''The History of England'' is a 1791 work by

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots oft ...

, written when the author was fifteen.

Overview

The work is a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

which pokes fun at widely used schoolroom history books such as

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

's 1771 ''The History of England from the Earliest Times to the Death of George II''. Austen mockingly imitates the style of textbook histories of English monarchs, while ridiculing historians' pretensions to objectivity. It was illustrated with coloured portraits by Austen's elder sister

Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be belie ...

, to whom the work is dedicated. The History of England (Austen) p-2

The second page of the ''History'' reads: :: Her ''History'' cites as sources works of fiction such as the plays of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and Sheridan, a novel by

Charlotte Turner Smith Charlotte Smith (née Turner; – ) was an English novelist and poet of the School of Sensibility whose '' Elegiac Sonnets'' (1784) contributed to the revival of the form in England. She also helped to set conventions for Gothic fiction and wr ...

and the opinions of Austen's family and friends. Along with accounts of English kings and queens which contain little factual information but a great deal of comically exaggerated opining about their characters and behaviour, the work includes material such as charades and puns on names. While the work offers her family humorous vignettes on English rulers from Henry II to

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, many entries focus on royal women, such as

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553. Jane was ...

, and

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

, who are denied entries but are significant figures in English history. Mary, Queen of Scots, in particular plays an important role in Austen's ''History'', which also acts as a vindication of the executed cousin of Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I is treated as a tyrant, rather than a good leader, thus showing Austen's affinity for Mary and the Stuart monarchs.

Publication history

Some years after writing ''The History'' ''of England'', Austen compiled this work and 28 other of her early compositions by copying them into three notebooks which she called "Volume the First", "Volume the Second" and "Volume the Third". These three volumes comprehensively are considered Austen's

juvenilia Juvenilia are literary, musical or artistic works produced by authors during their youth. Written juvenilia, if published at all, usually appears as a retrospective publication, some time after the author has become well known for later works. ...

, and by some critics her "minor works." ''The History of England'' is in "Volume the Second" (as are '' Love and Freindship'' and four other works) occupying 34 manuscript pages. Cassandra's 13 illustrations were done after the copying was completed. "Volume the Second" passed to Cassandra at Austen's death in 1817, and on Cassandra's death in 1845 to

Francis Austen Admiral of the Fleet Sir Francis William Austen, (23 April 1774 – 10 August 1865) was a Royal Navy officer and an elder brother of the novelist Jane Austen. As commanding officer of the sloop HMS ''Peterel'', he captured some 40 ships, was ...

, with whose descendants it remained until it was sold to the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

in 1977.The notebook is no
British Library Additional Manuscript 59874
None of Austen's youthful works were published in her lifetime. Francis Austen's granddaughter, the then-owner of "Volume the Second", in 1922 permitted

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

to publish the entire notebook under the name ''Love and Freindship''. The ''History'' was included in volume 6 of R. W. Chapman's

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

edition of Jane Austen's complete works and since then has been published in several new editions and imprints. A German edition was published for the first time in 2009 by Luxbooks.

References

Sources

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External links

*
''The History of England'' on LibriVox
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of England, The Parody history books 1791 books Juvenilia and other works by Jane Austen Books published posthumously