Frances Burney truly understood the art of the series title. Her first three novels—Evelina, Cecilia, and Camilla—offer readers a sense of her creativity before they’ve even turned a page. To this 21st-century curator, they signal an overlooked innovator of the 18th century. Learning that Frances was Austen’s favourite author, and that the phrase Pride and Prejudice originates from Cecilia, only adds to her legacy.

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“If to pride and prejudice you owe your miseries, so wonderfully is good and evil balanced, that to pride and prejudice you will also owe their termination.”

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For all our book advertisements, we created front-page layouts inspired by the original first edition title pages. Our version omits Frances’s name, echoing Austen’s own anonymous publications, but includes a subtle nod to the only time Austen’s name appeared in print during her lifetime—on Frances Burney’s subscriber list.

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For more on this literary connection, and Austen’s own fan fiction written in homage to Frances, explore the Jane Austen’s House blog linked below.