James Edward Austen-Leigh (1798–1874)

I like the vibe of this bio of Jane Austen, written by one of her nephews. It was like, here’s the deal: there’s not a whole lot that was saved, I was a kid when she was alive, so here’s what I’ve managed to scrape together.
As such, it kind of wandered from topic to topic, but I liked the affection and respect in his writing, and I learned a few things I didn’t know. I thought it was neat he included a discarded chapter of Persuasion, the Austen book I’m planning to reread this show more year, and I loved that Jane Austen told her family the futures she imagined for her characters after the books’ endings.
A pleasant, quick read for Austen fans. show less

This memoir was the first biography of Jane Austen, written in 1869, just over half a century after her untimely death, by one of her many nephews, a son of her elder brother James, who inherited their father's clerical living in Steventon in 1801, leading to the family's removal to Bath. The biography is a typical Victorian era one, containing nothing the least bit controversial, or damaging to its subject. It is implied she may well have had no romantic interests in her whole life, though show more two potential love interests are shyly hinted at. There is no mention of poor George Austen the younger, Jane's lost fifth brother, who lived a long life in isolation from the family for some unspecified reason, whether that be mental illness, learning difficulties, or severe epilepsy.

The author goes out of his way to stress how ordinary and unremarkable his aunt was ("Of events her life was singularly barren: few changes and no great crisis ever broke the smooth current of its course" and "the subject itself supplied me with nothing striking or prominent with which to arrest the attention of the reader"). He portrays her as a kind and affectionate older relative who wrote stories in her spare time for amusement with no thought of gain. It is almost as though she accidentally became a published author with the support of her brothers. That said, in his quiet and staid Victorian way, he is obviously proud of her efforts and considers her to have been far and away better than most of her contemporaries. He is casual about his motives for writing the biography: "I thought that I saw something to be done: knew of no one who could do it but myself, and so was driven to the enterprise. I shall esteem it one of the strongest testimonies ever borne to her talents, if for her sake an interest can be taken in so poor a sketch as I have been able to draw." show less

I’ve not read a biography of an author by writers of their own time; this edition has a collection of 5 works by Jane Austens’ relatives.

This was a fascinating read for me in how it’s different from today’s bios, several times important connections were mentioned, and was an emphasis on being a good, humble family. These kinds of details told me more about Jane Austen’s times.

Though, I can’t say I know Jane Austen any better, but I was a little amused how Caroline Austen and show more Anna Lefroy made it clear that they are writing their recollection and memoir from memory where they can’t remember their times with Aunt Jane. The most interesting was by James Edward Austen-Leigh, it was also the longest work in this collection, I especially liked how it included quite a few letters by Jane Austen, these I enjoyed reading. show less

I read the Oxford World's Classics edition which contained the following:

A Memoir of Jane Austen - James Edward Austen-Leigh (1871)
Biographical Notice of the Author - Henry Austen (1818)
Memoir of Miss Austen - Henry Austen (1833)
Recollections of Aunt Jane - Anna Lefroy (1864)
My Aunt Jane Austen: A Memoir - Caroline Austen (1867)

This book brings together a collection of memoirs and biographies of Jane Austen written by her brother (Henry Austen) and her nieces and nephews. James Edward show more Austen-Leigh's memoir is the longest of the collection of works included and, with their permission, made use of the recollections written by his sisters (Anna and Caroline) as well as Henry Austen's notice and memoir and various letters from their Aunt Jane which had come into their possession.

This was an interesting selection of works, mainly because the detailed notes to this edition made it possible to see what information about Jane Austen had been left out of James Edward Austen-Leigh's memoir. It seems that he and his sisters wanted to present Jane Austen in a way that they felt was appropriate for the late 19th century and so certain events or incidents were glossed over. In particular a humorous poem that Jane Austen wrote a few days before her death which had been referred to in Henry Austen's first biography was deliberately not mentioned in James Edward Austen-Leigh's memoir because he and his sisters felt it made their beloved aunt appear frivolous. Additionally, James Edward Austen Leigh and his sisters did not have access to all of Jane Austen's letters that modern scholars have access to as these were then being held by other branches of the family.

For the above reasons I wouldn't recommend this collection to someone who hadn't read a modern biography of Jane Austen. I also think it would be easier to first get a sense of Jane Austen's extended family from a modern biography and I think I would have found this book more confusing if I hadn't previously read one. But despite their occasional failings these writings are one of the primary sources for modern Jane Austen scholars and well worth reading if you want to find out more about the author and her world.

If you are looking for a modern biography about Jane Austen then I found Claire Tomalin's Jane Austen: A Life to be superb. show less