A Memoir of Jane Austen - Reception and Legacy

Reception and Legacy

The book had an "immediate" and "incalculable" effect on the public's perception of Jane Austen. It generated interest in the works of an author which, for half a century, had been read almost entirely by the literary elite and Austen's popularity increased dramatically. The publication of the Memoir also spurred the reissue of Austen's novels. The first popular editions were released in 1883—a sixpenny series by Routledge. This was followed by fancy illustrated editions, collectors' sets, and scholarly editions.

The image of "dear aunt Jane" presented in the biography was not seriously challenged until 1940, when psychologist D. W. Harding argued that there was a "regulated hatred" in Austen’s works. With the exception of Harding's 1965 edition, there has been "no serious editorial engagement with the Memoir and little critical attention paid to it. However, as Sutherland writes, "James Austen-Leigh...assembled a major work of Austenian biography" which has been called the "prime source of all subsequent biographical writings".