Jane Austen’s beloved naval brother, Charles Austen (1779–1852), had a significant impact on her literary career.We find probable traces of him in the male characters appearing in Mansfield Park (1814) and Persuasion (1818), and he is said to have offered naval vocabulary to help his sister revise the second edition of Mansfield Park (1816). In addition to his impact during Jane’s lifetime (1775–1817), Charles played a role in sustaining her posthumous celebrity, modest as it was at first. Two previously unpublished brief letters by him—and references to him in other correspondence—offer an opportunity to speculate about his role in supporting his late sister’s literary reputation.

This edition has a tipped-in letter and an advertisement for the book. The letter is a patronage request from the editor, Henry Brown of Newington Butts, "31 Albert Street Newington Butts London Jan 4th 1870 Sir I am the author of the new work upon the Sonnets of Shakespeare, and am seeking a little aid from a few of my Subscribers, to enable me to cover the expenses of my work. being a poor working man now unfortunately out of work, any slight assistance would be most thankfully received, Yours Obediently Henry Brown. C. Walton Esqr".