Thomas Egerton

They moved to Hendon, and just a few weeks later, Jane paid them a visit.

Jane was staying in London at the time whilst discussing a second edition of Mansfield Park with her publisher, Thomas Egerton.

On Tuesday the 29th of November, Jane wrote Anna a short, chatty letter thanking her for their visit, commenting on family matters and a recent trip to the theater.

Anna kept the letter until her death in 1872, but at some point around that time, it was cut into five pieces.

She renamed it Sense and Sensibility, and Brother Henry made another iconic move to push Jane's novels into the world.

Henry connected with a new publisher, Thomas Egerton, and Sense and Sensibility was officially accepted on commission.

And then, on October 30, 1811, copies finally appeared in London bookshops.

So, after over 20 years of writing quietly at home, 35-year-old Jane Austen was officially a published novelist.

And at this point in history, her name was still absent from her books, but her literary identity was becoming an open secret amongst her family and an expanding circle of acquaintances, while the reading public were still growing curious of the mysterious author of Sense and Sensibility.

The year after Pride and Prejudice hit bookshelves, Mansfield Park followed in 1814.

By this point, Jane, who was still largely anonymous, had moved from publisher Thomas Egerton to the prestigious publisher John Murray.

I mean...