Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Original publication date
1993 (Oxford World's Classics)
Publication
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2009]
Description
Jane Austen's remarkable juvenilia date from 1787, when she was eleven, to 1793, when she was seventeen. She preserved these early writings in three manuscript notebooks, entitled, with mock solemnity, 'Volume the First', 'Volume the Second', and 'Volume the Third'. Most of these works are short fictions, but Austen also wrote the opening of what could have become a full-length novel, 'Catharine', as well as dramatic sketches, verses, and a few non-fictional pieces. Astonishingly sophisticated and inventive, these writings are now receiving the scholarly attention they deserve. This edition provides a fresh transcription of Austen's manuscripts, with comprehensive explanatory notes, an extensive critical introduction, covering the context and publication history of the juvenilia, a chronology of Austen's life and an authoritative textual apparatus. It also prints, for the first time, the copious satirical marginalia that Austen wrote on her copies of Oliver Goldsmith's History of England.… (more)
Language
ISBN
9780199538423
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member souloftherose
This Oxford World's Classics edition contains the contents of three notebooks Jane Austen filled with writings as teenager (commonly known as her juvenilia) as well as some verses and prayers found amongst her later writings and the Plan of a Novel, according to hints from various quarters.
The most
From Love and Freindship:
"My beloved Laura (said she to me a few Hours before she died) take warning from my unhappy End and avoid the imprudent conduct which had occasioned it... Beware of fainting-fits... Though at the time they may be refreshing and agreable yet beleive me they will in the end, if too often repeated and at improper seasons, prove destructive to your Constitution... My fate will teach you this.. I die a Martyr to my greif for the loss of Augustus.. One fatal swoon has cost me my Life.. Beware of swoons Dear Laura.... A frenzy fit is not one quarter so pernicious; it is an exercise to the Body and if not too violent, is I dare say conducive to Health in its consequences—Run mad as often as you chuse; but do not faint—" (all spellings as per Austen's manuscript)
Overall, I was struck by two things whilst reading these early works. Firstly, that Jane Austen was not just incredibly well read as a teenager (which would be a not inconsiderable achievement on its own) but also how well she understood the structure of novels at such a young age to be able to turn that structure on its head in her own writings and what an accomplishment that was.
Secondly, how different these early pieces feel compared to her later writings. I saw someone comment somewhere that Jane Austen's juvenilia reads like Monty Python and I think that sums up the surreal humour of these early works very well. When I say they are outrageously funny that's because the characters in these stories so often do behave outrageously: they lie, cheat and steal, sometimes murder and any marriages that take place in the stories are not done legally. These are stories written to be read aloud to friends and family, not to be published, and they are often shocking; the Austen family must have had a very well-developed sense of humour to allow and encourage their teenage daughter to write such things. They are very different in style to her published writings (although most similar to Northanger Abbey), and this is why Margaret Doody has theorised (in the Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen) that Austen had to change her writing style in order to get her works published in the more strict early 19th century.
From Margaret Doody's introduction:
"She could not laugh so loudly in the later works. She could not be as wild as she had been in the notebook volumes. She had to become genteel and act like a lady."
I was bowled over by the skill Austen shows in these early works (some written when she was half my age). They're not subtle, they're surreal rather than realistic and they are very different from her published novels but I don't think they should be considered as immature writings or failed attempts at her later books. I think they stand alone on their own merits if you can accept them as something very different from the Jane Austen you may be familiar with.
If you enjoyed Austen's humour and sense of fun in Northanger Abbey and Lady Susan then I think you will find those characteristics present in these early stories too. If you've not been that keen on Austen because you think she just writes nice romance stories where the hero and heroine always live happily ever after then these early works might give you a different perspective on her as a writer.
If you're not familiar with 18th century fiction then I'd recommend reading an edition with notes to help you spot the references. I thought the Oxford World's Classics edition edited by Margaret Anne Doody and Douglas Murray was very good: the notes don't just tell you which novels are being referenced but also explain what the editors think Jane Austen was intending with the references which I found very valuable.
The most
Show More
well known of her juvenilia pieces are Catharine, or the Bower which is an unfinished novel and Love and Freindship (sic), a novel told through a series of letters. Love and Freindship was my favourite of this collection; I thought it was outrageously funny and a brilliant parody of the over-sensibility shown by heroines in books at the time.From Love and Freindship:
"My beloved Laura (said she to me a few Hours before she died) take warning from my unhappy End and avoid the imprudent conduct which had occasioned it... Beware of fainting-fits... Though at the time they may be refreshing and agreable yet beleive me they will in the end, if too often repeated and at improper seasons, prove destructive to your Constitution... My fate will teach you this.. I die a Martyr to my greif for the loss of Augustus.. One fatal swoon has cost me my Life.. Beware of swoons Dear Laura.... A frenzy fit is not one quarter so pernicious; it is an exercise to the Body and if not too violent, is I dare say conducive to Health in its consequences—Run mad as often as you chuse; but do not faint—" (all spellings as per Austen's manuscript)
Overall, I was struck by two things whilst reading these early works. Firstly, that Jane Austen was not just incredibly well read as a teenager (which would be a not inconsiderable achievement on its own) but also how well she understood the structure of novels at such a young age to be able to turn that structure on its head in her own writings and what an accomplishment that was.
Secondly, how different these early pieces feel compared to her later writings. I saw someone comment somewhere that Jane Austen's juvenilia reads like Monty Python and I think that sums up the surreal humour of these early works very well. When I say they are outrageously funny that's because the characters in these stories so often do behave outrageously: they lie, cheat and steal, sometimes murder and any marriages that take place in the stories are not done legally. These are stories written to be read aloud to friends and family, not to be published, and they are often shocking; the Austen family must have had a very well-developed sense of humour to allow and encourage their teenage daughter to write such things. They are very different in style to her published writings (although most similar to Northanger Abbey), and this is why Margaret Doody has theorised (in the Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen) that Austen had to change her writing style in order to get her works published in the more strict early 19th century.
From Margaret Doody's introduction:
"She could not laugh so loudly in the later works. She could not be as wild as she had been in the notebook volumes. She had to become genteel and act like a lady."
I was bowled over by the skill Austen shows in these early works (some written when she was half my age). They're not subtle, they're surreal rather than realistic and they are very different from her published novels but I don't think they should be considered as immature writings or failed attempts at her later books. I think they stand alone on their own merits if you can accept them as something very different from the Jane Austen you may be familiar with.
If you enjoyed Austen's humour and sense of fun in Northanger Abbey and Lady Susan then I think you will find those characteristics present in these early stories too. If you've not been that keen on Austen because you think she just writes nice romance stories where the hero and heroine always live happily ever after then these early works might give you a different perspective on her as a writer.
If you're not familiar with 18th century fiction then I'd recommend reading an edition with notes to help you spot the references. I thought the Oxford World's Classics edition edited by Margaret Anne Doody and Douglas Murray was very good: the notes don't just tell you which novels are being referenced but also explain what the editors think Jane Austen was intending with the references which I found very valuable.
Show Less
LibraryThing member laurscartelli
I’ve been reading Jane Austen for 14 years. I own all of her major works as well as the minor ones (Lady Susan, the unfinished The Watsons, the unfinished Sanditon). I have read Emma and Mansfield Park twice, Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice and Northanger Abbey multiple times, Persuasion
Something kept stopping me from reading on. I thought a part of it was that I had let her get into her head so much, I was almost afraid of her letters. After reading Charlotte Brontë’s Unfinished Novels, I decided to take a quick sweep by the letter A in the Fiction section of the library. And there, wedged between Emma and Mansfield Park was Catharine. I knew immediately that this was what I’d been waiting for.
Ever since Patricia Rozema’s 1999 treatment of Mansfield Park, I have craved Austen’s juvenilia. And this was the very first time a copy had been readily available at the library. It’s titled Catharine and Other Writings. Essentially, it’s the transcription of the three notebooks that Jane kept in her adolescence (age 12 to 18). It does for the Austen lover what Charlotte & Branwell’s stories of Angria do for Brontë lovers.
It reminds me very much of when I was younger, playing Barbies with my sister. Making up stupid-ass stories about their families; brushing out Ken-doll John Smith’s hair so he looked like Michael Bolton. There’s such resonant disregard for propriety that you do not see in her novels among the heroes, heroines and admirable side characters. Northanger Abbey is the exception, because she wrote it when she was still quite young. But even there you feel her reining in the silly girls and making them into strong women.
The main characters in these works are the infrastructure for all of her accessory characters. The Bennet sisters, the Musgroves, the Bertrams, the Elliots, Mrs. Elton, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Marianne Dashwood, Lady Susan, General Tilney, Admiral Croft, Willoughby: they are all there. You can feel the wheels turning in her mind as you progress page by page.
This is what I have been missing. This is why I could not move on into her letters. It wasn’t because I was afraid to let her into my head; it was because I didn’t have the foundation. You can read all you want about Jane. You can read every history and every commentary by Deirdre Le Faye, you can read every opinion, every essay, ever finicky and sorely balanced sequel to her novels, you can watch every treatment of her works on film from every angle; still you will not understand.
Her juvenilia from dedications at the beginning of each volume down to every pen stroke that she edited, up to the spot in her prayers where you can feel (without even looking into the notes) the author change from Henry to Jane; every one of these things are hers.
This is the magic of Oxford World’s Classics. I’ve discussed this before in the case of Dumas – why I won’t read translations by other publishers, etc. OWC breathes life back into Jane’s lungs. If you’ve ever seen the Rozema “Mansfield Park”, you’ll know Jane’s “A History of England” (as well as “Love and Freindship (sic)”: “Beware of fainting-fits....Beware of swoons—Run mad as often as you chuse; but do not faint—“. ) OWC gives you not only what history she’s speaking of, but why she speaks in such a tone; why she was atypical in preferring roman Catholicism; why she characterizes herself as anti-Tudor. It defines every questionable word and motive, and not in a condescending way.
It is as if 16-year-old Jane were sitting next to you in 1792 explaining her word choice. And now I know I can move on, into her letters. Now that I know not what she has written, or been, but who she is.
Show More
about…. 70 times (give or take a few). I’ve read numerous essays and opinions on her work. I’ve read the histories on her life. For a few years now, I’ve owned a published collection of her letters. Unfortunately, there are only so many – Cassandra burned many of them when Jane died. I’ve only ever gotten so far as the introduction to the collection. Something kept stopping me from reading on. I thought a part of it was that I had let her get into her head so much, I was almost afraid of her letters. After reading Charlotte Brontë’s Unfinished Novels, I decided to take a quick sweep by the letter A in the Fiction section of the library. And there, wedged between Emma and Mansfield Park was Catharine. I knew immediately that this was what I’d been waiting for.
Ever since Patricia Rozema’s 1999 treatment of Mansfield Park, I have craved Austen’s juvenilia. And this was the very first time a copy had been readily available at the library. It’s titled Catharine and Other Writings. Essentially, it’s the transcription of the three notebooks that Jane kept in her adolescence (age 12 to 18). It does for the Austen lover what Charlotte & Branwell’s stories of Angria do for Brontë lovers.
It reminds me very much of when I was younger, playing Barbies with my sister. Making up stupid-ass stories about their families; brushing out Ken-doll John Smith’s hair so he looked like Michael Bolton. There’s such resonant disregard for propriety that you do not see in her novels among the heroes, heroines and admirable side characters. Northanger Abbey is the exception, because she wrote it when she was still quite young. But even there you feel her reining in the silly girls and making them into strong women.
The main characters in these works are the infrastructure for all of her accessory characters. The Bennet sisters, the Musgroves, the Bertrams, the Elliots, Mrs. Elton, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Marianne Dashwood, Lady Susan, General Tilney, Admiral Croft, Willoughby: they are all there. You can feel the wheels turning in her mind as you progress page by page.
This is what I have been missing. This is why I could not move on into her letters. It wasn’t because I was afraid to let her into my head; it was because I didn’t have the foundation. You can read all you want about Jane. You can read every history and every commentary by Deirdre Le Faye, you can read every opinion, every essay, ever finicky and sorely balanced sequel to her novels, you can watch every treatment of her works on film from every angle; still you will not understand.
Her juvenilia from dedications at the beginning of each volume down to every pen stroke that she edited, up to the spot in her prayers where you can feel (without even looking into the notes) the author change from Henry to Jane; every one of these things are hers.
This is the magic of Oxford World’s Classics. I’ve discussed this before in the case of Dumas – why I won’t read translations by other publishers, etc. OWC breathes life back into Jane’s lungs. If you’ve ever seen the Rozema “Mansfield Park”, you’ll know Jane’s “A History of England” (as well as “Love and Freindship (sic)”: “Beware of fainting-fits....Beware of swoons—Run mad as often as you chuse; but do not faint—“. ) OWC gives you not only what history she’s speaking of, but why she speaks in such a tone; why she was atypical in preferring roman Catholicism; why she characterizes herself as anti-Tudor. It defines every questionable word and motive, and not in a condescending way.
It is as if 16-year-old Jane were sitting next to you in 1792 explaining her word choice. And now I know I can move on, into her letters. Now that I know not what she has written, or been, but who she is.
Show Less
LibraryThing member iayork
Oh! The Joy of Jane Austen!: For those who have loved Jane Austen's more mature writings, this book is a must read. Compiled from Jane Austen's childhood notebooks, these stories are full of unmasked satire, and endless jokes, aimed to point out the absurdity of the novels of the authores' day. In
Show More
her more mature years, Jane Austen learned to mask her satire and calm her wit. Such knowledge undoubtably made for better writing, but there is a great deal of enjoyment to be had from a younger pen, the open satire of a girl who was wise enough to see the folly of her times. Catharine and Other Stories will not make wise, or generally inspire, but it is delightful comic relief, as well as a window into the vivacious mind of Jane Austen, the girl. Show Less
LibraryThing member Xleptodactylous
A collection of short stories and poetry by Jane Austen from when she was very young. So very different to anything she had written and had published later on in her life, the juvenalia is full of circumstances that are not found in her novels, including murder and characters being much more
Show More
outspoken. This is the Regulated Hatred of Austen, but more profound and outspoken, perhaps not as regulated as her novels. A really good collection which shows a diversity in Austen that is not usually seen in her novels, and shows that her "regulated hatred" was concievable. Show Less