Jane Austen and ‘Modern Europe’ Revisited

Knox-Shaw examines Jane Austen's book, Modern Europe. The book has received support from an unexpected source. Among the books recently lent by Richard Knight to Chawton House is a catalogue of the Knights' library at the Park, dated 1818, that caries the entry 'Russels (sic) Modern Europe 6 vols. London 1810. Though John Bigland's Modern History and the Political Aspect of Europe is also listed in the catalogue (as letters on Modern History, London 1806') there can be little doubt, in view of James Austen's high praise of Russell, and Jane's own evident use of Modern Europe for her 'History of England' while in her teens, that it was work that she intended for the daily 'reading hour' with her niece.