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PREFACE
The fragment of a novel, written by Jane Austen in the first three months of the year in which she died, has no name; but it has long been known to members of her family as Sanditon.
The manuscript passed into the possession of Jane Austen's niece Anna (Mrs. Ben Lefroy); and it was known to Mrs. Lefroy's half-brother, James Edward Austen-Leigh, the author of the Memoir of Jane Austen first published in 1870. In the second edition (1871) Mr. Austen-Leigh added the cancelled chapter of Persuasion, the fragment called The Watsons, and Lady Susan, and in his concluding chapter gave an account of 'The Last Work'.
Such an unfinished fragment cannot be presented to the public; but I am persuaded that some of Jane Austen's admirers will be glad to learn something about the latest creations which were forming themselves in her mind; and therefore, as some of the principal charac-
