Edith Lank

PERSUASIONS ON-LINE

V.29, NO.1 (Winter 2008)

List of Annotations in the Bellas copy of Lord Brabourne’s Letters of Jane Austen

Edith Lank

Edith Lank (email: EdithLank@aol.com) is a Life Member of both JASNA and JAS and a former member of JASNA’s Board of Directors. Her weekly real estate column appears in more than 100 newspapers and web sites. She is the author of ten books on real estate and a little gift book on Jane Austen.

More than sixty years after Jane Austen’s death, Edward, Lord Brabourne produced a book containing previously unpublished letters written by the author, who was his great-aunt. A second cousin in another branch of the family promptly bought the two-volume book and marked up her copy with detailed genealogies, marginal comments, explanations and family gossip. I now own that copy, and for the sake of those who may be interested in the future, I am recording here every notation in the two-volume edition.

In an attempt to pin down the author of each note, I’ve had an interesting time tracing at least four owners of the book since 1884. The first were Fanny Caroline Lefroy and her sister Mrs. Louisa Lefroy Bellas, both daughters of Jane Austen’s neice (sic) Anna Austen Lefroy. The sisters annotated the book in careful nineteenth-century script and printing. In the 1920s the two volumes were owned by an Oxford scholar, Clara Linklater Thomson, who made notes mainly in pencil, some later erased, for use in her 1929 Jane Austen: A Survey. Miss Thomson shared the material with the Austen authority Dr. R. W. Chapman. In the twentieth century, booksellers and scholars alike mistakenly believed Louisa, Mrs. Bellas, annotated the book. It has been listed as Bellas Notes in many Austen biographies ever since, with Louisa often named as the source for family stories taken from it. It was, however, Fanny Caroline who wrote most of the annotations, as I discovered from a single line in Deirdre Le Faye’s A Chronology of Jane Austen (696).

By the 1940s the book had been owned by Frank Hogan, a New York attorney and famous bibliophile, possibly by the Austen collector Mrs. Alberta Burke, and certainly by the Mrs. Raymond Hartz of New Jersey. Soon after Mrs. Hartz’s death in 1998, the book was offered at the Boston Book Fair, where my own bookseller found it. The details of my search to establish provenance of this copy are the subject of an article in Persuasions 30.

Lord Brabourne’s Letters of Jane Austen consists mainly of letters written to or inherited by his mother, Fanny Knight, the first and favorite niece (or as Our Author always spelled it, neice) who was to Jane and Cassandra “almost another sister.” Fanny’s son Edward was named for her father, Jane Austen’s rich brother Edward Knight. The grandson became the first Baron Brabourne. He was a Member of Parliament, served as a privy councilor, and published a number of children’s books.

In 1871 his mother’s cousin James Edward Austen-Leigh had included some of Jane Austen’s letters in his Memoir of Jane Austen, the first real biography. Perhaps that’s what moved Lord Brabourne to publish other letters in his possession. Perhaps it was because he had recently inherited the letters from his mother. Perhaps there was a bit of competitiveness between the branch of the family descended from Jane’s brother James and that of their brother Edward. Lord Brabourne clearly enjoyed including his own long and discursive family history along with the letters.

The following is a description of Lord Brabourne’s Letters of Jane Austen and the additions and marginalia in the volumes owned by Fanny Caroline Lefroy and, later, her sister, Louisa Lefroy Bellas. Italics indicate manuscript addenda and marginalia.

Description:

Letters of Jane Austen, edited by Edward, Lord Brabourne, 1884.

Two volumes, First edition (according to Gilson, the only edition).

Dark brown cloth with gilt entwined initials JA on the front cover.

On the spine in gilt:

Letters of Jane Austen

Vol I

Edited by Edward, Lord Brabourne

Bentley

Inside the front cover, a paper bookplate:

“Ex Libris Frank J. Hogan” in script, surrounded by an oval with the quotation “THE TRUE UNIVERSITY OF THESE DAYS IS A COLLECTION OF BOOKS – CARLYLE. +” set in a floral design.

Inside the front cover, bottom right, a small bookseller’s sticker, white letters on blue background:

WILLIAM GEORGE’S SONS

89, PARK STREET, BRISTOL

LIBRARIES BOUGHT

In pencil on the front endpaper, hardly visible against a dark brown background:

C. L. Thomson

Left blank page facing the half title, in pencil

The ms notes are presumably in the handwriting of Mrs Lefroy – a niece of Jane Austen.

Under that in the handwriting of C. L. Thomson, also in pencil

No, she died in 1872. This is her daughter Mrs Bellas

And here I’m tempted to add a note of my own: No, most are by Mrs. Bellas’s sister Fanny Caroline Lefroy.

At the top of the half-title page, a penciled notation that looks like

6 Vols /

It is not easy to judge which notes were made by Fanny Caroline and which by Louisa Bellas after her sister’s death. It would appear that Fanny Caroline’s have faded in brown ink, and Louisa’s in grey. A few notes, particularly those in pencil, are in the more modern handwriting of C. L. Thomson and at least one bears the initials of R. W. Chapman.

Annotations

Celia Easton has arranged the annotations in the following table. Under “Letter #,” the Roman numeral is Lord Brabourne’s; the second number is that given in Deirdre Le Faye’s recent edition of the Letters.

Where “erasure” is indicated, C. L. Thomson evidently used either a rubber eraser or in some cases a 1920s version of white-out. A few erasures seem water-stained.

Of particular interest are:

the account of Jane Austen’s suitors (Vol. 1, facing page 278)
an intriguing marginal biography that could warrant a full-length novel (Vol. 2, page 40)
gossip about Mary Lloyd Austen’s animosity for her sister-in-law Eliza (Vol. 2, page 100)
a sly hint of family scandal (Vol. 2, interleaf opposite the Table of Contents, the very last excerpt).

Volume	Page	Letter #	Annotator	Annotation	Context
1	32		FCL, ink, printed	[Cross out ~~two~~; insert] three [sons] [Correct “younger” as] youngest. George, Edw^d & Benjamin Also one daughter Lucy who married the Rev^d Henry Rice, elder brother of the Edw^d Rice who married Lizzie Knight.	As Lord B. begins to discuss Fanny Caroline Lefroy’s grandfather, Isaac Peter George Lefroy, Rector of Ashe, “father of two sons, the younger of whom was the Benjamin who married our ‘Anna,’ whilst the elder was John Henry George . . . ”
1	116		FCL(?) ink, printed	[cross out ~~the family of St. John~~]. M^r Holder/ The St. Johns lived I think at Quidhampton	Ashe Park: “at that time occupied by the family of St. John.”
1	118		CLT, pencil	Knights	Inserted above “Edward Austen”
1	119		FCL, script, ink	[“Dr. Cooper” underlined] The D^r Cooper mentioned in letter 2 was the son of the Cooper who m^d Jane Leigh.	Lord B.’s comment, “Dr. Cooper, already mentioned as having married Jane Austen’s aunt, Jane Leigh.”
1	119		FCL, script, ink	No—the Warrens did not live at Worthing in those days.	Lord B.: “I have no means of knowing who is referred to as ‘Warren,’ but there was, and is, a Hampshire family of that name, of Worting house, Basingstoke, and it may very likely be one of them, since they were of course near neighbours, and likely to be intimate at Steventon.”
1	120		CLT, pencil	Knight	Inserted above “Edward Austen”
1	~124-125		FCL, interleaf, ink	The age & condition of the children of George Austen and Cassandre (sic) Leigh 1796. 1 The Rev^d James Austen bⁿ 1765 m^d1792 Anne d^r of Gen^l Mathew & Lady Jane Bertie. who died suddenly May 1795 leaving one child Anna, our Mother. 2 Edward, Knight as he became bⁿ 1767 m^d Elizabeth d^rof Sir Brooke Bridges & Fanny Fowler 1791. Many children. 3 Henry Thomas Austen bⁿ 1771 m^d 1797 his cousin Eliza widow of Count de Feuillide & d^t of Paul Tysoe Handcock & Philadelphia Austen, Sister to George Austen. 1 Cassandra bⁿ 1773, engaged to be married to the Rev. Tom Fowle 1795 4 Frank (Francis) Austen bⁿ 1773 Lieut R N aged 20 2 Jane Austen bⁿ1775 Dec 16. Charles bⁿ 1779 Midshipman. The Rev^dJames Austen married again in 1797 Mary Lloyd, her Sister Elizabeth married the Rev. Fulwer Fowle Recter of Kintbury near Hungerford & her other Sister Martha after the death of her own mother lived with our Aunts & G’Grand-mother until the death of the latter when she removed to Winchester (Kingsgate St) shortly after which she became the second wife of Sir Francis Austen.	In the entry for Frank, “aged 20” drops down onto the line occupied by Jane Austen. The sons and daughters are numbered separately. Charles does not have a number.

1	125	I, 1	FCL(?), dark ink, printed	The ball seems to have been at Manydown	“the ball last night”
1	125	I, 1	CLT, pencil	brother of Tom	“Charles Fowle”
1	126	I, 1	FCL(?), ink, printed	“Grants” underlined Malshanger
1	126	I, 1	erasure of ink	(1798) [poorly erased]	Near “Mrs. H began with Elizabeth”
1	127	I, 1	erasure in top margin	[some kind of reference to Mrs. Lefroy]	Next to “He is a very gentlemanlike . . . ”
1	127	I, 1	FCL(?), ink	[“Caroline” underlined] Wife of D^rCooper	Caroline
1	127	I, 1	CLT, pencil	[marginal line]	[at the ball] “I entirely escaped John Lyford.”
1	128	I, 1	CLT, pencil & erasure CLT	Biggs [poorly erased]	“Alithea”
1	128	I, 1	CLT, pencil & erasure	[unreadable erasure]	Next to “Mr. Tom Lefroy and his cousin George”
1	129	I, 1	FCT dark ink, printed	[“Tom” underlined twice] Fowle see note page 131	“What a funny name Tom has got for his vessel.”
1	~130-131	II, 2	FCL, inserted sheet, ink, script	This Dr. Cooper was Jane Austens first Cousin. He was the only son of Dr. Cooper Rector of Sunning near Reading & Jane Leigh the elder Sister of Cassandre Leigh Jane’s Mother. Jane Leigh m D^r. Cooper Rector of Sunning [ Jane m^dSir Tho^sWilliams died 1798 & left no children. [Edward Cooper DD. Married Caroline d^r of Philip Lybb Powys of Hardwick & had many sons & daughters. The eldest son Edward Cooper (Rev^d) married his first cousin Caroline Powys & left two daughters Edith, & Sophy m^d Rev Frederick FitsGerald. No children.
1	~130-131	II, 2	FCL/ LLB, ink, interleaf opposite 131	“Anna’s Chaise” I suppose the little carriage in which we were all drawn about in our infancy	“she came up in her chaise”
1	131	II, 2	FCL/ LLB	He was JA’s first cousin. He m^d Caroline d^r of Philip Lybbe Powys of Hardwick.	“Dr. Cooper”
1	131	II, 2	FCL/ LLB, ink, printed	not 3 years old	“Anna” (FCL/LLB’s mother)
1	131	II, 2	FCL/ LLB, ink, printed	[“Mary” underlined] [inserted] Lloyd	“Mary”
1	131	II, 2	FCL/ LLB, ink, printed	[in margin] Fowle [in bottom margin] This was the Rev^d Thomas Fowle to whom Cassandra Austen was engaged. He had been one of her father’s pupils & I should suppose the engagement just made.	“Tom.”
1	132	II, 2	CLT, pencil	Cooper	Inserted with caret next to “Caroline”
1	132	II, 2	FCL/ LLB, ink, printed	[“Tom” underlined] Chute	“Tom is going to be married to a Lichfield lass”
1	137	IV, 4	CLT, pencil & erasure	[unreadable erased notes] Cage	A caret after “Fanny”
1	137	IV, 4		[unreadable erased note]	Next to “Louisa’s figure is much improved; she is as stout again as she was.”
1	137	IV, 4	CLT, erasure	[unreadable erased note]	Next to “which of the Marys will carry the day”
1	139	V, 5	CLT, pencil & erasure	[“Boulangeries” underlined] [imperfectly erased:] See P&P Chapter One	“Boulangeries”
1	141	V, 5	CLT, ink & erasure	[unreadable erasure] Edward Knight	“Little Edward was breeched yesterday”
1	141	VI, 6	CLT, erasure	[unreadable erasure]	Next to “We have been very gay”
1	142	VI, 6	CLT	(daughter of Mr. Milles)	“Lady Sondes”
1	142	VI, 6	FCL/ LLB, Victorian printing	Lefroy	“Lucy”
1	143	VI, 6	FCL/ LLB, ink, printing	Lady Williams	“Jane”
1	143	VI, 6	CLT, pencil & erasure	The Digweeds were tenants of Steventon Manor [? partly illegible]	Note in bottom margin
1	157	IX, 10	CLT, pencil	[imperfectly erased] Mary jealous	Near “in spite of Mary’s reproaches”
1	161	X, 11	CLT, pencil & erasure	who was this? [partially erased]	Reference to scandal about Earle Harwood
1	161	X, 11	CLT, pencil & erasure	original of Mansfield Park? [partially erased]	“Earle and his wife live in the most private manner imaginable . . . ”
1	163	X, 11	CLT	[extensive comments erased and unreadable; “Harwoods” and “friend” underlined]	next to JA’s being too proud to make inquires about Tom Lefroy, and Madame Lefroy’s speaking of a possible suitor who wanted to “improve [his] acquaintance with the [Austen] family.”
1	163	X, 11	CLT	[“Mrs. Russell” underlined; more erased commentary:] the wife of former rector of parish & mother of Mary Russell Mitford	“Mrs. Russell”
1	164	X, 11	CLT	[“in” corrected to] on	“Mrs. Lefroy made no remarks in the letter”
1	165	X, 11	CLT	[checkmark]	“Mary, who is still plagued with the rheumatism”
1	166	X, 11	CLT, pencil	[phrase underlined]	“an artist cannot do anything slovenly.”
1	173	XII, 13	FCL/ LLB, ink	in law [in left margin] Anna [in right margin]	Inserted at “mother” and “child” in the sentence, “James went to Ibthorp yesterday to see his mother and child.”
1	173	XII, 13	CLT, pencil	[penciled checkmark]	Next to Jane Austen’s comments about sister-in-law Mary Austen’s untidy lying-in: “such a way as to make me want to lay in myself.”
1	176	XIII, 14	CLT, pencil, script	[“your business” underlined] Was this the legacy from T. Fowle?	“a great satisfaction to us to hear that your business is in a way to be settled”
1	177	XIII, 14	CLT, pencil, script	Sir Thos Williams who married their cousin Jane Cooper	“Sir Thomas”
1	178	XIII, 14	CLT, pencil	[May underlined.] Mary?	“May subscribes too”
1	179,180	XIII, 14	CLT, pencil, check marks		Check marks added next to sentences about Earle getting an appointment to a prison-ship at Portsmouth, and another speculating on how Cassandra spends her evenings with Edward and Elizabeth; light check mark on Jane Austen’s report of their mother’s health
1	181	XIII, 14	CLT	Lefroy	“Lucy”
1	183	XIV, 15	CLT, pencil & erasure	[lightly erased] Martha was in love with F. A.	“could Lord Spencer give happiness to Martha”
1	184	XIV, 15	FCL/ LLB, ink	Blachford	Correcting “Blackford”
1	184	XIV, 15	CLT, pencil	Bigg	“Catherine”
1	186	XIV, 15	CLT, pencil	[imperfectly erased] So he was there.	“my black cap . . . ”
1	186	Xiv, 15	CLT, pencil	[imperfectly erased] died in 1852 [?]	“Poor Edward”
1	190	XV, 16	FCL/ LLB, ink, printed	Mathew	“General”
1	191	XV, 16	FCL/ LLB, ink	[“Kempshott” underlined] Lady Dorchester’s	“The ball at Kempshott”
1	192	XV, 16	CLT, pencil script	Mameluke	In margin next to “mamalone cap”
1	195	XVI, 17	ink	h [change to Blachford]	Correcting “Blackford”
1	197	XVI, 17	pencil	[line in margin]	Next to “One of my gayest actions was sitting down two Dances in preference to having Lord Bolton’s eldest son for my Partner”
1	201	XVII, 18	FCL/ LLB	h [inserted for Blachford]	Correcting “Blackford”
1	202, 203	XVII, 18	CLT, pencil	[lines in margin]	Marking passages: “Mary behaved very well, and was not at all fidgetty.” “She [my mother]would tell you herself that she has a very dreadful cold in her head . . . ”
1	229		CLT, pencil	[underline of “Crundale”; marginal check]	In Lord B.’s introduction to next set of letters.
1	233	XXI, 22	CLT, pencil	who started the lending library	“Mrs. Martin, who has totally failed in her business”
1	234	XXII, 23	CLT, pencil	[line in margin]	“Our improvements . . . thorns and lilacs . . . beech, ash, and larch.”
1	237	XXIII, 24	CLT, pencil	[line in margin]	Marking a reference to sister-in-law Mary, who was disappointed about her locket but delighted about her mangle.
1	239	XXIII, 24	CLT, pencil	[adds new prepositions] for Edward to Mr. Chute	Correcting “I said civil things to Edward for Mr. Chute”
1	242	XXIV, 27	CLT, pencil	[underlining and check marks]	Next to the description of Mrs. Blount
1	243	XXIV, 27	FCL/ LLB, ink	[underlining “Warren” and “husband”] had been a Miss Maitland Lieu^t Col Warren	“Mrs. Warren” and her “husband [who] is ugly enough”
1	243	XXIV, 27	FCL/ LLB, ink	[“General” underlined] Mathew	“General” who has gout
1	243	XXIV, 27	FCL/ LLB, ink	James Austens first wife & our Grandmother.	Asterisk in text next to “Anne” and note at bottom margin.
1	245	XXIV, 27	CLT, pencil	[“Rice” and “Lucy” underlined]	“Rice & Lucy made love”
1	250	XXV, 29	FCL/ LLB, pencil?	Leigh	Inserted above “Mrs. Perrot”
1	252	XXV, 29		[line in margin]	Near “we set out for the sea, and everything considered, . . . ”
1	258	XXVI, 30	CLT	Cooke	“I hope Mary will be satisfied with this proof of her cousin’s existence . . . ”
1	258	XXVI, 30	FCL/ LLB, ink	M^rs James Austen	Identifying the second Mary: “Mary will drive her sister to Ibthorp”
1	259	XXVI, 30	FCL/ LLB, ink	Rices	“Prices”
1	~259-261	XXVI, 30	FCL/ LLB, ink, interleaf	[“cabinet to Anna” underlined] This cabinet is now in the possession of My Mother’s eldest Granddaughter J. A. Lefroy, my Mother having given it to her eldest daughter Anna Jemima who married her cousin Thos. E P Lefroy.	“I shall not resolve on giving my cabinet to Anna till. . . ”
1	~260-261	XXVI, 30	FCL/ LLB, ink, interleaf	[“Sidmouth” underlined] Sidmouth. The note I have put in at Page 278 will show that this plan was really carried out. It is playfully alluded to again Page 275.	“Sidmouth is now talked of as our summer abode.”
1	~260-261	XXIV, 30	FCL/ LLB, ink, interleaf	The Wilbys were relations of M^rs Leigh Perrot. See letters 36 εc εc The Rev James Digweed did marry Miss Lyford Page 256. [Pencil marks, dots? at “Mr. Skipsey”]	Not clearly connected to the letter at which the page is inserted.
1	266	XXVII, 32	CLT, pencil	[check in margin]	“It would be an amusement to Mary to superintend”
1	267	XXVIII, 32	FCL/ LLB, pencil?	[“Eliza” underlined] M^rs Fowle	“Eliza talks of having read”
1	268	XXVIII, 32	FCL/ LLB, pencil?	[“William,” “Tom,” and “Caroline” underlined] Fowles	“William and Tom are much as usual; Caroline is improved . . . ”
1	270	XXVIII, 32	FCL/ LLB, pencil?	[“Caroline” underlined] M^rs Cooper	“Caroline was only brought to bed . . . ”
1	271	XXVIII, 32	FCL/ LLB, pencil?	[written above] James Digweed	“J. D.”
1	274	XXIX, 33	FCL/ LLB	[“Price” underlined] Rice?	“Price”
1	275	XXIX, 33	FCL/ LLB	[line in margin]	Hinting at family animosity: “The summer after, if you please, Mr Cooper, but . . . ”
1	~278-279	XXX, 35	FCL, interleaf; CLT, annotating FCL’s commentary	In these four years, ie, between May 1801 & August 1805 of which we have scarsely any record, much befell the Sisters for Aunt Cassondre’s [sic] long engagement was brought to an end by the death of M^r Thos Fowle. He went out to Barbadoes as chaplain to the forces & died eer they returned. I do not know the exact date. [Above that last sentence C. L. Thomson added in red ink, “He died in May 1797. See Life & Letters.”] In the summer of 1801 the father & mother & daughters made a tour in Devonshire They went to Teignmouth Starcross Sidmouth etc etc. I believe it was at the last named place they made acquaintance with a young clergyman then visiting his brother who was one of the doctors of in the Town. He & Jane fell in love with each other & when the Austens left he asked to be allowed to join them again farther on in their tour & the permission was given But instead of his arriving as expected, they received a letter from his brother announcing his death In Aunt Cassandra’s memory he lived as one of the most charming ~~people~~ persons she had ever known worthy even in her eyes of Aunt Jane. It was I think in 1802 that she swayed by the wishes of some of her own family & by her warm regard for some of his, was nearly persuaded to accept the offer of a gentleman who had everything to recommend him but her own feelings. In 1804 on her own birthday she lost her much loved friend Mrs. Lefroy who was killed by a fall from her horse & in January 1805 their father died after a short illness.	This is one source for the story that Jane Austen met and fell in love with a clergyman in Sidmouth.

1	279	XXX, 35	CLT/RWC?	s [Proofreading: inserted into “Eversley”]
1	281	XXX, 35	FCL, brown ink	I suppose when they were staying at [original word erased; “Addlestrop” added in pencil]	Next to “Gloucestershire”
1	281	XXX, 35	LLB, pencil	Addlestrop	Added to the inked comment
1	281	XXX, 35	CLT, pencil	[marginal line]	Marking the sentence often quoted about Jane Austen’s first view of Bath: “The sun was got behind everything . . . ”
1	294	XXXII, 37	CLT, pencil	[check mark]	“Ten shillings for Dodsley’s Poems, . . . ”
1	314	XXXVI, 49	FCL/ LLB, pencil	Frank Austen	“Mrs. F. A.’s confinement”
1	317	XXXVII, 50	FCL/ LLB, pencil	James Austen	“Mrs. J. A. does not talk much of poverty now”
1	325	XXXVII, 50	FCL/ LLB, pencil	Warren Hastings	“Hastings”
1	327	XXXVII, 50	CLT, pencil	by S. Burney [erased in margin]	“We are reading ‘Clarentine’”
1	329	XXXVIII, 51	CLT, pencil	M^rs F. Austen	“Mary will be obliged to you to take notice”
1	363	XLI, 54	FCL/LLB, pencil	M^rsJ. A.	“Mary begins to Fancy”
1	363	XLI, 54	CLT, pencil	[check mark]	Mary fancying herself ill-used: “it must be for the pleasure of fancying it”
1	364	XLI, 54	RWC, pencil	[comma transposed—initialed RWC]	in the phrase “anyone connected with, Mrs. Knight.”
1	367	XLII, 60	FCL/LLB, pen	Mrs. F. A.	“Mary’s visit in the island is probably shortened”
1	369	XLII, 60	CLT, pencil	[Fanny Austen underlined; comment erased]	“Fanny Austen’s match is quite news”
1	371	XLII, 60	Purple ink;	M^rs F. A.	“I could have sworn Mary . . . ”
1	Last page		FCL/LLB, pasted in clipping		Pasted to the final advertising page for Richard Bentley & Son’s new edition of Jane Austen’s works, is a page from The Saturday Review, 15 November 1884 (637-38) containing a long review of Letters of Jane Austen
1	On SR page		CLT, pencil	Allusion to novels Tom Jones p. 129. Camilla p. 136 D^r Marchmont p. 141 book? FitzAlbini p. 169 & 170 Boswell . 170 Cowper ” Mrs. Piozzi p. 216 Yahoo 221 M^rs Austen’s health p. 203 Edwards presents. to peasants Mangle to Mary, Sharpe. & Baretti p. 33 346,352—	Notes on topics mentioned in the letters, with page numbers.
2	Opp. ToC		FCL, interleaf	John Austen married Elizabeth d^r of Sir Jonathan Atkins & Mary Howard William m^d Rebecca d^r of Sir G. Hampson Bart and widow of Walter Esq. MD by whom she had sons and d^rs. By her second husband William Austen she had two sons & two daughters.	Austen genealogy; A large chart of which these are only the first and last entries.

				1^st Hampson, died young.	(Hampson was a girl; that makes three daughters.)
				2^dly Leonora who died unmarried,
				3^dly William m^dCassandra Leigh & they had James Edward Henry Frank Cassandre, Jane & Charles.	“William” clearly a slip for George; also no mention of son George.
				And 4^thly Philadelphia m^d Tyseo Saul Handcock Private Secretary to Warren Hastings by whom she had Eliza 1^stly Countess de Feuillide 2^dly Henry Austen her 1^st Cousin	Is Fanny Caroline really punctuationally challenged here or is she quietly sending us her opinion on Eliza’s parentage?1
				[verso of page, descendants of] Francis Motley Austen who m^d Elizabeth Wilson . . . of Kippingten [the place written beneath “Francis Motley”]

2	opp. 1		FCL/ LLB, interleaf	Sir Thomas Leigh who was Lord Mayor of London 1558, . . . [and ending with an] Elizabeth who after the death of his wife lived with her brother the Rev Thomas Leigh. She is the M^rs E. Leigh of the letters & of whose excellence Aunt Jane thought much.	Leigh family genealogy
2	3		FCL/ LLB	no first cousin [“mother of Mrs. Cooke” underlined]	Lord Brabourne’s
2	5	XLII, 56	FCL/ LLB, ink, printed	[“Duer” underlined] M^r. Dewar was Penelope Susannah younger d^r of Gen^l Mathew & Lady Jane Bertie M^rsMaitland was twin sister to our Grandmother	“Mrs. Duer’s”
2	7	XLII, 56	FCL/ LLB, pencil, script	I suppose Harriot Lennard Austen whose sister M^dthis Butler Harrison	“Miss Austen”
2	35	XLVII, 61	CLT, pencil	[penciled check mark]	Next to characterization of a letter from Mrs. Leigh-Perrot: “the discontendeness of it shocked and surprised her”
2	40	XLIX, 62	FCL/ LLB, ink, printed	He was the natural son of the blind Lord Albemarle Bertie He must have made a sad shipwreck of his life for he died at Donnington near Newbury in the greatest penury	“Mrs. Bertie, the wife of a lately-made Admiral”

2	41	XLIX, 62	FCL/ LLB, ink, printed	1793	“the room in which we danced fifteen years ago”
2	45	XLIX, 62	FCL/ LLB, ink	Deane	“the living or curacy which the father had had”
2	47	L, 63		the F.As [erased]	“I am to send them more clothes”
2	48	L, 63		M^rs JA [erased]	“Mary wishes the other two . . . ”
2	49	L, 63	FCL/ LLB	Edw Austen Leigh	“Edward”
2	52	L, 63	FCL/ LLB	[“Eliza” underlined] Mrs H Austen	“Eliza”
2	74	LIV, 64	FCL/ LLB	Mrs Cooper	“Caroline has had a great escape from being burnt to death lately.”
2	77	LIV, 64	CLT, pencil	[line in margin]	“For one’s own dear self, one ascertains and remembers everything.”
2	93	LVI, 71	FCL, pencil	My Mother was then 18	“She is quite an Anna with variations”
2	~100-101	LVII, 72	FCL, interleaf	The invitation was sent but my mother was not permitted to accept it. The reason of the hesitation on Mrs H. Austens part was that she was not on terms with her sister in law, who would neither go to her house, nor receive her at Steventon—I believe the Ci devant Countess who was an extremely pretty woman, was a great flirt & during her brief widowhood flirted with all her Steventon cousins, our G^dfather inclusive which was more than his after wife could stand or could ever forgive—and I think it is very probable that he hesitated between the fair Eliza and Miss Mary Lloyd— I can testify that to the last days of her life my Grandmother [step-grandmother] continued to dislike & speak ill of her It must have cost Mrs. H. Austen a great effort to send the invitation & certainly shows her to have been the more aimable woman of the two.2	“Eliza has not quite resolved on inviting Anna, but I think she will”

2	102	LVIII, 73	FCL/ LLB	The Frank Austens	“the husband and wife at Cowes”
2	103	LVIII, 73	FCL/ LLB	Harriet Benn	“H. B.”
2	103	LVIII, 73	(?), pencil	[quotation marks around “Miss Anna” and “my aunt Harding”]
2	103	LVIII, 73	(?), pencil	Terry	“Mary” and “Robert”
2	104	LVIII, 73	(?), pencil	M^rs Hardings sister	“Mrs. Toke”
2	~104-105	LVIII, 73	FCL/ LLB, interleaf	There was no relationship whatever between Jane Austen and the Beckfords & why she called Margaret her cousin I cannot imagine, any more than I can explain “my Cousin Flora Long” My Cousin John Poyen or “My Aunt Mrs. Harding” She had no such relations. The Austens were an ancient and wealthy Kentish family but paternally Jane had no titled connections There had been a Baronetcy but in 1790 it was extinct & I only mention it because the widow of the last Sir Robert was the Lady Austen with whom William Congreve fell in love and of whom Mrs. Unwin was so jealous Her maternal ancestry was more illustrious—The Lord Leighs of Staneleigh were a younger branch of the Leighs of Adlestrop & her great Grandmother Mary Brydges was the daughter of James 8^th Baron Chandos & 1^st Duke. When Edward Lord Leigh died he left his property first to his sister & then to the nearest in blood & name—That nearest was Wm Leigh of Adlestrop & in 1839 his greatnephew was created Baron Leigh	Recounting a visit from Mrs. Harding, Jane Austen is evidently mimicking Mrs. H’s habit of bringing relatives into the conversation. This note was prompted by a sentence about “My cousin Flora Long.” Louisa (or Fanny Caroline) may have missed a private joke between the sisters.
2	109	LIX, 74	FCC/ LLB, gray ink	Cooke	“I am very sorry for Mary”
2	113	LX, 75	pencil	[small x] [erased note at bottom of page]	“Anna”
2	124	Intro. to 1813	Pencil	[caret inserted between “and” and “the”] of [in margin]	Brabourne: “Earl of Winchilsea, . . . his last wife being Fanny Margaretta, eldest daughter of Mr. Rice, of Dane Court, and the ‘Lizzie’ of our letters.”
2	147	LXII, 87	FCC/ LLB, gray ink	[“Hastings” underlined] Warren	“and Mr. Hastings!”
2	153	LXII, 87	FCC/ LLB, gray ink	Hastings	“Mr. H.’s opinion of P. and P.”
2	154	LXII, 87	FCC/ LLB, gray ink	[“James” underlined] Austen	“James’s bread”
2	170	LXV, 91	FCC/ LLB	[X inserted over “Jemima Brydges”; note in bottom margin] One of Sir Egerton Brydges daughter’s. She became Mrs. Quillinan—& like her beautiful Aunt M^rs Maxwell was burnt to death	“Jemima Brydges”
2	171	LXV, 91	FCC/ LLB	[X inserted over “Tollard Royal”; note in bottom margin.] M^r & M^rs Bertie Mathew	“Tollard Royal”
2	175	LXV, 91	FCC/ LLB	Frank Austen	“I should like to have Mrs. F.A. and her children here for a week.”
2	200	LXVIII, 94	FCL/ LLB, interleaf	My father although deeply attached to my mother was far too high principled & conscientious to take Holy Orders for the sake of being immediately married. Possibly he had not yet quite decided on his profession. at all events he was not ordained until three years afterwards. As to my mother’s reluctance to go to Chawton, sent away as she was to mark my G^dmother’s anger with him, it was not possible she should go with any other feelings	Letter LXVIII (94), written from Godmersham Park, begins with a letter from Lizzy Knight to her Aunt Cassandra. In her portion, Jane Austen recounts Benjamin Lefroy’s refusal of a curacy “apparently highly eligible” even though accepting it would enable him to marry Anna Austen, and says that Anna is “very unwilling to go to Chawton.” These are Mrs. Bellas’s and Fanny Caroline’s parents.
2	205	LXIX, 95	FCC/ LLB, grey ink	Parody on Robert Ferrers—in Sense & Sensibility.	Next to “‘My dear Mrs. Harrison,’ I shall say, ‘I am afraid the young man has some of your family madness. . . . ’”
2	206	LXIX, 95	FCC/ LLB, grey ink	see note p 200	“An Anna sent away and an Anna fetched are different things.”
2	212	LXX, 96	FCC, pencil	[“Mary” and “Eliza” underlined] Mrs James Austen & Mrs Fowle	“Mary” and “Eliza”
2	215	LXX, 96		[pencil arc from “Wrotham” to “Lenham”]
2	216	LXX, 96	LLB	Mrs F Austen	“Poor Mary!”
2	253	LXXVI, 127	LLB, pencil	M^rs Frank Austen	“I hope Mary continues to get well fast.”
2	264	LXXIX, 145	LLB	[underlines “Edward”] Austen Leigh [in margin]	“Edward at my suggestion . . . ”
2	267	LXXIX, 145	LLB	Mrs. James Austen	“I hope Mary will change her lodgings at the fornight’s end”
2	284-285	LXXXI, 114	LLB, interleaf	[marked with an X] When first my father & mother married, they lived at Hendon with his next older brother Edward who at that time had a house there—This will explain why Aunt Jane was glad she had the power of asking her friends to it & also that the “both to whom it was” so proper that her visit should give pleasure referred to the two gentlemen.	“I received a very kind note”
2	286-287	LXXXI, 114	interleaf	I believe that when Lady Knatchbull found herself placed at the head of her father’s household on the death of her mother she resolved not to marry until her next Sister who was several years younger was old enough to take her place.—But no sooner was that sister grown up than she became Mrs. Edw^dRice & Lady K had to wait on until the next Marianne was old enough to set her at liberty	JA counsels her niece Fanny Knight about a suitor.
2	297	LXXXIII, 153	CLT (possibly LLB)	This letter must have been written in March 1817 for the ‘Julia’ was not born till Sept 1816	“She has just weaned Julia” (sister of FCL and LLB)
2	305	LXXXV, 104	LLB (FCL?)	[“Overtley” corrected to] Orville	“the part of Lord Overtley”: a character in a novel Anna is writing, indicating that Louisa (or Fanny Caroline) had seen their mother’s manuscript.
2	End of text, 366		LLB, newspaper clipping, pasted at the end of the book, with date added in LLB’s hand	Standard Jan 9/85: “. . . not that we have much to record of more than ephemeral importance. If there is any exception it is the collection of Jane Austen’s Letters which have recently been published by Lord Brabourne, and which show us the authoress at home in a very pleasing and interesting light, and suggest that of all her heroines she must most have resembled Emma Woodhouse. The charm of the Letters consists in their resemblance to the novels. The style, mutatis mutandis, is the same, and there is no lack of the authoress’s good-natured satire and peculiar humour; indeed, the whole Correspondence shows us how completely her admirable stories were the reproduction of her daily life. . . .” The reporter then goes on to discuss other new publications.

On the rear flyleaf C. L. Thomson has penciled or written in light purple the numbers of six pages on which Miss Sharpe is mentioned, along with a list of books mentioned.

Miss Sharpe p. 8

p. 75

102

106

207

238

Books

Mrs. Piozzi 39

Corinna

Ida of Athens

Coelebs 68

And inside the back cover of Volume II, a small bookseller’s sticker, white letters on blue background:

WILLIAM GEORGE’S SONS

89 PARK STREET, BRISTOL

LIBRARIES BOUGHT.

Notes

1. Jane Austen’s cousin Philadelphia said that Mr. Austen’s sister Philadelphia was “intimately acquainted” with Warren Hastings. Saul Hancock was exactly twice Philadelphia’s age when they married; he was forty-two, she twenty-one. They had no children for eight years, then Eliza was born two years after the Hancocks moved to Bengal, where Hastings was governor. Clive wrote to his wife about Philadelphia that “it is beyond a doubt that she has abandoned herself to Mr. Hastings.” As godfather, Hastings settled £5,000 on Eliza, later doubling it. Eliza’s short-lived son bore the given name of Hastings.

2. It makes one wonder just what “flirting” implied. It seems certain that before marrying Mary Lloyd, Mrs. Bellas’s grandfather James Austen wanted to marry the widowed Countess, who resembled Mary Crawford in her dislike of country life and the prospect of being a clergyman’s wife. And while Eliza is described, and seen in the miniature that survives, as petite and charming, a friend wrote of Mary that “smallpox scarred and seamed her face dreadfully.” Eliza writes blithely to cousin Philadelphia that she has not seen the parsonage at Steventon, with the unconvincing excuse that “I am not given to visiting.”

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