Jane Austen: Sold P&P for 110 pounds.?

Question

In today's money how much did she sell it for. I understand at the time a doctor made about 400 pounds a year, and a baker in a household made about 8 pounds a year. She died with about 700 pounds. Was this a good amount equalled to?

Answer 1

The pound was worth about $25 in her day and inflation since the 1910's has multiplied things by at least 17, so, as a minimum, it would seem like $46,750.

Answer 2

400 pounds a year was a good middle-class income (doctors didn't get rich back then). figuring that today's average American earns about $35,000/ year, the doctor's salary would be about 50,000. That means Austen got around 12,000 for her book. Not much.

This was very typical. Authors rarely made much money on book sales before the twentieth century (Mark Twain was an exception). Generally, instead of getting royalties for each book sold, as they do today, authors were forced to sell their manuscripts outright to a publisher, who would then make the lion's share of the money.

Answer 3

This was very good,even more so being a woman.