Autograph letter signed : Godmersham, to Cassandra Austen, 1808 June 20 and 22.

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Record ID: 
282280
Accession number: 
MA 977.16
Author: 
Austen, Jane, 1775-1817.
Date: 
1808 June 20 and 22.
Credit: 
Purchased by J.P. Morgan, Jr. in 1920.
Description: 
1 item (4 p.) ; 22.6 cm
Notes: 

Forms part of a collection of 41 letters from Austen to her sister and two prints (MA 977.1-43).
High reserve.
The first 1.5 pages are written on "Monday, June 20th"; "Wednesday" appears in the middle of p. 2.
The first two pages have crossed writing on them (a full page on p. 1 and a 3-line postscript on p. 2).
With postmark and seal, addressed to Miss Austen, Castle Square, Southampton.

Inscriptions/Markings: 

Watermark: Shield with horn inside over cursive letters "JM".

Summary: 

Describing a visit to Canterbury to see Harriot Bridges Moore, an acquaintance recently married to the Reverend George Moore, and her little girl; giving details of her brother Edward's plan to visit Hampshire; mentioning an invitation she has received to visit Mrs. Knight and meet Mrs. C. Knatchbull; analyzing whether Harriot's marriage is a happy one; noting the recent illness of most of the children in the house; observing that she is not enjoying Scott's Marmion -- "Ought I to be very much pleased with Marmion? -- as yet I am not"; commenting on a recent elopement between a Mrs. Powlett and Lord Sackville.

Provenance: 
Alfred Morrison sale (10 Dec. 1918) lot 2154; purchased by J.P. Morgan, Jr. from the New York dealer Ernest Dressel North in 1920.