Juliette Wells creates living portraits of Austen's earliest American readers and admirers and of their devotion to a novelist who would gradually become known and beloved around the world.

Winterthur Portfolio

Combining the narrative history of biography with the detail of the collector, Wells weaves a story that charms and interests even despite (and likely because of) its rather immediate, dare one say, nerdiness (and one says such a thing with both respect and appreciation) … It is an intriguing mode of both history and historiography, and one that the young Jane Austen would likely have found rather compelling.

College Literature

Austenites and bibliophiles will enjoy this survey from Wells (Everybody's Jane) of the early American response to Jane Austen … Details about early American publishing make up a great deal of the book's early sections and provide fascinating insight into the reading habits of the country … There's…much to delight in throughout this book.

Publishers Weekly

With useful notes, appendixes, and fascinating photos, this book is sure to appeal to Jane Austen Society of North America members, students, academics, and anyone interested in a case study of early American publishing and readers.

Library Journal

Wells has produced a ?ne analysis of the Philadelphia Emma from 1816, of which only six copies are known to have survived ... Wells has contributed a fascinating and fruitful piece of research into the history of the American reception of Austen's novels.

English: Journal of the English Association

In presenting facets of Wells' current scholarship, readers will welcome this 'collected' volume. Judging from the 'fandom' of the Quincys and library patrons, reader reception can provide fascinating insights. These entertaining personal histories will open more eyes to the possibilities behind unearthing copies of the 1816 Philadelphia Emma.

JASNA News