Catharine: and Other Writings (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

Jane Austen (Author), Margaret Anne Doody (Editor, Introduction), Douglas Murray (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 1998 | Series: Oxford World's Classics

This new collection of Austen's brilliant short fiction is the first annotated edition of her short writings. The texts have been compared with the manuscripts to give a number of new readings. In addition to prose fiction and prayers, this collection contains many of her poems written to amuse and console her friends, and are unavailable in any other single volume.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent collection and some of the these items have been hard to find in print."--Edna L. Steeves, University of Rhode Island

About the Author

Margaret Anne Doody is at Vanderbilt University. Douglas Murray is at Belmont University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192835211
• ISBN-13: 978-0192835215
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,111,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Though the domain of Jane Austen's novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775, she was educated mainly at home. At an early age she began writing sketches and satires of popular novels for her family's entertainment. As a clergyman's daughter from a well-connected family, she had an ample opportunity to study the habits of the middle class, the gentry, and the aristocracy. At twenty-one, she began a novel called "The First Impressions" an early version of Pride and Prejudice. In 1801, on her father's retirement, the family moved to the fashionable resort of Bath. Two years later she sold the first version of Northanger Abby to a London publisher, but the first of her novels to appear was Sense and Sensibility, published at her own expense in 1811. It was followed by Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). After her father died in 1805, the family first moved to Southampton then to Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Despite this relative retirement, Jane Austen was still in touch with a wider world, mainly through her brothers; one had become a very rich country gentleman, another a London banker, and two were naval officers. Though her many novels were published anonymously, she had many early and devoted readers, among them the Prince Regent and Sir Walter Scott. In 1816, in declining health, Austen wrote Persuasion and revised Northanger Abby, Her last work, Sandition, was left unfinished at her death on July 18, 1817. She was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Austen's identity as an author was announced to the world posthumously by her brother Henry, who supervised the publication of Northanger Abby and Persuasion in 1818.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oh! The Joy of Jane Austen!, April 10, 2000

By 

A. Bentley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Catharine: and Other Writings (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

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 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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Author in Training...., July 4, 2008

By 

D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Catharine: and Other Writings (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Compared to Jane Austen's mature and much polished novels, the stories contained in "Catharine and Other Works" are clearly those of an author in training. These stories, often known as the "Juvenalia", clearly show a promising young writer working out her technique, generally in short prose apparently intended for the entertainment of her immediate family.

"Catharine", dated to August 1792 and dedicated to Jane's sister Cassandra, is a promising indication of Austen's future greatness. It concerns a young orphaned woman being raised by a very strict and hypochrondriac aunt. Catharine is within a short period of time thrown in company with a much wealthier woman her own age and then with the woman's handsome and extremely charming brother. Catharine and the brother make a bit of splash at a ball, scandalizing the aunt and leading to the banishment of the young man, leaving behind a budding relationship ripe with dramatic possibilities. "Catharine" clearly foreshadows Austen's mature style. The dialogue is quite good, and numerous plot threads are set in motion for later resolution. The heroine is clearly a forerunner to later characters such as Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse, while Edward Stanley, the intended hero, bears more than passing resemblance to Henry Crawford of "Mansfield Park" and Frank Churchill of "Emma."

"Catharine and Other Works" is highly recommended to fans of Jane Austen, both for their inherent entertainment value and for the opportunity to see the author in training.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Splendid nonsense! A youthful writer in the making, May 30, 2009

By 

Laurel Ann "Austenprose" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Catharine: and Other Writings (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

"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 -" Letter 14, Laura to Marianne, Love and Freindship

Jane Austen grew up in the perfect fertile environment for a writer. Her family was highly educated and passionate readers, including novels which were considered by some in the late 18th-century as unworthy. Educated predominately at home, her father had an extensive library of classics and contemporary editions at her disposal. In her early teens, she began writing comical and imaginative stories for her family and close friends as entertainments and transcribing them into three volumes that would later be known as her Juvenilia. The plots and characters of these short stories are filled with unguarded satire, comical burlesque and "splendid nonsense"; -- shrewd parodies of contemporary novels, historical figures and even her own family engaged in unprincipled deeds: lying, cheating and occasionally murder. Described by her father as "Effusions of Fancy by a very Young Lady Consisting of Tales in a Style entirely new" they represent the creative beginnings of a clever and perceptive mind whose skill at keen observation of social maneuverings and the importance of wealth, so valued in her mature works, are apparent from the early beginnings.

If you have consumed all of Austen's major and minor novels, this reissue by Oxford University Press of their 1998 edition is an enticing treasure. In Catharine and Other Writings, we are introduced not only to a writer in the making, but a collection of prayers, poems and unfinished fragments of novels written in maturity and rarely reprinted. As with the other Oxford editions of Jane Austen's works reissued in the past year, this edition contains excellent supplemental material: a short biography of Austen, notes on the text, a select bibliography, a chronology of Austen's life, textural notes, insightful explanatory notes and a superb introduction by prominent Austen scholar Margaret Anne Doody that details the inspiration from her family and her environment that influenced and formed Austen's creative mind.

"Jane Austen was not a child as a writer when she wrote these early pieces. She possessed a sophistication rarely matched in viewing and using her own medium. She not only understood the Novel, she took the Novel apart, as one might take apart a clock, to see how it works - and put it back together, but it was no longer the same clock. Her genius at an early age is as awe-inspiring as Mozart's." pp xxxv

What I found so engaging in this collection was the lightness and comical devil-may-care freeness in Austen's youthful approach. It was like a rush of endorphin to a dour mood, taking you outside of your troubles and elevating you into a magical world of a youthful imaginings and farcical fancy. I have several favorites that I will re-read when I need a laugh, especially Love and Freindship, The Beautiful Cassandra and The History of England. Not all of the works are comical. When Winchester races is a verse written when Austen was mortally ill and dictated from her deathbed to her sister Cassandra three days before her death. It is her final work. A moralistic piece, it resurrects the ghost of St. Swinthin who curses the race goers for their sins of pleasure.

"When once we were buried you think we are gone

But behold me immortal!"

An interesting choice of subject for the last days of her life, and ironic in relation to what acclaim she has garnered since she has gone. Like St. Swinthin, Jane Austen is indeed immortal!

Laurel Ann, Austenprose