Rare Jane Austen Letter and Artifacts Head to Sotheby’s Auction
Among celebrations of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, some of her rarest, most personal writings are coming to auction.
Jane Austen (1775-1817) is one of the most celebrated writers in the English language. Her wit, subtle social commentary, and unforgettable characters have kept her novels like Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion in print for centuries and inspired countless adaptations. Despite the popularity of her work, very little is known about her life, and few of her personal artifacts have survived. Three extremely rare documents of hers, including one of her few surviving letters, will be up for auction at Sotheby’s from October 1 to 15.
Sotheby’s calls the auction event “By A Lady,” after the attribution of the first publication of Austen’s debut novel, Sense and Sensibility. It consists of three lots written by Austen, each providing an intimate glimpse into Austen’s life: an 1816 copy of Emma given to novelist Maria Edgeworth; a handwritten satirical poem; and, rarest of all, a letter to her sister and confidante, Cassandra.
The copy of Emma, known as the Edgeworth-Butler copy, has a presale estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It consists of two of the book’s three volumes, with the contemporary wrappers preserved by modern paper covers. This is the only known copy of any Jane Austen novel that she personally gave to another writer. Maria Edgeworth, the recipient, signed her name on the title page. The Edgeworth and Austen families were friends, and Austen slipped some brief praise for Edgeworth’s Belinda into her novel Northanger Abbey.
The other two lots come from Austen’s correspondence with her sister, Cassandra. The two were so close that their mother supposedly said, “If Cassandra’s head had been going to be cut off, Jane would have hers cut off too.” Jane is believed to have written thousands of letters to her sister, but the number cannot be confirmed, since Cassandra destroyed most of them after Jane’s death. About 161 of Jane’s letters are known to survive. The one up for auction at Sotheby’s, signed “JA” and dated 1805, is expected to sell for $300,000 to $400,000.
The handwritten poem, “Lines of Maria Beckford,” is signed by Jane and copied on the reverse by Cassandra. It has a presale estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. A satire on the medical practices of the time, in which an apothecary not only prescribes calomel, which causes mercury poisoning, to his patient but also intends to take it himself, it is one of only eighteen known poems written by Austen. Of these poems, there are only six signed manuscripts in private collections.
The auction is only one of many Austen-focused events this year. 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, and organizations like Jane Austen’s House, the Jane Austen Centre, and the Jane Austen Society of North America are holding events throughout the year to celebrate.
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