A rare-book dealer traces the books that Austen admired. Many were by women writers who were the literary stars of their day.

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf’ presents women whose writing Austen admired — and how modern author Rebecca Romney found them.

There are few writers who have as devoted a following as celebrated novelist Jane Austen. But is she really the “first” great English female author?

An American rare-book dealer, Rebecca Romney, has managed it, by searching where Austen’s secrets lie hidden in plain sight: ...

"Jane Austen's Bookshelf" spotlights eight women writers, largely lost to history, who influenced the English novelist. Rare book dealer Rebecca Romney dedicates a book to the women Jane Austen ...

The 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth this year brings an ... American rare books dealer Rebecca Romney offers a lively, personal account of collecting works by, and about, eight of ...

Shortly after it begins, Rebecca Romney’s first solo work of nonfiction ... comes upon a 1778 novel by a woman who turns out ...

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As a bookseller, Rebecca Romney usually makes a profit from satisfying other people’s curiosity. In “Jane Austen’s Bookshelf,” however, she takes us along on a self-defined quest that grew ...