# Jane Austen

> A Hampshire rector's daughter, she published four novels without her name in her lifetime; two more appeared months after her death in 1817, at 41.

- Novelist · Pride and Prejudice · Emma
- Known for: Six novels, among them *Pride and Prejudice* and *Emma*: four published anonymously in her lifetime and two in the months after her death.[1]
- Born: December 16, 1775
- Died: July 18, 1817
- Last updated: 2026-11-14
- Editorial review: approved 2026-11-14
- Web page: https://authorbackstories.com/classic/jane-austen/
- Reading list (PDF): https://authorbackstories.com/classic/jane-austen/reading-list.pdf

## Featured book: New Netflix series

*Pride and Prejudice* (1813). Her second published novel, which appeared in 1813 without her name.[1] Netflix's six-part adaptation, starring Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden, is released on December 3, 2026.[14]

## At a glance

- Born: December 16, 1775, at Steventon Rectory, Hampshire, England[1]
- Died: July 18, 1817, in Winchester, aged 41; buried in Winchester Cathedral[1]
- Family: Seventh child of the Rev. George Austen and Cassandra Austen; one sister, Cassandra[1]
- Education: Mostly at home, in her father's library and among the pupils who boarded with the family[1]
- Published in her lifetime: Four novels, none under her name[1]

## Jane Austen's Backstory

### Early life at Steventon

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, at the rectory in Steventon, Hampshire, the seventh child of George and Cassandra Austen.[1] Her father was the rector of the parish.[21] She was taught mostly at home, using her father's library and learning alongside the boys he took in as pupils, and her closest companion throughout her life was her sister Cassandra, almost three years older.[1] Two of her brothers, Francis and Charles, became Royal Navy officers; Henry was a clergyman, militia officer and banker; and Edward was adopted by the wealthy Knight family, whose name he took.[1]

### First novels

As a child she wrote comic stories for her family, the pieces now called the Juvenilia, which the family kept and which were published long after her death.[1] In her early twenties she wrote the first versions of the novels that became *Sense and Sensibility* (then "Elinor and Marianne") and *Pride and Prejudice* (then "First Impressions").[1] Her father offered "First Impressions" to a publisher in 1797, who declined it by return of post.[1] She also wrote "Susan," the novel later published as *Northanger Abbey*, and sold it in 1803 for £10; it was not published, and Henry bought it back for the same sum in 1816.[1]

### Bath and Southampton

In 1801 her father retired and the family moved to Bath, where Austen began *The Watsons*, a novel she never finished.[1] On December 2, 1802, while visiting friends at Manydown Park, she accepted a proposal of marriage from Harris Bigg-Wither, then changed her mind overnight and refused him the next morning.[10] After her father's death she moved with her mother and Cassandra to Southampton in 1806, sharing a house with Francis's family.[1]

### Chawton and publication

In 1809 Edward gave the three women a cottage in Chawton, near his Hampshire estate, the start of what the Jane Austen Society of North America calls her most productive period.[1] *Sense and Sensibility* appeared in 1811, credited only to "a Lady," followed by *Pride and Prejudice* in 1813, *Mansfield Park* in 1814 and *Emma* in 1815; each title page referred to her earlier books but none carried her name.[1] *Emma* was published by John Murray on commission, with Austen paying for printing and advertising, and its first printing of 2,000 copies was her largest.[2]

In the autumn of 1815 the Prince Regent, an admirer of her novels, learned who she was; she was invited to tour his London residence, Carlton House, and his librarian, James Stanier Clarke, wrote that she was "at liberty to dedicate any future work" to the prince.[2] *Emma*, which went on sale on December 23, 1815, is the only one of her novels with a dedication.[2] Walter Scott reviewed it favorably, without his name, in the *Quarterly Review*.[2]

### Illness and death

She began *Persuasion* in 1815 and finished it in 1816, as her health was failing.[1] Early in 1817 she started the novel later called *Sanditon*, but by March she was too ill to continue; in May she moved to College Street, Winchester, to be near her doctor.[1] She died there on July 18, 1817, aged 41, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral under a gravestone that does not mention her writing.[1] The cause of her death is not known: Addison's disease, Hodgkin's lymphoma, lupus and arsenic poisoning have all been proposed, and her sister destroyed part of her letters.[9]

### After her death

Henry and Cassandra arranged with John Murray to publish *Northanger Abbey* and *Persuasion* together; the four-volume set appeared on December 20, 1817, with a "Biographical Notice of the Author" by Henry that named her, for the first time in print, as the author of the earlier novels.[3] Her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh published *A Memoir of Jane Austen* in 1870, and its second edition, in 1871, printed *Lady Susan* and *The Watsons* for the first time.[4] *Sanditon* was first issued by R. W. Chapman for the Clarendon Press in 1925.[5]

In 2017, the 200th anniversary of her death, the Bank of England issued a £10 note featuring her.[11] The 250th anniversary of her birth in 2025 was marked by festivals, balls and events in Britain and the United States; the Jane Austen Festival in Bath sold 15,000 tickets that year, according to CBS News.[12][13]

## Fun facts

- Her father offered the novel that became *Pride and Prejudice* to a publisher in 1797, and it was rejected by return of post.[1]
- She sold the manuscript that became *Northanger Abbey* for £10 in 1803; it went unpublished, and her brother Henry bought it back for the same price in 1816.[1]
- Her name never appeared on a novel in her lifetime; the title pages pointed readers to her earlier books instead, as in *Emma*'s "by the Author of 'Pride and Prejudice.'"[1][2]
- She called *Pride and Prejudice* her "own darling child."[10]
- *Emma* is the only one of her novels with a dedication, to the Prince Regent, who admired her books; his librarian told her she was "at liberty" to dedicate one to him.[2]
- *Emma*'s first printing of 2,000 copies was her largest; by October 1816, 1,248 had sold.[2]
- Her gravestone in Winchester Cathedral does not mention that she was an author.[1]
- Since September 14, 2017, she has appeared on the Bank of England's £10 note.[11]

## Books

In order of first publication; each series is kept together in reading order.

Titles and first publication dates from the Jane Austen Society of North America's chronology, with the posthumous works dated from the University of Michigan Library's Austen exhibition and R. W. Chapman's editions.[1][2][3][4][5]

- 1811: *Sense and Sensibility* (Novel). Her first published novel, begun in the 1790s as "Elinor and Marianne."[1] ISBN 9780141439662. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780141439662) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780141439662)
- 1813: *Pride and Prejudice* (Novel). Begun in her early twenties as "First Impressions."[1] ISBN 9780141439518. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780141439518) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780141439518)
- 1814: *Mansfield Park* (Novel). ISBN 9780141439808. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780141439808) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780141439808)
- 1815: *Emma* (Novel). On sale December 23, 1815; the title page is dated 1816.[2] ISBN 9780141439587. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780141439587) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780141439587)
- 1817: *Northanger Abbey* (Novel). Published after her death with *Persuasion* on December 20, 1817; the title page is dated 1818.[3] ISBN 9780141439792. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780141439792) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780141439792)
- 1817: *Persuasion* (Novel). Her last completed novel, finished in August 1816.[3] ISBN 9780141439686. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780141439686) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780141439686)
- 1871: *Lady Susan* (Novella). A novella in letters, first printed in the second edition of her nephew's memoir.[4] The Penguin Classics edition also contains *The Watsons* and *Sanditon*.[20] ISBN 9780140431025. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780140431025) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780140431025)
- 1871: *The Watsons* (Novel). An unfinished novel begun in Bath, first printed in the same 1871 memoir.[4] ISBN 9781847497154. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781847497154) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781847497154)
- 1925: *Sanditon* (Novel). Unfinished at her death; first issued by R. W. Chapman for the Clarendon Press in 1925.[5] ISBN 9780486841717. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780486841717) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780486841717)

## Latest news

- Sept. 16, 2026: Netflix set December 3, 2026, as the release date for its six-part *Pride and Prejudice*, starring Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy.[14]
- Dec. 16, 2025: The 250th anniversary of her birth was marked with a church service in Steventon and talks, tours and performances at Jane Austen's House in Chawton, the close of a year of balls and festivals in Britain, the U.S. and elsewhere.[12]

## Adaptations and other media

### Film

- *Pride and Prejudice (1940)* (1940). Based on *Pride and Prejudice*. An MGM film directed by Robert Z. Leonard from a screenplay by Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin, with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier.[15]
- *Pride & Prejudice (2005)* (2005). Based on *Pride and Prejudice*. Joe Wright directed the Focus Features film from Deborah Moggach's screenplay, with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen.[15]
- *Sense and Sensibility (1995)* (1995). Based on *Sense and Sensibility*. Ang Lee directed Emma Thompson's screenplay, with Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant. Thompson won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the film won the Golden Bear in Berlin.[18]
- *Clueless* (1995). Based on *Emma*. Amy Heckerling wrote and directed this Paramount film starring Alicia Silverstone; the Jane Austen Society of North America lists it among the screen versions of *Emma*.[16]
- *Emma (1996)* (1996). Based on *Emma*. A Miramax film written and directed by Douglas McGrath, with Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma Woodhouse.[16]
- *Emma. (2020)* (2020). Based on *Emma*. Autumn de Wilde directed Eleanor Catton's screenplay, with Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn and Bill Nighy.[16]
- *Persuasion (1995)* (1995). Based on *Persuasion*. Roger Michell directed Nick Dear's screenplay, with Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds, for BBC Films and WGBH.[17]
- *Persuasion (2022)* (2022). Based on *Persuasion*. A Netflix film directed by Carrie Cracknell from a screenplay by Ron Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow, with Dakota Johnson and Cosmo Jarvis.[17]
- *Love & Friendship* (2016). Based on *Lady Susan*. Whit Stillman wrote and directed this adaptation of *Lady Susan*, with Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny and Stephen Fry.[19]

### Television

- *Pride and Prejudice (BBC)* (1995). Based on *Pride and Prejudice*. A BBC and A&E serial written by Andrew Davies and directed by Simon Langton, with Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.[15]
- *Pride and Prejudice (Netflix)* (Dec. 3, 2026). Based on *Pride and Prejudice*. A six-part series from Lookout Point, directed by Euros Lyn, with Emma Corrin, Jack Lowden, Olivia Colman and Rufus Sewell.[14]

## Myth and record

- Claim: Austen wrote in secret at Chawton, on small sheets of paper she could hide, and refused to have a creaking door fixed because it warned her when someone was coming. The story appears in her nephew's 1870 memoir and is widely repeated.[6][7]
  The record: The memoir was written about fifty years after her death, by a nephew who, the Austen scholar Devoney Looser points out, was a child at the time and never saw her write. Looser cites her niece Caroline's recollection that Austen wrote "sitting with the family," and her letters, which show her sharing drafts and recording readers' opinions. The record does not show whether the door story is true.[7]
- Claim: Austen died of arsenic poisoning, a theory that drew wide coverage in 2017 after the British Library tested three pairs of spectacles thought to have been hers.[8][9]
  The record: The cause of her death is not known. Proposed causes include Addison's disease (suggested in 1964), Hodgkin's lymphoma, lupus (proposed in 2021) and arsenic; the biographer Devoney Looser calls arsenic the least credible, since the glasses may not have been hers.[9] The British Library's own post said it could not be sure Austen wore them.[8]

## Timeline

- Dec. 16, 1775: Born at Steventon Rectory, Hampshire.[1]
- 1797: Her father offers "First Impressions," an early version of *Pride and Prejudice*, to a publisher, who turns it down by return of post.[1]
- 1801: Her father retires and the family moves to Bath.[1]
- Dec. 2, 1802: Accepts a proposal of marriage from Harris Bigg-Wither, then withdraws her acceptance the next morning.[10]
- 1809: Settles with her mother and sister in a cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, provided by her brother Edward.[1]
- 1811: *Sense and Sensibility* is published, credited only to "a Lady."[1]
- Dec. 23, 1815: *Emma*, dedicated to the Prince Regent, goes on sale.[2]
- July 18, 1817: Dies in Winchester, aged 41.[1]
- Dec. 20, 1817: *Northanger Abbey* and *Persuasion* are published together, with a biographical notice by her brother Henry that names her as the author of her novels.[3]
- Sept. 14, 2017: The Bank of England issues a £10 note featuring Austen.[11]
- Dec. 3, 2026: Netflix releases a six-part adaptation of *Pride and Prejudice*.[14]

## What came after

Netflix's six-part *Pride and Prejudice*, made by Lookout Point and directed by Euros Lyn, is released on December 3, 2026.[14]

## Sources

1. [Jane Austen](https://jasna.org/austen). Jane Austen Society of North America. (reference)
2. [Emma](https://jasna.org/austen/works/emma/). Jane Austen Society of North America. (reference)
3. [Persuasion](https://www.jasna.org/austen/works/persuasion). Jane Austen Society of North America. (reference)
4. [Memoirs, Letters, and Posthumous Publications](https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/jane-austen-bicentennial/readers/memoirs-letters-pubs). University of Michigan Library. (archival record)
5. [Sanditon and Other Miscellanea, Introduction (J. M. Dent, 1934)](https://kiwix.lema.org/wikisource_en_all_nopic_2023-08/A/Sanditon_And_Other_Miscellanea/Introduction). Wikisource (mirror). (archival record)
6. [A Memoir of Jane Austen, Chapter VI (1871 edition)](https://www.labrocca.com/ja/mja-ch06.html). J. E. Austen-Leigh (text online). (archival record)
7. [Jane Austen wasn't shy](https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/jane-austen-wasnt-shy-1.2061208). Devoney Looser, New York Times News Service (via Gulf News). (news)
8. [Did Jane Austen develop cataracts from arsenic poisoning?](https://www.bl.uk/stories/blogs/posts/did-jane-austen-develop-cataracts-from-arsenic-poisoning). British Library. (primary record)
9. [How did Jane Austen die? Even after two centuries, nobody knows.](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/jane-austen-death-causes). National Geographic. (news)
10. [Jane Austen facts](https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/a69622813/jane-austen-facts). Biography.com. (reference)
11. [The new £10 note is here](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2017/september/the-new-ten-pound-note-is-here). Bank of England. (primary record)
12. [Fans celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday in Britain and beyond](https://www.wsls.com/entertainment/2025/12/16/jane-austen-fans-celebrate-the-authors-250th-birthday-in-britain-and-beyond/). Associated Press (via WSLS). (news)
13. [Jane Austen at 250: Celebrating a writer who still inspires new chapters](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jane-austen-at-250). CBS News. (news)
14. [Netflix's 'Pride & Prejudice' Adaptation Unveils New First Look & December 2026 Release Date](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/pride-and-prejudice-netflix-release-date-images/). What's on Netflix. (news)
15. [Pride and Prejudice on film](https://www.jasna.org/film/pp.html). Jane Austen Society of North America. (reference)
16. [Austen on Screen, Emma](https://jasna.org/austen/screen/emma/). Jane Austen Society of North America. (reference)
17. [Austen on Screen, Persuasion](https://jasna.org/austen/screen/persuasion/). Jane Austen Society of North America. (reference)
18. [Sense and Sensibility (1995 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_and_Sensibility_(1995_film)). Wikipedia. (reference)
19. [Love & Friendship](https://www.timeout.com/movies/love-friendship). Time Out. (news)
20. [Lady Susan, the Watsons, Sanditon](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/33994/lady-susan-the-watsons-sanditon-by-austen-jane/9780140431025). Penguin Books. (website)
21. [Jane Austen](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jane-Austen). Encyclopaedia Britannica. (reference)