There have been many studies, critical books, and learned articles produced over the years about Jane Austen which increased in the latter part of the 20th century. Her novels, juvenilia and surviving letters have been intensively researched. Added to this, there is a growing interest in her life, times, the importance of a sense of place to her writing and in her familial and social relationships. Included in this set of source books are: James Edward Austen-Leigh's "Recollections of the Early Days of the Vine Hunt" (1865) which describes some of the people who belonged to the Austen circle in Hampshire and their activities.

Here, republished for the first time, are the complete first edition texts of Jane Austen's much-loved classic master-pieces. A rare and inaccessible resource for most scholars, the first editions are unique documents in the history of English literature. Other subsequent editions of the novels were corrected, some by Jane Austen herself, and many spellings and much punctuation changed. The first editions are now so scarce and valuable that they are only available to a few scholars in major university collections. The first edition text of The Memoir by Austen's nephew includes engravings which were suppressed in subsequent printings. Lord Brabourne's editions of the first collected selection of Jane Austen's letters to her sister Cassandra and others also contains interesting illustrations not repeated in the few subsequent texts to be reprinted. This set of Austen's complete novels, her Memoir and Letters is an invaluable source for the scholar or enthusiast, now able to experience these classic texts in their original form.