Jane Austen's Personal Signed Copy of Isaac D'Israeli’s Curiosities of Literature: $150,000 Auction Estimate
Sotheby's
Jane Austen's copy of Curiosities of Literature
Sotheby’s is offering an exceedingly rare piece of Jane Austen history, a copy of Isaac D'Israeli’s Curiosities of Literature, a popular work from the late 18th and early 19th century containing anecdotes about historical persons and events, unusual books, and the habits of bookcollectors, thought to have inspired the young writer as she shaped her literary tastes.
Estimated to achieve $100,000 - $150,000, this copy was owned by Austen herself and includes numerous underlinings of key passages and themes that would later be central to Austen’s masterpieces. The book has been owned privately since the 1940s, making this auction the first time its full contents have come to public attention.
Although Jane Austen had no formal education, she enjoyed unrestricted access to her father's library at the family home in Steventon, affording her exposure to a wide variety of literature from an early age. During this period, she is known to have been meticulous in her consumption of texts, reading and likely marking the copy of Curiosities of Literature, noting passages on English society as she conceptualized not only her juvenile works, but also early drafts of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Only three books are known to have been read by Jane Austen - two of which being her personal copies - and all of which bear these pencil markings.
Any surviving text of Austen’s is remarkable as there are thought to be only around 20 titles known to have been in her possession, this copy is an especially remarkable discovery in Austen scholarship as it sheds light on Austen's process both as a reader and a writer. It will be accompanied by a full suite of first editions of all of Austen's published works in the sale.
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Sotheby's
An example of Austen's markings of the book
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Sotheby's
An example of Austen's markings of the book
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Sotheby's
Jane Austen's copy of Curiosities of Literature
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Sotheby's
An example of Austen's markings of the book
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Sotheby's
An example of Austen's markings of the book
In addition to Austen’s signature, the copy of Curiosities of Literature bears pencil underling in 15 or so sections, including On the Fair-Sex Having No Soul (pg. 72); The Absent Man (pg.171); Grotius (pg. 191); On the Adjective ‘Pretty’ (pg.192); Astrology (pg. 194); English Ladies (pg.271); and Spanish Monks (pg.273).
In English Ladies, D’Israeli writes: “in England, the public places are crouded [sic] with the daughters and wives of the Clergy. The reason is, that the livings there, being very fat ones, all the English Ladies who are fond of their ease and good living, and who are more partial to the present hour than to the future, and n raptures to marry a Parson…”. Austen was the daughter of a clergyman and this is a theme that plays out over and over through her prose - every novel features a clergyman, and in several cases they offer the heroine economic and domestic stability through marriage.
Similar markings appear in Austen’s copy of Fanny Burney’s Camilla: or, A Picture of Youth (1796, Gilson K7), which now forms a part of the Bodleian Library’s collections, and in a copy of Mary Brunton’s Self-Control, which has continuously been a part of the Knight collection (owned by Jane’s brother, she frequently borrowed and read books from this library). We know Austen read this book, and had strong opinions about it (she wrote to her sister about it twice, and her niece once).
"This copy is a remarkable piece of history that sheds light on the author's preoccupations as a reader as well as her process as a writer," said Kalika Sands, International specialist Books and Manuscripts, Sotheby’s. "This volume represents a major rediscovery and its appearance at auction is an incredibly special occasion."
