Charades: A Jane Austen Rarity Revived

Withnail Books of Penrith, renowned for their chapbooks of literary rarities, have just announced a facsimile edition of Charades, Written a hundred years ago by Jane Austen and Her Family, originally published in 1895. 

This charming collection of riddles devised by the family for their own amusement and that of guests includes an introduction, family tree, illustrations, and the solutions to the charades: all except one, where the solution was unaccountably missing from the Austen family papers, allowing readers to make their own guess. 

The A5 booklet, printed on silk paper stock, comes with a hand-numbered print of the famous silhouette of 'L'amiable Jane' by an unknown artist, reproduced in the same size as the original in the National Portrait Gallery. This new edition is limited to 250 numbered copies, and Withnail's issues tend to go out of print pretty quickly.