Three notebooks of Jane Austen's early writings survive. The pieces probably date from 1786 or 1787, around the time that Jane, aged 11 or 12, and her older sister and collaborator Cassandra left school. By this point Austen was already an indiscriminate and precocious reader, devouring pulp fiction and classic literature alike; what she read, she soon began to imitate and parody.
Unlike many teenage writings then and now, these are not secret or agonized confessions entrusted to a private journal and for the writer's eyes alone. Rather, they are stories to be shared and admired by a named audience of family and friends. Devices and themes which appear subtly in Austen's later fiction run riot openly and exuberantly across the teenage page. Drunkenness, brawling, sexual misbehavior, theft, and even murder prevail. It is as if Lydia Bennett is the narrator.
Introduction Chronology of Composition of Items in the Teenage Notebooks Note on the Text Note on Spelling Select Bibliography A Chronology of Jane Austen Maps VOLUME THE FIRST Frederic & Elfrida Jack & Alice Edgar & Emma Henry & Eliza Mr Harley Sir William Mountague Mr Clifford The beautifull Cassandra Amelia Webster The Visit The Mystery The three Sisters Detached peices Ode to Pity VOLUME THE SECOND Love and Friendship Lesley-Castle The History of England Collection of Letters Scraps VOLUME THE THIRD Evelyn Kitty, or the Bower FAMILY CONTINUATIONS TO VOLUME THE THIRD Continuation of 'Evelyn', by James Edward Austen Continuation of 'Evelyn', by Anna Lefroy Continuation of 'Kitty, or the Bower', by James Edward Austen APPENDIX Letter of Sophia Sentiment from The Loiterer, 28 March 1789 Abbreviations Textual Notes Explanatory Notes
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