Jane Austen begins First Impressions
- When
- 1796–1797
- Where
- unspecified location of Austen's writing; unspecified location of completion; London (addressee's city)
- Episodes
- 3
In October 1796 Jane Austen began drafting a new novel under the title First Impressions, the work later published as Pride and Prejudice. She wrote the initial draft over roughly ten months, finishing in August 1797, reading it aloud to her family as she worked.
Episodes
- Austen begins First Impressions
In October 1796 Jane Austen began a second novel, First Impressions, later published as Pride and Prejudice.
- Completion of the initial draft
Austen finished the first draft of First Impressions in August 1797, aged 21, having read it aloud to her family.
- George Austen's declined offer to Cadell
In November 1797 Austen's father wrote to London bookseller Thomas Cadell offering the manuscript; the offer was declined by return post.
Background and detail
Background. By 1796 Austen, then twenty, had already written Lady Susan, an epistolary novella described as her most ambitious early work, composed between 1793 and 1795. In 1796 she turned to a second novel, which she called First Impressions.
Composition of the First Draft. Austen began writing the novel after staying at Goodnestone Park in Kent with her brother Edward and his wife in 1796. The work was written between October 1796 and August 1797, and she completed the initial draft in August 1797, aged 21. As with all her novels, she read it aloud to her family while working, and it became an "established favourite".
Immediate Aftermath. In November 1797 Austen's father wrote to the London publisher Thomas Cadell asking whether he would consider publishing First Impressions; the offer was declined by return post. Austen then returned to Elinor and Marianne, revising it heavily from November 1797 until mid-1798.
People involved
- Jane Austen · author of the first draft
- Austen's father · unnamed father, later sought publication of the manuscript
Sources
- Jane Austen Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
- Pride and Prejudice Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.