Elegant Extracts

Jane's copy of Elegant Extracts in Prose 

Jane's father assigned his children and students readings from Elegant Extracts in Prose, which had been assembled by his boyhood headmaster, Vicesimus Knox. The thick book contained essays organized into sections such as “Moral and Religious.” 

In their copy of Elegant Extracts, Jane and Cassandra admired the essays by Samuel Johnson, who wrote with force and elegance. They began calling him “dear Dr. Johnson.”