SOURCE: Jones, Ann H. “Elizabeth Hamilton (1758-1816).” In Ideas and Innovations: Best Sellers of Jane Austen's Age, pp. 19-48. New York: AMS Press, 1986.

In the following essay, Jones examines Hamilton's major works, discussing her role in the development of the novel and documenting her contemporary critical reception.

One day in November 1813 Jane Austen wrote to tell her sister Cassandra that the second edition of her Sense and Sensibility was out:

Mary heard before she left home, that it was very much admired at Cheltenham, & that it was given to Miss Hamilton. It is pleasant to have such a respectable Writer named.¹

And it is not surprising that she was pleased to have Elizabeth Hamilton's attention drawn to her work, for according to Mrs. Elwood “it was considered a distinction to be acquainted with her,” her Monday “at homes” being attended “by all the principal literary characters of Edinburgh...