publishi+ng a single one, can hardly have encouraged her to write more But it seems almost certain that, a few days before she left Southampton, she made an effort to secure the publication of the novel which we know as _Northanger Abbey_, by the publisher to whom she had sold it as far back as 1803

The circumstances are so the letters preserved by Cassandra, is one said not to be in Jane's hand, addressed to Messrs Crosbie [_sic_] & Co,[202] of which these are the contents:--

GENTLEMEN,--In the spring of the year 1803 a MS

novel in two vols, entitled _Susan_, was sold to you by a gentleman of the name of Seymour, and the purchase money 10 rec{d} at the same time Six years have since passed, and this work, of which I am e appeared in print, tho' an early publication was stipulated for at the time of sale I can only account for such an extraordinary circu the MS by some carelessness to have been lost, and if that was the case a to supply you with another copy, if you are disposed to avail yourselves of it, and will engage for no farther delay when it comes into your hands It will not be in my power from particular circuust, but then if you accept ood as to send me a line in answer as soon as possible as my stay in this place will not exceed a few days Should no notice be taken of this address, I shall feel myself at liberty to secure the publication ofelsewhere

I am, Gentlemen, etc, etc, M A D

Direct to Mrs Ashton Dennis, Post Office, Southampton April 5, 1809

With this letter was preserved the following reply:--

MADAM,--We have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th inst It is true that at the time mentioned we purchased of Mr Seymour a MS

novel entitled _Susan_, and paid him for it the sum of 10, for which we have his stamped receipt, as a full consideration, but there was not any time stipulated for its publication, neither are we bound to publish it Should you or anyone else [publish it] we shall take proceedings to stop the sale The MS shall be yours for the same as we paid for it

For CROSBY & CO

I am yours, etc

RICHARD CROSBY

Fro Jane's correspondence, from the almost exact coincidence of the dates at which the writer was to leave Southampton, &c, and from the fact that a Mr

Seymour was Henry Austen's man of business, there can be no reasonable doubt that the letter refers to one of Jane Austen's works It need cause no surprise that she should have written under an assuot some one else to write for her in view of the secrecy which she longthe authorshi+p of her novels If we assume, then, that the letter concerns one of Jane Austen's novels--which novel is it? At first sight it ht naturally seem to be the story called _Lady Susan_, which was published in the second edition of the _Memoir_; but there are two objections to this: one, that so far fro two volumes, _Lady Susan_ could hardly have made more than one very thin voluenerally looked upon as an early and iood to allow her to desire the publication of an inferior work at a time when she had already completed, in one form or another, three such novels as _Sense and Sensibility_, _Pride and Prejudice_, and _Northanger Abbey_ If, therefore, it was not _Lady Susan_--What was it? We cannot doubt that it was the novelas _Northanger Abbey_ When that book was prepared for the press in 1816, it contained the following 'advertisement' or prefatory note:--

This little as finished in the year 1803, and intended for immediate publication It was disposed of to a bookseller,[203] it was even advertised, and why the business proceeded no further, the author has never been able to learn