Jane Austen, one of the nation’s most beloved authors, whose face adorns our currency, surely needs no introduction, but while many are familiar with her groundbreaking novels, few have come across the brilliantly funny short tales she wrote when young.

This complete collection of Austen’s juvenilia pulls together the short sketches, drama, poems and epistolary tales Austen wrote in her youth, which only saw the light of day in the last century. Taken together, the author’s warm sense of humour and literary limbering up shines through in this great and memorable bundle, and hints at the great works to come.

A Collection of Letters

AND MR HARLEY, MR CLIFFORD AND SIR WILLIAM MOUNTAGU

This collection of epistolary short stories is a charming and satirical assortment that showcases the young Austen’s budding talent and lays the foundations of the works yet to come.

Austen’s Couples

EARLY ROMANCES (FREDERIC & ELFRIDA, JACK & ALICE, EDGAR & EMMA, HENRY & ELIZA)

This collection pulls together the teenage Austen’s short writings about ‘couples’, which show off the biting wit and satire which are now so associated with her name.

Catharine, or The Bower

AND THE BEAUTIFUL CASSANDRA

Written when Austen was only around seventeen, Catharine, or The Bower is a short but important work, as it shows Austen’s preoccupation changing from short burlesques to the satirical novels which her name is so inextricably linked with. This edition also contains The Beautiful Cassandra, a very short ‘novel in twelve chapters’ that maps out a parody of the melodramatic novels of Austen’s day – in many ways the prototype for the legacy she left behind.

Evelyn and Amelia Webster

Showcasing one of the final works in Austen’s teenage years, and one of the only tales in which the narrative focuses on a man, Evelyn is a short but powerful work in which we see the great writers’ skills transforming into the great literary prowess associated with her name.

Lesley Castle

AN UNFINISHED NOVEL IN LETTERS

Written when Austen was just sixteen, these pages are stuffed with the wit and biting satire so associated with her name, and deserves to be as well known as her later novels. This edition also contains an introduction by G.K. Chesterton, with which it was first published.

Love and Freindship

Written when she was still in her teens, Love and Freindship is a fascinating, light-hearted epistolary work that shows Austen’s wit developing into the satirical prowess she is remembered for, and casts the novels with which her name is so associated in a new light.

The History of England

BY A PARTIAL, PREJUDICED AND IGNORANT HISTORIAN

Billed a history ‘from the reign of Henry IV to Charles I by a partial, prejudiced and ignorant historian’, The History of England pokes fun at the overly verbose and grand histories of Austen’s day. Written when she was just fifteen, this is a comic tour de force that shows Austen’s wit developing into the satirical prowess she is remembered for.

The Three Sisters

AND THE MYSTERY

This collection pulls together two of the teenage Austen’s short ‘deceits’ – in which secret plans and gossip are bandied about like currency. Published only in 1933, The Three Sisters is considered by many to be the prototype for Pride and Prejudice.

The Visit, Ode to Pity and Other Works

This collection pulls together the short sketches, drama, poems and flash epistolary tales Austen wrote in her youth. Taken together, the author’s warm sense of humour and literary limbering up shines through in this great and memorable bundle of snatched moments of fun.