Austin's Influential Works

While Jane Austin’s  literary career began in Lincoln, it burgeoned while Jane lived in Concord, and then Boston. Altogether, she published 24 novels, numerous short stories, and some poems. Her work often appeared in magazines like Harper’s and The Atlantic. A number were children’s stories or those for young adults. Toward the end of her life,  Jane concentrated mainly on novels and short stories about the Pilgrims and their descendants, and number of whom were her ancestors.

Perhaps the most influential of Jane Austin’s books was Standish of Standish,  first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1889.  This book went through numerous editions.  In it, Austin provided America with a highly- fictionalized account of the First Thanksgiving, which was used by schoolteachers for years and still constitutes a major portion of the popular conception of that event.  A more accurate description of this first gathering of local Native Americans and Pilgrims would have depicted a far less elaborate feast and celebration than that created by Austin’s fertile imagination. However, when looked at as aspirational for an American “community” that has never fully existed, its narrative power should not be underestimated.

Thus, we at the Lincoln Library hope you will enjoy the gateway this exhibit provides to one of the most popular American authors of the mid-to-late 19th century. Although most often remembered for her work published after she had left Lincoln, Jane Goodwin Austin got her start here.  An author whose stories were romanticized, highly imaginative, and wildly popular, Jane Austin remained, in her own words, “in a way a Lincoln woman.”

Sources

In addition to Wikipedia, one can consult:

  • John C. MacLean, A Rich Harvest: The History, Buildings and People of Lincoln, Massachusetts 421-22 (Lincoln Historical Society 1987).
  • Lori K. Miller, “So Long as the Work is Done: Recovering Jane Austin”. Dissertation, Georgia State University 2015.
  • Willard and Livermore, American Women 1,36 (8th edition, 1897).
  • Wilson and Fiske, “Austin, Jane Goodwin,” Appleton’s Cyclopedia of American Biography (1900).
  • Austin, Jane Goodwin, Encyclopedia.com.
  • Andrew F. Smith, “The First Thanksgiving,” 3 Gastronomica 79,84 (Fall, 2003).
  • Jane Goodwin Austin to Dr. George Grosvenor Tarbell, Nov. 14, 1884, #2003.062.1.50, Box 1, Lincoln Personages Collection, Lincoln Town Archives, Lincoln Public Library.
  • John C. MacLean, Lincoln Historical Commission, 83 Lincoln Road: Massachusetts Historical Commission Form B, June 2010.

And, of course, you can locate Jane Austin’s many books online or in hard-cover. Harper’s Magazine has a large number of Austin stories in their Archive.

Austin's Influential Works