The World of Jane Austen and Northanger Abbey

1775	The American Revolution begins in April. Jane Austen is born on December 16 in the Parsonage House in Steventon, Hampshire, England, the seventh of eight children (two girls and six boys) .
1778	Frances (Fanny) Burney publishes Evelina, a seminal work in the development of the novel of manners.
1781	German philosopher Immanuel Kant publishes the Cri tique of Pure Reason.
1782	The American Revolution ends. Fanny Burney’s novel Cecilia is published.
1783	Cassandra and Jane Austen begin their formal educa tion in Southampton, followed by study in Reading.
1788	King George III of England suffers his first attack of mental illness, leaving the country in a state of uncer tainty and anxiety. George Gordon, Lord Byron, is born.
1789	George III recuperates. The French Revolution begins. William Blake’s Songs of Innocence is published.
1791	American political writer Thomas Paine publishes the first part of The Rights of Man.
1792	Percy Bysshe Shelley is born. Mary Wollstonecraft pub lishes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
1793	Europe is shocked by the execution of King Louis XVI of France and, some months later, his wife, Marie Antoinette; the Reign of Terror begins. England de clares war on France. Two of Austen’s brothers, Francis (1774-1865) and Charles (1779-1852), serve in the
	Royal Navy, but life in the countryside at Steventon re mains relatively tranquil.
1795	Austen begins her first novel, “Elinor and Marianne,” written as letters (this early version is now lost); she will later revise the material as Sense and Sensibility. John Keats is born.
1796- 1797	Austen drafts a second novel, “First Impressions,” which was also never published; it will later be rewritten as Pride and Prejudice.
1798	Poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Cole ridge publish Lyrical Ballads.
1801	Jane’s father, the Reverend George Austen, retires. He and his wife and two daughters leave the quiet country life of Steventon and move to the bustling, fashionable town of Bath.
1803	Austen’s novel “Susan” is accepted for publication but does not see the light of day. The manuscript is eventu ally returned by the publisher. It will be revised and re leased posthumously as Northanger Abbey. The United States buys Louisiana from France. Ralph Waldo Emer son is born.
1804	Napoleon crowns himself emperor of France. Spain de clares war on Britain.
1805	Jane’s father dies. Jane and her mother and sister sub sequently move to Southampton. Sir Walter Scott pub lishes The Lay of the Last Minstrel.
1809	After several years of moving about and short-term stays in various towns, the Austen women settle in Chawton Cottage in Hampshire; in the parlor of this house Austen writes her most famous works. Charles Darwin and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, are born.
1811	Austen begins Mansfield Park in February. In November Sense and Sensibility is published with the notation “By a Lady”; all of Austen’s subsequent novels are also brought out anonymously. George III is declared in sane, and the Prince of Wales (the future King George IV) becomes regent.
1812	Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm and the first parts of
	Lord Byron’s Childe Harold are published. The United States declares war on Great Britain.
1813	Pride and Prejudice is published. Napoleon is exiled to Elba, and the Bourbons are restored to power.
1814	Mansfield Park is published.
1815	Napoleon is finally defeated at Waterloo.
1816	Emma is published. Charlotte Brontë is born.
1817	Austen begins the satiric novel Sanditon but puts it aside because of declining health. She dies on July 18 in Win chester and is buried in Winchester Cathedral.
1818	Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are published under Austen’s brother Henry’s supervision.