R emarkable pieces of Austen literary history will be offered at Sotheby’s this October, representing the most valuable group of material from the author to ever appear at auction. Among the highlights is one of Austen’s longest surviving letters, written to her sister Cassandra in 1805, capturing the bustling social life of Bath that would later shape Persuasion (est. $300,000–400,000). Alongside the letter is an exceptional association copy of Emma, Austen’s final lifetime novel, which was sent by the writer to the celebrated Irish novelist Maria Edgeworth — the only known instance of Austen sending her work to a fellow author (est. $250,000–350,000). Elsewhere is also a little-known poem by Austen lampooning the medical practices of the period, likely written in 1811 around the time Sense and Sensibility was first published, and signed by both her and Cassandra ($100,000–$150,000). These will be accompanied by all six first editions of Austen’s novels each in a contemporary binding.
The works will be sold as part of “By A Lady” — Sotheby’s first-ever auction dedicated to the women who, alongside Austen, have shaped literary and artistic culture across the decades. Taking its name from the anonymous credit on the title page of Austen’s first novel, the sale will unite works spanning categories from Jewellery to Photographs, each inspired by the enduring influence of women through history. The sale will be exhibited at Sotheby’s New York this autumn, before the auction on 15 October.
“This extraordinary group of works reveals Austen in all her facets, from the wit and sly humor in her private poetry to the intimate glimpses of daily life captured in her letters. Among these treasures, the Edgeworth copy of Emma shines as a rare testament to the historical and literary connections between two great novelists. Together these items constitute the most significant group of Austen material ever to appear at auction.”
This exceptional association copy of Emma, Austen’s last novel published in her lifetime, was sent in 1816 to the acclaimed Irish novelist, Maria Edgeworth — the only known surviving instance of Austen sharing her work with a fellow writer.
Although the two did not have a close personal relationship, the existence of such a copy proves Austen’s great admiration for Edgeworth’s work, and proves that a literary dialogue, however distant, existed between the two women.
Published in 1816 by John Murray in three volumes, Emma was released in a small print run and with minimal fanfare, and today, no manuscript of the novel survives. This copy, recorded in David Gilson’s bibliography of Jane Austen, has long been recognized as the only known copy of Emma in original limp wrappers. The volume can be traced back to the author herself, passed by descent through the Edgeworth family until it ended up in the hands of the esteemed Edgeworth and Austen scholar, Marilyn Butler, until it was acquired by a private collector.
This surviving pair of volumes (volumes I and III) are signed by Edgeworth on the title page of volume I, but also feature annotations and markings by later generations of the Edgeworth-Butler family. Edgeworth, one of the most successful writers of her day and a pioneer of the historical novel in English, acknowledged the gift in a letter to her aunt Mrs. Ruxton: “The authoress of Pride & Prejudice has been so good as to send me a new novel just published, Emma.” Yet despite Austen’s reverence for Edgeworth — whom she placed in the same breath as Fanny Burney — Edgeworth’s lukewarm response to Emma (“there was no story in it…”) reveals much about the contemporary reaction to the novel, reflective of the literary tastes of the time.
Written by Austen to Cassandra on 11th April 1805 from 13 Queen Square, Bath, this letter is one of the longest known by Austen to survive today. Writing to her sister Cassandra, Austen shares countless small observations of their friends and acquaintances, remarking on health and travel, and delighting in the humor and absurdities of social etiquette and the oddities of polite society.
She notes that the weather in Bath was “March and April together, the glare of one & the warmth of the other,” before launching into a lively account of social visits, acquaintances encountered in the Crescent, and the latest gossip of neighbors and relations.
Among her visitors are the Brownes, family friends who stop by while they are out. Austen describes their arrival with wry amusement, likening their calling cards to “affidavits” — a playful way of suggesting the family had discharged their social duties simply by leaving them on the table. With the same pen she moves from light, ironic sketches of their mutual acquaintances — Miss Chamberlayne “hot on horseback,” or a schoolmistress praised for her rare rationality, to tender concern for Cassandra’s health and shares the news of their mutual friends.
Cassandra and Jane shared an extraordinarily close bond and were lifelong companions, so much so that their mother once remarked, “if Cassandra’s head had been going to be cut off, Jane would have hers cut off too.” Their devotion was evident in their constant correspondence, much of which Cassandra later destroyed, leaving only a partial glimpse into Jane’s private world. Even after Jane’s death, Cassandra carefully preserved some letters while deliberately burning others, an act that is today met with confusion, seen both as an expression of love, shielding her sister’s most intimate thoughts from public view, and as a frustrating cause of the incomplete record we now have of their relationship and Jane’s inner life. Today, only about 161 of Austen’s estimated 3,000 letters are known to survive.
“I've a pain in my head”
Said the suffering Beckford;
To her Doctor so dread.
“Oh! what shall I take for't?”
Said her Doctor so dread
Whose name it was Newnham.
“For this pain in your head
Ah! What can you do Ma'am?”
Said Miss Beckford, “Suppose
If you think there's no risk,
I take a good Dose
Of calomel brisk.”
“What a praise worthy Notion!”
Replied Mr. Newnham.
“You shall have such a potion,
And so will I too Ma'am.
“Lines on Maria Beckford” is a short, playful poem handwritten and signed by Austen around the time Sense and Sensibility was published. In February 1811, Austen accompanied her neighbor and acquaintance, Maria Beckford who was suffering from a headache, to see the formidable Dr. Newnham, an apothecary in Alton, who treated her with calomel, a mercury-based remedy now recognized as highly toxic.
Austen later commemorated the visit in this playful, affectionate poem, offering readers a rare glimpse into the private verses she wrote to amuse friends and family. Of the eighteen poems known to be by Austen, only six autograph manuscripts remain in private hands.
"By A Lady," representing the most significant collection of Jane Austen material to ever appear at auction, celebrates not only the beloved novelist, but also a host of other women who have shaped culture over the last 250 years.
![View 1 of Lot 7: [Jane Austen] | "Emma," the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy](https://sothebys-com.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9353a31/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x2000+0+0/resize/330x330!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsothebys-md.brightspotcdn.com%2Fwebnative%2Fimages%2F8b%2Fdc%2Ffa18db2a4c0fa01db968253ec491%2Fn11906-dbjpp-t1-08.jpg)
