A Memoir of Jane Austen: And Other Family Recollections (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

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

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2002

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 less known "Memoir" of 1833.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`a must for lovers of Austen's work' Choice Magazine

`A very good introduction by Kathryn Sutherland' Derwent May, the Times,

About the Author

Kathryn Sutherland is a Professorial Fellow in English, St Anne's College, Oxford University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192840746
• ISBN-13: 978-0192840745
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #992,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Personal memoirs brought together, nice to read with the letters, October 7, 2005

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Memoir of Jane Austen: And Other Family Recollections (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Primary sources to Jane Austen's life are few and far between. This version includes the few personal family accounts which were published. James Edward Austen-Leighs is the largest of these, although still not very substantial. His two sisters also published them.

This includes four memoirs of Aunt Jane, all written much after her death by Caroline Austen, Anna Lefroy, James Austen_leigh and Henry Austen. Some are better reads than others but they add to the sparse amount of biographical and family information on Austen.

Handily, there is a family tree provided as well as a chronology. There are also useful explanatory notes.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone but a keen Austen fan - one of the excellent biographies available are much more readable and entertaining. For an avid Janeite this book provides a substantial source of primary information. I would highly recommend reading this with the collected letters which have been collected and edited by Claire Tomalin.

It is a nice collection and it is great to see all these published, as they ought to be together in one volume.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoying Jane, September 7, 2007

By 

Peggy L. Heiderich "travelbug" (Menomonee Falls, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Memoir of Jane Austen: And Other Family Recollections (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

If you enjoy Jane Austen novels, you really should read this memoir from her nephew. It is like meeting his aunt and adds a special touch to the reading of her novels.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The original, March 10, 2009

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Memoir of Jane Austen: And Other Family Recollections (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Jane Austen (as is so cogently noted in this volume) gained little notice or fame during her regrettably short life. Likewise, other than her six novels and some letters, little primary evidence exists to enlighten her admirers. Alas, it was common in the 19th century for families to burn all materials believed to be too personal or too revealing.

In undertaking to write this "memoir" about the life of his brilliant aunt, J.E.Austen-Leigh undoubtedly followed the mores of the times in protecting her privacy. But the little he tells his readers about his memories of Jane Austen are worth a careful perusal, if only because he knew her. Those who know from her books about the sharpness of her sense of humor and satire will take with a grain of salt her portrayal here as always genteel and decorous. But he does manage to convey a sense of her playfulness, creativity, and inventiveness, and he is justified in referring to her as a genius.

Written in a now antiquated style, portions of this slim memoir can be hard going, but it is worth the effort.