The history of England (Austen)

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Heinrich IV. , Watercolor by Cassandra Austen
Maria I.
Elizabeth I.
Edward VI.

The History of England ( English The History of England from the reign of Henry the 4th to the death of Charles the 1st ) is a youth work by the English writer Jane Austen (1775-1817), which the then fifteen-year-old wrote for entertainment in the family circle was never published in her lifetime. It is a comic-satirical imitation of the historiography of its time, characterized by gaudy exaggeration. The date at the end is "Saturday, November 26th 1791".

The History of England
from the reign of
Henry the 4th
to the death of
Charles the 1st.

The History of England , by Jane Austen's own hand

By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant historian


To Miſs Austen, eldest daughter of the Revd
George Austen, this work is inscribed with
all due respect by
all due respect by ———The Author

NB There will be very few dates in
this History.

The title page already shows the parodic character of the work. Jane Austen describes herself as a “partisan, biased and ignorant historian” and reassures the reader as a precaution: “There will be very few dates in this story.” The history of England is dedicated “with all due respect” to Miss Austen, the Reverend George's eldest daughter Austen's sister, Cassandra, who was two years older and who also contributed the illustrations and thirteen watercolor miniatures.

“I assume that my readers […] know about it, and if not, then they would do best to read some other historical work, as I don't intend to go overboard about it because I don't care about anything else to shower all those whose parties or principles do not harmonize with mine with poison and bile and not to impart knowledge. "

The thirty-five page history of England , preserved in a handwritten version, is divided into thirteen chapters. Beginning with Henry IV and ending with Charles I , English monarchs are portrayed in an unconventional and very subjective way. The young author makes no secret of her disgust for Elizabeth I , while the Catholic Scottish Queen Maria Stuart and the House of York have a special sympathy.

Jane Austen's early works - most of them in fair copy by Austen's own hand - are collected in three notebooks: Volume the First , Volume the Second and Volume the Third . The history of England is contained in Volume the Second , the second notebook the writer dedicated to her cousin and later sister-in-law, Eliza de Feuillide. Volume the Second and Volume the Third are now in the British Library , Volume the First in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The History of England is available online as a virtual book .

"[...] then the king [Henry VI] gave a long speech, for which I must refer the reader to Shakespeare's plays, and the prince gave an even longer one."

"I can't say much good about the mind of this monarch [Henry VI] - and if I didn't, I could, for he was a supporter of the House of Lancaster."

“The events […] are too numerous for my pen, and anyway the narration of all events (with the exception of those that concern myself) is of no interest to me; my main endeavor in writing this history of England was to prove the innocence of the Queen of Scotland, which - as I believe I have reason to believe - I have done with all thoroughness [...] "

literature

  • Jane Austen: The Three Sisters and Other Youth Works . Edited and translated by Melanie Walz (=  Insel-Taschenbuch . Volume 2698 ). 1st edition. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 2000, ISBN 3-458-34398-9 .
  • Jane Austen: The History of England in her own hand . The British Library. Virtual books. (English, The British Library [accessed February 25, 2012]).
  • Christian Grawe : "Darling Jane". Jane Austen - a biography (=  Reclam-Taschenbuch . No. 20206 ). Reclam, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-15-020206-7 .

Web links

Commons : Cassandra Austen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Jane Austen  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: The History of England  - Sources and full texts
  • Jane Austen: The History of England in her own hand . The British Library. Virtual books (Silverlight). (English, The British Library [accessed February 25, 2012]).
  • Jane Austen: The History of England in her own hand . The British Library. Virtual books (images only). (English, The British Library [accessed February 25, 2012]).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jane Austen: The Three Sisters . 2000, p. 309 .
  2. ↑ a b Jane Austen: The three sisters . 2000, p. 105 .
  3. ↑ Jane Austen: The Three Sisters . 2000, p. 291 .
  4. ↑ Jane Austen: The History of England in her own hand . The British Library. Virtual books. (English, The British Library [accessed February 25, 2012]).
  5. ↑ Jane Austen: The Three Sisters . 2000, p. 104 .
  6. ↑ Jane Austen: The Three Sisters . 2000, p. 117 .