Original Sources

Jane Austen’s World is all about this page: Original online resources, publications, first-hand accounts, and records that make the Regency Era come alive using the voices of the era. Resources are categorized in alphabetical order. Found a broken link? Email msplace71 at yahoo dot com.

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General sources

• 18th Century Reading Room
• 18th Century and Regency Documents
• Chambers Book of Days
• Mrs. Spectator’s Coffee House:18th Century Online Resources
• Great Books Index: Jane Austen
• The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle, From July to December, by Sylvanus Urban, gent, 1816
• Gen Docs: Genealogy Charts
• Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: Revised and Corrected, 1823
• Gross’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1811; Words are easy to find on this site in searchable format
• Canting Dictionary, Thieving Slang, 1736. A Collection of the Canting Words and Terms, both ancient and modern, used by Beggars, Gypsies, Cheats, House-Breakers, Shop-Lifters, Foot-Pads, Highway-Men, &c; Taken from The Universal Etymological English Dictionary, by N. Bailey, London, 1737, Vol. II, and transcrib’d into XML Most Diligently by Liam Quin.
• Genealogy Records: England
• The Online Books Page

Architecture and furniture

• Illustrated History of Furniture, Frederick Litchfield, 1851
• British Architecture: Megasite of sources
• Bibliography: Proceedings of the Old Bailey
• Brighton As it Is 1836: A Guidebook
• Researching Historic Buildings in the British Isles
• The Village Homes of England, Sydney R. Jones, 1912

Children’s Books

• Harrison’s New Nursery Picture Book, Project Gutenberg, 1810
• The Picture Exhibition: A Collection of Neat Wood-cuts For Juvenile Amusements, 1839
• Little Mary, or the Picture Book, 1823
• Search: Picture Books for Children, Internet Archive

Criminal justice

• A History of Crime in England, Luke Owen Pike, 1837
• Capital Punishment in the 18th & 19th Centuries
• Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1834
• A Digest of the Law of Scotland, Hugh Barclay, 1855

Cookery

• The Book of Household Management, Isabella Beeton, 1859
• The Art of Cookery, Hannah Glasse, 1747
• The Universal Cook: And City and Country Housekeeper, John Francis Collingwood and John Woollams, Principal Cooks at The Crown and AnchorTavern in the Strand, 1792
• 18th Century British Recipes
• Old Cookery Books, by W. CarewHazlitt, 1902
• Feeding America, a site designed by the University of Michigan, provides a list of cookbooks published in America during the 18th and 19th centuries; more interestingly, this site includes a pictorial collection of the cooking utensils and kitchen ware popular during this era.
• Science in the Kitchen, Mrs. E.E. Kellogg, 1893

History

• Britannia History
• British History Online
• Full Text Documents by Period, Rutgers
• Historical Autographs: British History, 1800-1950
• History Digital Library
• Historical Text Archive
• Find Social and Historical Resources, such as postage and transportation on this site.
• National Archives of the United Kingdom
• The Constitutional History of England Since the Accession of George III, Sir Erskine, May 1861
• Rural Rides, William Cobbett, 1802
• The Life of Lord Nelson, Robert Southey, 1813

Industrial revolution

• The Golden Falcon: Silk
• The Life of the Industrial Worker in 19th Century Britain,Michael Sadler, 1832
• Online Books Page: Great Britain and the Working Class

Home

Jane Austen Biography

• Jane Austen and Her Times, G.E. Mitton, 1905
• Jane Austen: Her Homes and Her Friends, Constance Hill, 1901
• Memoir of Jane Austen, Edward Austen Leigh, 1871
• Jane Austen: Her Life and Letters, William Austen-Leigh and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh, 1913
• Leigh Family Tree, Project Gutenberg
• Biographical Notice of the Author, Henry Austen, 1817-1818
• My Aunt Jane Austen: A Memoir, Caroline Austen, March 1867
• Memoir of Jane Austen, Letter to Her Younger Sister, Fanny Knatchbull Knight (written when Fanny was in her 70’s)
• Jane Austen by Harold Child, The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Vol. 12, Edited by A. W. Ward & A. R. Waller
• Austen Family Historical Documents in the National Archives
• Jane Austen’s Baptism Records
• Jane Austen’s Will at the National Archives
• The Unique Friendship Book of Rev. James Stanier Clarke (1765-1834)
• Placing Jane Austen, Displacing England: Touring Between Book, History and Nation, Mike Crang
• Jane Austen’s Illness: British Medical Journal
• Scanning Electron Microscope Study of Jane Austen’s Hair
• Jane Austen: A Pilgrimage To Her Home and the Scenes of Her Novels, Constance Hill, 1902, New York Times
• Jane Austen: Eminent Women Series, Mrs. Charles Malden, London,1889

Jane Austen Novels & Critiques

• Pride & Prejudice, with Criticisms and Interpretations by Sir Walter Scott, Lord Macaulay, etc.
• The History of England, Jane Austen
• Three Prayers, Jane Austen
• Recreating Jane Austen, John Wiltshire

Letters

• Jane Austen’s Letters to Cassandra, University of Virginia Library
• Jane Austen’s Letters, Jane Austen, With general notes on the letters, Deirdre Le Faye
• Letters of Jane Austen, Selected from the Compilation of her Great Nephew, Edward Lord Brabourne, by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, Boston, 1892
• Jane Austen’s Letters, Edited by Deirdre Le Faye, Google
• Lord Byron’s Letter to Lady Caroline Lamb
• Lord Byron: Selected Letters
• The Earl of Chesterfield’s Letters to His Son, Project Gutenberg

London

• London Labour and the London Poor, Volume 1, Henry Mayhew
• The Bolles Collection on the History of London, Tufts University
• The Great Metropolis, James Grant, 1837
• Directory of London and Westminster, & Borough of Southwark, 1797: An Alphabet List of the Names and Places of Abode of the Directors of Companies, Persons in Public Business, Merchts., and other eminent Traders.
• Old London Street Cries and The Cries of Today, Andrew White Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1885 (Document made available by the University of Wisconsin)
• Parish Register.com
• Real Life in London, Pierce Egan, 1821
• Real Life in London, Pierce Egan, Project Gutenberg (with illustrations)
• Old and New London, Walter Thornberry, 1872-1878

Manners and etiquette

• Letters to His Son, Earl of Chesterfield, 1750
• The Mirror of Graces, A Lady of Distinction, 1811
• The Gentleman’s and Lady’s Companion, Containing the Newest Cotillions and Country Dances, 1798
• The Dandy’s Perambulations, Author Unknown, 1819
• The lady’s guide to perfect gentility, in manners, dress, and conversation … also a useful instructor in letter writing, toilet preparations, fancy needlework, millinery, dressmaking, care of wardrobe, the hair, teeth, hands, lips, complexion, etc. By Emily Thornwell …1858
• The Laws of Etiquette by a Gentleman, 1837 (Philadelphia)
• Essays on Men and Manners , William Hazlitt, 1822
• Social England Under the Regency, John Ashton, 1899
• Fashion Then and Now, William Pitt Lennox, 1878

Maps

• Greenwood’s Map of London, 1827
• Old London Maps
• Antique Maps and Prints

Memoirs

• Memoirs of Mary Darcy Robinson, 1801
• Memoir of Jane Austen, Edward Austen-Leigh, 1871
• Short Biographical Sketch of Charles Lamb, 1775-1834
• Almack’s Revisited, Charles White, 1828
• Diary of an Ennuyee, Mrs. Jameson, 1876
• Diary of George Marsh, Commissioner of the Navy, 1722-1800
• Memoirs of Her Late Majesty, Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, by W.C. Oulton, Esq, London, 1819
• The Georgian Era: Memoirs, Vol II, Military and Naval Commanders, Judges and Barristers, Physicians and Surgeons, 1833
• The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 17th c.
• Dr. Neil Arnott, 1788-1879, Scottish physician and inventor

Newspapers and Publications

• The Glasgow Looking Glass, 1825-1826

Novels of the Era

• Castle Rackrent, Maria Edgeworth, 1800
• Evelina, Fanny Burney, 1778
• The Monk, M.B. Lewis, 1796
• The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Ward Radcliff, 1794
• Waverley, Sir Walter Scott, 1814
• Dr. Birch and His Young Friends, William Makepeace Thackeray (Victorian Era)

Objects and Possessions

• Eye Antiques
• Vintage Eye Wear for Every Day Use
• A History of the Fan

Poetry & Plays

• The Art of Walking the Streets of London, John Gay, 1685-1732
• The School for Scandal, Richard Sheridan, 1777

Records

• Roll of Edinburgh Burgesses and Guild-Brethren, 1406-1841
• The Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1830, Edmund Burke, 1831

Servants

• The Complete Servant: Being a Guide to All Servants, Samuel and Sara Adams, Fifty Years Servants in Different Families, p 557 - 569, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, Volume XVIII, July - December, 1825

• The House Servants Directory, Robert Roberts, 1827 Online resource

• The Footman’s Directory and Butler’s Remembrances, Or the Advice of Onesimus to his Young Friends, A Marcus Alfred, Hatchard & Son, 1823 (Available for purchase in the U.K.)

Social History and Satire

• Gentleman’s Magazine, 1731-1750
• The English Spy by C.M. Westmacott, illustrated by Robert Cruikshank
• The Wits and Beaux of Society, Philip and Grace Wharton, 1890
• Life in Regency England, R. J. White, 1963 (Some free pages)
• The Cock of Cotton Walk and the Maid of All Work: A Poem, 1820
• Social England Under the Regency, John Ashton, 1899

Transportation (for more resources, visit the History section)

• The Night Coach, P 570 - 573, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, Volume XVIII, July - December, 1825
• Highways and Horses, Athol Maudslay, 1888, Partial book available

Travels

• The Travels of Dean Mahomet: An 18th-Century Journey Through India, Edited with an introduction and biographical essay by Michael H. Fisher, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, Berkeley · Los Angeles · London © 1997 The Regents of the University of California, Includes a section on Dean Mahomet in Ireland and England.
• Tour in England, Ireland, and France: In the Years 1826, 1827, 1828, and 1829, by Hermann Puckler-Muskau, translated by Sarah Austin

Working Classes

• Women in the Fine Arts from the 7th Century BC to the Twentieth Century AD, Clara Erskine Clement, 1904
• Online Books Page: Great Britain and the Working Class
• The Village Labourer: 1760-1832: A Study in the Government of England, By John Lawrence Hammond, Barbara Bradby Hammond, 1913

Victorians

• George du Maurier, The Satirist of the Victorians, T. Martin Wood, 1913
• Illustrated London News, Christmas Covers, 1850-2001

Home

Scholarly Journals, Books, and Collections

• Journals and articles (Georgian Resources)
• Journals (Georgian Resources)
• A Guide to the Jane Austen Collection, Goucher College
• Jane Austen in Context, edited by Janet Todd, 2005, Cambridge University Press, ISBN# 0-521-82644-6
• Emma: A Discussion, Fall 2006, Brooklyn Univ
• Re-Drawing Austen: Picturesque Travels in Austenland, Edited by Beatrice Battaglia and Diego Saglia

Miscellaneous

• Popular Culture in America: 1800-1925 Contains anecdotes about British Isles