Jane Austen’s version of “The History of England” rebalanced the insufficiency of attention to female figures in school history books. While the work offered humorous vignettes on English Kings, significant attention is paid to the royal women, such as: Austen enjoyed embellishing the stories with charades and puns on names. The accounts of English kings and queens contain comically exaggerated opinions about their characters and behavior. and the opinions of Austen’s family and friends.Jane Austen’s history book has very few dates and cites as sources works of fiction such as: George Austen, this work is inscribed with “To Miſs Austen, eldest daughter of the Revd The work is dedicated to Austen’s sister Cassandra with: The title page of Austen’s manuscript reads:īy a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian.” In “The History of England,” Austen mockingly imitates the style of textbook histories of English monarchs, while ridiculing school history books’ pretensions to objectivity. The notebook is today preserved in the British Library collection. Thirteen watercolor miniatures accompany it by her elder sister, Cassandra. The manuscript of thirty-four pages is in Jane Austen’s hand. The work is a humorous work that pokes fun at widely used school history books of the time. “The History of England” by Jane Austen was written when the author was fifteen years old in 1791. “The History of England” by Jane Austen – Handwritten Manuscript
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