I was reading today that a manuscript by Jane Austen was sold to Oxford University for 1.6 million dollars. It's a hand written draft of a unfinished book named The Watsons, written in 1806. It was about the daughters of a clergyman, who are left poor after their father dies.
In
an article from NPR, professor Kathryn Sutherland from Oxford University talks about how Jane Austen's manuscripts are covered in cross- out, bad spelling, and grammatical errors. While some fans of Austen are outraged to hear that their hero's prose didn't flow perfectly from her pen, I find it comforting. I am an awful speller and suck at grammar. To know that such a famous author, who has written some of the most influential books, had such faults, makes her more real. After all, the books aren't about the spelling or grammar, they're about the story and the way she tells it.
In one article they described her spelling as "eccentric" instead of bad. That's like saying, she wasn't a bad speller, she just did it her own way. Next time someone comments on my bad spelling, I think Ill use that line - my spelling isn't bad, it's just eccentric.
If you want to check out some of her manuscripts, there are digital editions online:
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