Austen, Jane | A poignant and long autograph letter signed (“JA”) to her sister and confidant

Austen, Jane

Autograph letter signed with her initials ("JA"), to her sister Cassandra, written shortly after the death of George Austen in 1805

4 closely written pages, 4to (250 x 400 mm). Written in sepia ink, and dated 25 Gay Street, Bath, Monday, [8 April] to [Thursday] 11 April 1805, integral address panel on the verso of the second leaf, small cut into text where carefully opened round wafer seal but actually complete as all the text removed is still present on the slip attached to the seal, postal marking; small areas with expert reinforcement. In excellent, fresh condition.

An intimate glimpse of Jane Austen’s life in Bath over a period of four days, sent to Cassandra Austen, the author’s sister and closest confidant.

Composed just three months after the death of her father, George Austen, the present letter reveals what Jane Austen’s daily life was like in Bath, a city she had a complicated relationship with and explored through her fiction. Writing to her sister, Cassandra Austen, who was visiting Ibthorp, Andover, hoping that the change in environment might improve her health, Jane begins:

“Here is a day for you! Did Bath or Ibthrop ever see a finer 8th of April? — It is March & April together, the glare of one & the warmth of the other. We do nothing but walk about; as far as your means will admit I hope you profit by such weather too. I dare say You are already the better for change of place.”

Following Austen’s death in 1817 from an unknown illness (Addison’s disease or Hodgkin’s lymphoma are the most frequent retrospective diagnoses), Cassandra—to whom Jane had written most days when they were apart—burned the vast majority of her correspondence. Indeed, of the 3,000 or so letters believed to have been written by Austen, only about 161 survive, and are now scattered across institutions and private collections.

Cassandra, who was older than Jane by three years, had a very close relationship with her sister. It would seem that this intimacy was destined from the moment Jane arrived in the world. The day after she was born, George Austen wrote to a relative: “We now have another girl, a present plaything for her sister Cassy and a future companion.” And their mother once noted: "if Cassandra's head had been going to be cut off, Jane would have hers [sic] cut off too." The sisters lived together for much of their lives, with this bond only deepening over time. Cassandra was the only person Jane discussed her work with, and a pencil and watercolor portrait accomplished by Cassandra is the only authenticated image of Jane known to exist. It was Cassandra who stayed with Jane through her final illness, writing shortly after her death: "She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every pleasure, the soother of every sorrow. It is as if I have lost a part of myself." So, while scholars and Janeites alike may question or curse Cassandra’s decision to destroy invaluable evidence of Jane’s life, it is difficult to see this as anything other than an act of kindness—as an effort to protect the legacy of her beloved sister.

Even if we are to assume that Cassandra destroyed the most intimate or sharped-tongued examples of correspondence from her sister, it would have been impossible for her to anticipate the immense popularity Jane would experience hundreds of years after her death, and how hungry the world would be for crumbs of her life. The present letter offers remarkable insight into Jane’s life, and is not lacking in emotion, humor, or observation. As she relays the activity of the city, Jane writes:

“Seven years & four months ago we went to the same Ridinghouse to see Miss Lefroy's performance! — What a different set are we now moving in! But seven years I suppose are enough to change every pore of one's skin, & every feeling of one's mind.”

Western Front of the Abbey Church, Bath, 1823. Public domain.

Miss Lefroy was the sister of Tom Lefroy, with whom Jane began a flirtation in 1796, and on 14 January of that year wrote to Cassandra: “At length the day is come on which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy, and when you receive this it will be over. My tears flow as I write at the melancholy idea.” By 1805, Lefroy had married Mary Paul, and his first daughter, Jane, had been born; Jane, Cassandra, and their mother were also living in reduced circumstances following the death of George Austen. “What a different set are we now moving in!” sounds as though it could have been uttered by one of the Dashwood sisters as they arrive at Barton Cottage, and it’s easy to see—even through Austen’s characteristically wry humor—just how drastically her life was shifting.

The letter also mentions Edward Austen Knight, Austen brother who was adopted by wealthy, childless relations (“I expect to hear from Edward tomorrow, & from you soon afterwards. — How happy they are at Godmersham now”). It also refers to the Lloyds, who were neighbors of the Austens in Steventon, and Mary Lloyd married Jane’s eldest brother, James. Here, Jane addresses the death of Mary and Martha’s mother (“Poor woman! May her end be peaceful & easy, as the Exit we have witnessed! And I dare say it will.”). Following her mother’s death, Martha joined the Austen women in Bath, moving with them first to Southampton, and then to Chawton in 1809.

While the letter contains its shade, it is not wanting for light, and bright, and sparkling moments. In returning to the matter of Cassandra’s ill health, Jane writes:

“I am heartily glad that you can speak so comfortably of your own health & looks, tho' I can scarcely comprehend the latter being really approved. Could travelling fifty miles produce such an immediate change? — You were looking so very poorly here; everybody seem'd sensible of it. — Is there a charm in an hack postchaise? — But if there were, Mrs Craven's carriage might have undone it all.”

It seems very Austen-like to so easily tease her sister, and insult their acquaintance's carriage in the same stroke. As the letter nears its end, Jane continues to press the issue: “I assure you, you were looking very ill indeed, & I do not beleive [sic] much of your being looking well already. People think you in a very bad way I suppose, & pay you Compliments to keep up your Spirits.”

A highly significant letter, offering a rare window into Jane Austen’s world.