Sotheby’s is offering an exceedingly rare piece of Jane Austen history, a copy of Isaac D’Israeli’s Curiosities of Literature, a popular work from the late 18th and early 19th century containing anecdotes about historical persons and events, unusual books, and the habits of bookcollectors, thought to have inspired the young writer as she shaped her literary tastes.

Estimated to achieve $100,000 – $150,000, this copy was owned by Austen herself and includes numerous underlinings of key passages and themes that would later be central to Austen’s masterpieces. The book has been owned privately since the 1940s, making this auction the first time its full contents have come to public attention.

Although Jane Austen had no formal education, she enjoyed unrestricted access to her father’s library at the family home in Steventon, affording her exposure to a wide variety of literature from an early age. During this period, she is known to have been meticulous in her consumption of texts, reading and likely marking the copy of Curiosities of Literature, noting passages on English society as she conceptualized not only her juvenile works, but also early drafts of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Only three books are known to have been read by Jane Austen – two of which being her personal copies – and all of which bear these pencil markings.

Any surviving text of Austen’s is remarkable as there are thought to be only around 20 titles known to have been in her possession, this copy is an especially remarkable discovery in Austen scholarship as it sheds light on Austen’s process both as a reader and a writer. It will be accompanied by a full suite of first editions of all of Austen’s published works in the sale.