AUSTEN (JANE) Two pages of an autograph letter to Caroline Austen, 1816, cut signature attached

AUSTEN (JANE) Two pages of an autograph letter to her niece Caroline Austen ('My dear Caroline'), with the author's cut signature ('Yours affect:/ J. Austen') attached at foot, the letter apologising for not sending her first note ('...written so long before it was ever sent, that it seemed almost good for nothing...'), and announcing 'the death of that excellent woman Mrs Elizth Leigh...' which she has heard from Cassandra, going on '...We all feel that we have lost a most valued old friend, but the death of a person at her advanced age, so fit to die, & by her own feelings so ready to die is not to be regretted. – she has been so kind as to leave a little remembrance of £20 to your Grand-mama...', giving other family news, that she has had from Scarlets and Godmersham ('...We are to see your cousin Edward...'), that Uncle Henry '...will have spent a complete fortnight at Godmersham, & no doubt will have done him good.- Tell your Mama that he came back from Steventon much pleased with his visit...', reporting that '...your Grandmama is not quite well...' but that the pain in her head is lessening, sending a piece of needlework [not present] that Cassandra has worked for her ('...Cassy has had great pleasure in working this - whatever it may be... I believe she rather fancied it might do for a quilt for your little wax doll...') and inviting her to the Fair at Alton the following Saturday ('...Mary Jane's Birthday, & you would be thought an addition on such a great day...'), docketed ('Miss Austen – the Novelist') in pencil in another nineteenth century hand at head, two pages on a leaf torn from a bifolium, 1813 watermark, light dust-staining, creased at folds, short tear along fold at lower edge, remains of mount to verso, 4to (234 x 188mm.), Chawton, 21 April [1816]; with cut signature and subscription ('Yours affect:/ J. Austen') affixed to the lower left hand edge, dust-staining, remains of a green wafer, small tear, cut signature mounted on paper where once in an album, c.25 x 90mm., [the signature seemingly cut from a letter dated 15 July 1816] Footnotes: 'CASSY HAS HAD GREAT PLEASURE IN WORKING THIS - WHATEVER IT MAY BE': EXTREMELY RARE LETTER FROM JANE AUSTEN TO HER YOUNG NIECE, WITH THE NOVELIST'S SIGNATURE ATTACHED. The majority of Jane Austen's correspondence is now held in institutions, so the emergence of a letter coming direct from the family of the recipient is a rare occurrence, particularly as fewer than 160 letters by her are known to have survived. The recipient of our letter, Caroline Austen (1805-1880), was the daughter of Jane Austen's eldest brother James (1765-1819) and his second wife Mary Lloyd (1771-1843). The novelist's sister, Cassandra, was her godmother and Caroline's brother James Edward Austen-Leigh (1798-1874) became his Aunt Jane's first biographer. Although Caroline was eleven years old when she received our letter, it is written in Jane Austen's characteristically sensible tone as if addressing an adult and yet with great charm and amusement. It is full of family news, mentioning several of the family houses such as Scarlets (the Leigh-Perrots), Godmersham (Edward Austen Knight) and Steventon (home of her brother James). She speaks surprisingly candidly to one so young about the death of her elderly spinster aunt, Elizabeth Leigh (1735-1816): '...the death of a person at her advanced age, so fit to die, & by her own feelings so ready to die is not to be regretted...', she kindly explains. Referred to as 'Mrs Leigh' by Jane throughout her correspondence in deference to her age, Elizabeth Leigh was Cassandra's godmother and resided with her brother, the Revd Thomas at Adlestrop Rectory. We also see here a glimpse of Jane's sense of humour, which is much in evidence in her novels. Sending Caroline a piece of needlework worked by Cassandra, she comments wryly '...Cassy has had great pleasure in working this - whatever it may be...', showing thus the sisters' relaxed and '...most perfect...' affection for each other (Caroline Austen, My Aunt Jane Austen, A Memoir, 1952, p.11). Jane herself was an accomplished needlewoman and her neat handwriting attests to Caroline's view that '...general handiness and neatness were among her characteristics...' (Memoir, p.7). A fine patchwork quilt worked by the sisters and their mother is now held at Jane Austen's House at Chawton. The letter is written at a time of turmoil for Jane and for the Austen family, a '...series of disasters...' according to her biographer Claire Tomalin (Jane Austen: A Life, 1997, p.254). The year had begun well. Emma had been published at the beginning of the year, and Jane was buoyed enough by the success of her previous novels to request the return of the manuscript of Susan (published as Northanger Abbey) from Crosby & Co., so she could work on it further. However, in February 1816 her younger brother Charles' ship, the Phoenix, was wrecked in the Mediterranean off Smyrna, where he was pursuing pirates. He survived but was not to return to sea for ten years. In March, Henry Austen's bank collapsed, and he was declared bankrupt, leaving several family members heavily in debt. Our letter shows, however, that strong family ties prevailed, and they continued to welcome him into their homes. Jane reports here that he has just returned '...much pleased...' from a visit to Steventon: '...Henry's 'sanguine elastic nature' made a rebound from depression easy – indeed, almost inevitable...' (William Austen-Leigh & Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh, Jane Austen A Family Record, 1989, p.212). In her role as favourite aunt, she also invites Caroline to the fair at Alton: '...Looking at the letters from this period, you wonder that she had a moment to do anything but attend to her brother's children. In April, Charles's little Cass was staying at the cottage, and was taken to Alton Fair with Francis's Mary-Jane, and possibly James's Caroline too...' (Tomalin, p.256). It was at this time, however, that Jane's health began to fail and, a month after our letter, she travelled with Cassandra to Cheltenham to take the waters. Her condition worsened and she died the following year. Caroline's Memoir reveals the fate of many of Aunt Jane's letters after her death, offering the opinion that they would not be of interest to the wider world, full as they are of family news and without expressing any '...strong opinions...' as she put it. The exception to that, she believed, would be Jane's letters to her sister Cassandra which '...were, I dare say, open and confidential...' and she reveals, somewhat shockingly, that '...My Aunt looked them over and burnt the greater part (as she told me), 2 or 3 years before her own death – She left, or gave some as legacies to the Nieces – but of those that I have seen, several had portions cut out... Aunt Jane was so good as frequently to write to me; and in addressing a child, she was perfect...' (Memoir, p.10). Only ten letters or portions of letters, including ours, from Jane to Caroline dating from December 1814 to March 1817 are published in Deirdre Le Faye's Letters. Bearing in mind the fate of much of her correspondence, our leaf is thus a rare survival. Our leaf was first published in R.W. Chapman's collected Letters, the text taken from a transcript of our original made by the Austen-Leigh family (probably Charles Edward Austen-Leigh according to Deirdre Le Faye), where it is noted as comprising the first two pages of what was originally a three-page letter, written on a bifolium. Whilst still in the possession of the recipient, the bifolium was to For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing