Break open the piggy banks, Janeites
The Press Association reports that a copy of Emma inscribed by Jane Austen to Miss Anne Sharp, the governess at her brother Edward’s estate, Godmersham, will be auctioned by Bonhams on June 24. (Perhaps this is the sale? The catalogue is currently not available.) The auction house expects the book to sell for £50,000. Inscribed? That’s ALL? We think six figures is not out of the question, though of course auctions are always iffy. A quote from the current owner, who wishes to remain anonymous:
“The novel had been sitting in my family library for at least three generations and it remains a mystery as to how the book first got there.”
Indeed!
April 29th, 2008 at 10:00 am
If I were a rich woman…
Not only a 1st. ed of Emma, but the one that belonged to JA’s dear friend Anne Sharp, make these copies more valuable than others. Only those belonging to JA’s own family and the one for the Prince Regent are above these.
If only Sandy Lerner would be willing to bid for it. It could be a most proper addition for Chawton House.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:39 am
My great-grandmother always bemoaned losing her favorite copy of Emma on a visit to England. Do you suppose it’s too late to file a claim to have it returned to OUR family library?
April 29th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Gilson’s Bibliography of Jane Austen states that the publisher John Murray’s records list the recipients of twelve presentation copies of Emma. (These would be in addition to the copies presentd to the Prince Regent.)
Hans Place (Two copies, for Henry Austen and JA)
Countess of Morley
Rev J.S. Clarke, the Prince Regent’s Librarian
J. Leigh Perrot (JA’s uncle)
Mrs. Austen (two copies)
Captain Austen (brother Charles)
Rev J. Austen (brother James)
H.F. Austen (sic., brother Frank)
Miss Knight (niece Fanny)
Miss Sharpe (the copy discussed here. Her name sometimes has the e, sometimes not.)
April 29th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Now seems a good time to ask this novice question: since Jane’s books have been in continuous print for 200 years, and she was sort-of-impoverished to the point that the stress might have contributed to her death before she was able to see any financial benefit, is/was there anyone in her family who become wealthy or at least very comfortable by inheriting Jane’s portion of the profits? How would that work? Even if her books are in the public realm now, surely someone benefited nicely at some point?
April 29th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
JA left in her will the copyrigths of 5 of the novels to her sister (JA sold those of P&P to Egerton since the 1st edition in 1813, so she did not benefited at all from her most successful and popular novel), and Cassandra sold them to Bentley in 1832, and for the “great sum” of £250 in total for the 5 novels. So the closest relatives did not have a great profit from them.
As to the minor works, I do not know who hold the copyright. Most of them are also public domain (Lady Susan, The Watsons, I think Sanditon, and those works in the second volume of the Juvenilia). IIRC, nowadays only those works kept in Volume the First and Volume the Third of the Juvenilia are still under copyright, plus that of the theatrical adaptation of Sir Charles Grandison, which still disputed if it is by JA or another of the Austens, but I do not know who should receive the royalties.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Ooops! I meant that from P&P she benefited very little, only £110 for the copyright. If someone benefited nicely that was Egerton because P&P sold more than well, I cannot recall how many editions he managed to sell in JA’s life. But unfortunately neither JA nor her loved ones achieved much financially, not even what Elinor Dashwood would call a competence, from her writings
April 29th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Cinthia gave a pretty good overview of what Jane and Cassandra made from the books. As far as the juvenilia that is under copyright, I believe they were first published in the Oxford Illustrated Editions, so Oxford University Press would hold the copyright to those editions; really the owner of the manuscripts (I think the British Library? Not sure) would not so much own the copyright as be able to control the use of the texts. If they *allowed* someone else to make a copy of the texts, that person would then own the copyright of THAT edition. I hope that makes sense. The manuscripts themselves are in the public domain, but they aren’t available to be used as a public domain text on, say, Project Gutenberg is available. There are no printed editions in the public domain that we could scan and make available, which I think was Cinthia’s point.
Various members of the Austen family have sold off memorabilia and made a few pounds here and there. Remember last year when the Rices attempted to sell the portrait that is allegedly of Jane Austen? They were expecting a big payday, but the bids didn’t even reach the reserve price. The problem with valuing memorabilia is that it’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it on a given day. That’s why I said auctions are iffy. A rare-bookseller can demand six figures for an Austen first edition, but they won’t get it until they find someone willing to pay that much, and an auctioneer will only get what bidders offer. And of course you never know, if a lot of people want something and are willing to bid on it, they will get more than they think.
Really the only ones making a lot of money off Jane, as far as I can tell, are filmmakers, auction houses/rare book sellers, and a few writers. (Full disclosure: I am happy with the sales of my book but have not gotten rich from it.
)
April 29th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I don’t know why that makes me sad.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
All these matter of the copyright and the manuscripts is reminding me a lot about Possession, on how the letters from the writers (the manuscripted letters themselves) belonged to Christabel’s heirs, but the text of hers to her heirs and those of Ash’s to his. That would be also the difference between the manuscripts of the minor works of JA and the text of them, right?
The manuscripts of Volume the First are at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, while Vol II and Vol III indeed belong to the British Library in London.
BTW I forgot to thank Robin for the detailed info on the presentation copies of Emma. So indeed, these in auction should be very valuable, and in my estimation they would be above those that were for the Countess of Morley and Stanier Clarke, because Miss Sharp was a close friend, not acquaintance.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:21 am
There is an essay by Jan Fergus called The Professional Woman Writer. It is a chapter in The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen (Cambridge University Press, 1997.)
Fergus estimates that Egerton, the publisher who had purchased the copyright of P&P, made a profit of at least £450 on the first two editions of P&P.. and he did it by charging a higher price than for S&S but using cheaper paper. (JA owned the copyright of S&S and bore the production costs of its publication.) She knew she’d been exploited by the publisher.
Of earnings after the author’s death, Fergus writes
Cassandra collected £748.11.0 form Murray on this edition [Persuasion & NA] and on the final sales of Emma and Mansfield Park. The sale of the five remaining copyrights to Richard Bentley in 1832 for £210 brought Austen’s overall literary earnings to at least £1,625, most of which was received after her death. During her life she received something over £631…
Cassandra had inherited £561.2.0 from her sister, net of debts, probate costs and burial expenses. But, there was death duty to be paid on that net amount.