Letter #5, Post #12

Wednesday 8 February 2012
[End of p. 2; second leaf of letter (pp. 3 and 4) missing. Postscript written upside down at top of first page]
To Cassandra, from Rowling, "Give my love to Mary Harrison, & tell her I wish whenever she is attached to a young Man, some respectable Dr Marchmont may keep them apart for five volumes." - Jane Austen, Monday 5 September 1796

[Address missing]

I believe Mary Harrison would have been the sister of Revd William Harrison (1768-1846) who was at this time the curate and vicar of Overton, Hants. She married Philip-Henry Poore in September of 1797.

Jane Austen is making a reference here to Camilla, or a Picture of Youth, 5 vols. (1796), by Frances Burney. She was a great fan of this book and, presumably, so was Mary Harrison.

A quote from Deirdre Le Faye in the notes section of Jane Austen's Letters, New Edition:
"In the lower margin of the last page of the last volume is a pencil inscription which I have no doubt was written by the first owner. She, as a subscriber, received the volumes in boards, uncut, and probably she wrote her comment when she finished the book in 1796. Later it was half-bound (CEA's signature is on the endpaper) and the inscription was mutilated, slightly in the outer margin, but more severely in the lower margin, where I think it has lost a line or two lines. The inscription is also faint, but I read it thus:

Since this work went to the Press a
Circumstance of some Importance to the
happiness of Camilla has taken place,
namely that Dr Marchmont has at last...

and I conjecture that in the missing conclusion JA pleased herself with the intelligence of Dr Marchmont's death."

It's funny, we do the same with her books, just think of all the sequels out there. We want the story to continue also.

I think I have posted this before but here is a link to read Camilla online if you would like to.

http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=LR0GAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PP5

This image is from the Heritage Bookshop. They have these listed for $4,500. They are first editions., awesome!

Here is a link. The page has some interesting information.
http://www.heritagebookshop.com/details.php?id=65180

So, today we finished letter #5. It has been fun. I hope you have enjoyed it also.
Enjoy your day,
Terrie