Jane Austen, Volume the First

Jane Austen here transcribes some of her earliest fiction, written between the ages of twelve and fifteen. The original drafts do not survive. The stories are parodies, and display a precocious grasp of literary technique and the popular genres of the day. Jack and Alice is a satire on the Gothic novel, and Austen has inscribed it to her favourite brother, Francis, who would eventually rise to the rank of Admiral in the Royal Navy.

This Treasure isn’t currently on display in the Weston Library.