Posted on October 7, 2019 at 4:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

A four-page letter from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra will be up for auction later this month.

The auctioneer expects the letter, dated September 16, 1813, to sell for $80,000 to $120,000.

An Austen scholar described the item as a “gem” to the Guardian for the sheer amount of ordinary detail it contains, from updates on dental visits to fashion observations.

And linguists may also appreciate that it includes what’s now the earliest use of the word “coze,” which previously hadn’t been seen in writing before the 1814 novel Mansfield Park.

Since you probably can’t afford the letter, you can at least check out its auction listing, which includes scans and transcriptions.

Categories: Today in Books

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