"Sense and Sensibility" was originally credited as being written "By a Lady."

Arts & Culture

E ven though Sense and Sensibility now ranks as one of the most beloved novels in English literature — and Jane Austen as one of the most famous writers of all time — the book's first edition, released as three volumes in 1811, was originally published without the author's name. During the time Austen lived and wrote, it was common for women to use pseudonyms or publish anonymously, and Sense and Sensibility was credited as being written simply "By a Lady" on the title page.

Growing up in the village of Steventon in Hampshire, England, Austen took measures to hide her beloved writing hobby from society, even though her family encouraged her from a young age. Her father believed in her talent and, early on, tried — but failed — to secure a publisher for the manuscript that eventually became Pride and Prejudice. When Austen was about 19 years old, she began working on Elinor and Marianne, a novel about the lives and romantic pursuits of the Dashwood sisters. Austen eventually renamed the completed manuscript Sense and Sensibility, and in 1810, Thomas Egerton of London's Military Library publishing house agreed to publish it.

The book was a big success, selling out its first print run in less than two years. Yet Austen's next novel, Pride and Prejudice, was also published without her name: It was credited as "By the author of Sense and Sensibility." Although by that point her identity had already become an open secret among those in the know, Jane Austen's name didn't appear on any of her books until after her death.

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By the Numbers

Completed novels written by Jane Austen

Percentage of British novels published anonymously between 1770 and 1820

75%

Did you know?

Jane Austen's first novel was almost published eight years before "Sense and Sensibility."

Northanger Abbey was one of two Jane Austen novels published five months after the author's death, but it was supposed to come out 14 years earlier — eight years before Austen's debut novel, Sense and Sensibility. Austen completed the manuscript, originally titled Susan, between 1798 and 1799, when she was in her early 20s. In 1803, her brother Henry helped negotiate the £10 sale of the manuscript to London publisher Crosby and Co.; an advertisement announcing Susan's release appeared soon after, but the book never did. In 1816, the publisher sold the manuscript back to Henry for its original price, and Austen went about making revisions to the novel, including changing the working title to Catherine. It was ultimately renamed Northanger Abbey and released in a four-volume set with the novel Persuasion shortly after Austen's death in 1817.

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