EMMA: UNABRIDGED ORIGINAL CLASSIC

 Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire, England

She was the seventh child and second daughter in her family

Jane’s parents were Cassandra and George Austen.

Jane’s father served as the Oxford-educated rector for a nearby Anglican parish.

Jane’s parents encouraged learning and creative thinking throughout her childhood. She and her siblings would read the books in their father's extensive library.

As a child, Jane, with her siblings would write and perform plays and charades.

In her pre-adolescence Jane and her sister Cassandra were sent to boarding schools in order to acquire a more formal education, although her education was cut short due to financial constraints.

In the 1790s, Jane began to craft her own novels and wrote Love and Friendship, a parody of romantic fiction organized as a series of love letters.

The year following Love and Friendship, Jane wrote The History of England, a 34-page satire collection which included illustrations drawn by Cassandra, short stories, poems and plays, are now referred to as Jane's Juvenilia.

Jane spent much of her early adulthood helping at home, playing piano, attending church, and socializing with neighbors.

Her nights and weekends often involved cotillions, which helped her become an accomplished dancer.  Other evenings she took time to read aloud to her family, from her father’s library or occasionally a story she had written herself.

Jane continued to write and developing her style.  One more ambitious work was Lady Susan, another story portrayed from the perspective of written letters, about a manipulative woman who uses her feminine assets, intelligence and charm to have her way.

Jane also started to write some of her future major works, the first called Elinor and Marianne, another story told as a series of letters, which would eventually be published as Sense and Sensibility.

She began drafts of First Impressions, which would later be published as Pride and Prejudice, and Susan, later published as Northanger Abbey by Jane's brother, Henry, following Jane's death.

In 1801, Jane moved to Bath with her father, mother and Cassandra.

In 1805, Jane’s father died after a short illness – which was financially catastrophic for the family, causing the three women moved from place to place, skipping between the homes of various family members to rented flats. Four years later, in 1809 the women were able to settle into cottage, owned by Jane's brother Edward, in Chawton.

1811 – 1816, Jane, now in her 30’s, began to anonymously publish her writings, she pseudonymously published Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice (a work she referred to as her "darling child,") Mansfield Park and Emma.

Her novels, including Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, are considered literary classics, bridging the gap between romance and realism.

In 1816, Jane became ill at age 41, but made impressive efforts to continue working at a normal pace, editing older works as well as starting a new novel called The Brothers, which would be published after her death as Sanditon.

Another novel, Persuasion, would also be published posthumously.

Jane's illness soon worsened and her condition deteriorated to such a degree that she ceased writing. She died on July 18, 1817, in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

While Austen received some accolades for her works while still alive, with her first three novels garnering critical attention and increasing financial reward, it was not until after her death that her brother Henry revealed to the public that she was an author.

Today, Austen is considered one of the greatest writers in English history, both by academics and the general public. In 2002, as part of a BBC poll, the British public voted her No. 70 on a list of "100 Most Famous Britons of All Time." Austen's transformation from little-known to internationally renowned author began in the 1920s, when scholars began to recognize her works as masterpieces, thus increasing her general popularity.