Description

 

 

Austen, Jane (1775 – 1817)

An exceptionally rare ink signature by Jane Austen (‘Yrs very affectionately, J. Austen’). A wonderfully bold example in dark fountain pen ink, sized 1.5 x 7 cm. Mounted at the foot of the frontispiece of A Memoir of Jane Austen, by her nephew J. E. Austen Leigh, 4th edition, London, 1879. The engraved frontispiece has a small portion torn from lower blank fore-margin, with a contemporary ink ownership signature ‘Nona Bellairs. 1880’ appearing at the head of the title page. Signature condition: fine. Slight cover damage to the book, otherwise fine.

Jane Austen’s autograph is extremely rare in any format, this being the first we have offered in thirty years.