'Intimate' Austen letters set for September release

The Bodleian Library's publishing arm is set to release a collection of Jane Austen's letters which will provide "intimate glimpses" into her life after moving to Bath, aged 25.

Jane Austen: The Chawton Letters has been edited by Kathryn Sutherland, professor of bibliography and textual criticism at the University of Oxford and is due for release this September in association with Jane Austen’s House Museum.

The letters are the last surviving example in which the world-renowned author has confided her innermost thoughts in private onto the page, according to Bodleian Libraries. They reveal her anxieties over the reception of Pride and Prejudice, her care in planning Mansfield Park, and "hilarious negotiations" over the publication of Emma. 

Each letter is accompanied by reproductions from the original manuscripts in Jane Austen’s hand. Also in the collection is a moving letter written by her sister Cassandra days after Jane’s death in Winchester in July 1817. The book, priced £14.99, will be released on 15th September. 

Earlier this month, in honour of the 200th anniversary since Austen's death, the trade celebrated all things Jane Austen while the Bank of England launched its new Austen £10 note. The "Which Jane Austen?" exhibition at the Oxford University’s Bodleian Libraries runs until 29th October 2017.