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Record Number: 10366

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'He [James, the Austens' servant] has that the laudable thirst I fancy for Travelling, which in poor James Selby was so much reprobated.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

unknown

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Jane Austen

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

16 Dec 1775

Socio-Economic Group:

Clergy (includes all denominations)
daughter of clergyman

Occupation:

Novelist

Religion:

Anglican

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Samuel Richardson

Title:

Sir Charles Grandison

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

10366

Source:

Print

Author:

Jane Austen

Editor:

Deirdre LeFaye

Title:

Jane Austen's Letters

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1995

Vol:

n/a

Page:

93

Additional Comments:

Letter from Jane to Cassandra Austen, Friday, 14 September, 1804, from Lyme Regis.

Citation:

Jane Austen, Deirdre LeFaye (ed.), Jane Austen's Letters, (Oxford, 1995), p. 93, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=10366, accessed: 30 July 2025

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Additional Comments:

The allusion here to James Selby is only one such familiar allusion to "Sir Charles Grandison" in Austen's writing. According to Austen family tradition, it was her favourite book.