Record Number: 11559

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'No; I have never seen the death of Mrs Crabbe. I have only just been making out from one of his prefaces that he probably was married.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

21 Oct 1813

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

county: Kent
specific address: Godmersham Park

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Jane Austen

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

16 Dec 1772

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Novelist

Religion:

Church of England

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

George Crabbe

Title:

preface to The Borough

Genre:

Essays / Criticism, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

1810

Provenance

read in situ
in library at Godmersham Park

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

11559

Source:

Print

Author:

Jane Austen

Editor:

Deirdre Le Faye

Title:

Jane Austen's Letters

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1995

Vol:

n/a

Page:

243

Additional Comments:

Letter from Jane Austen to Cassandra Austen, Thursday 21 October, 1813 from Godmersham Park

Citation:

Jane Austen, Deirdre Le Faye (ed.), Jane Austen's Letters, (Oxford, 1995), p. 243, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=11559, accessed: 25 November 2024

---

Additional Comments:

Crabbe was one of Austen's favourite authors, and it was a long-running family joke that she wanted to marry him. The death of the poet's wife, Sarah Crabbe, occurred on 21 Sept. 1813.