Mention “ the letter ” to aPersuasionfan and they ’ll know precisely what you ’re talking about . After virtually an entirenovelof will - they - or - won’t - they between the two independent characters , Captain Wentworth ’s heartfelt letter to Anne Elliot is n’t easily forgotten .

This crepuscule , Chronicle Books is publishing a deluxe edition of theJane Austenclassic that contains a handwritten , stop - accurate transcript of that letter — along with more than a dozen other important papers from the write up — contrive by Barbara Heller . They ’re all gather away in pockets throughout the volume , creating a reading experience not unlike leafing through your own personal scrapbook .

you may scan a navy list for Wentworth ’s name , just as Anne did during their years aside ; and you may peruse the program from the concert in Bath that Anne mostly spent talking to , thinking about , or staring at Wentworth . There ’s also a newspaper clipping from theBath Chronicle , a page from Sir Walter Elliot’sBaronetage , and more .

Go ahead and persuade yourself that you need this.

Austen was passably big intowriting lettersin genuine aliveness , so it ’s no surprise that this mode of communicating features intemperately in her works . It was while rereadingPride and Prejudicethat Heller originally gotinspiredto recreate its letters with historical accuracy — a three - twelvemonth cognitive process that involved study hundreds of actual nineteenth - hundred letter , canvas postmarks , and collaborating with calligrapher . Her edition ofPride and Prejudicewas published in 2020 ; she followed it up with a similarly special edition of Louisa May Alcott’sLittle Womenin 2021 .

Persuasion($40 ) remove bookshelves on Tuesday , October 4 , and it ’s currently usable for pre - order fromChronicle BooksandAmazon .

pride and prejudice deluxe edition with handwritten letters