Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Austen's earliest works

1787-1790, Oxford Illustrated edition of Jane Austen: Minor Works 1967?
Jane Austen
Juvenilia thought to be written between those dates, includes Frederic & Elfrida, Jack & Alice, Edgar & Emma, Henry and Eliza, Mr. Harley, Sir William Montague, Mr. Clifford, The Beautifull [sic] Cassandra, Amelia Webster, The Visit, and The Mystery
Original and purchase price unknown
Hardcover in good shape except for frayed jacket
These works collectively a B-

Even in early adolescence, Jane was witty and talented, although her spelling, punctuation, and capitalisation could've been better.  Also, there's deliberately not much plot, character, or other substance here.  Highlights of each story are listed below.
Frederic & Elfrida:  The way groups of people deliver speeches simultaneously.
Jack & Alice:  Probably my favorite of the group, with the lines "Charles Adams was...of so dazzling a Beauty that none but Eagles could look him in the Face" and "...[T]he whole [masquerade] party not excepting Virtue were carried home, Dead Drunk" being best.  I also like how Lady Williams (AKA Virtue) is calmly infuriating.
Edgar & Emma:  The Willmots seem to have over 20 children.
Henry and Eliza:  The implausible trope of the missing baby that turns up years later and is easily recognised, nicely parodied.
Mr. Harley:  Very short--three paragraphs!--but with conflict and resolution.
Sir William Montague:   A man with wandering eyes and feet, who rejects one fiancee because she chooses 1 September as their wedding day, and that's the start of the hunting season.
Mr. Clifford:  When Mr. Clifford gets to an inn, he orders "a whole Egg to be boiled for him & his servants."
The Beautifull Cassandra:  Dedicated to her sister Cassandra, this is twelve extremely short chapters about a young lady who goes into town, creates havoc, and then returns to her mother, whispering to herself, "This is a day well spent."
Amelia Webster:  Perhaps the world's shortest epistolary novel, seven letters about the romances of the Hervey family.
The Visit:  Lord Fitzgerald's excuses to his guests (all blaming his late grandmother) and Lady Hampton's curtain line, "And may you all be Happy," provide the most fun here.
The Mystery:  Every conversation drops vague clues.

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