What was it like to write books? and to read them?

 IN JANE AUSTEN's TIME

reading was not necessarily a solitary

occupation.  Books and newspapers were

read aloud, as part of the tradition of

shared entertainment.  It was too expensive

for everyone to read their own book on dark

winter evenings, because each would need

a candle.  Throughout her life, Jane Austen

read books aloud or listened to others.  Such a 

pastime was relatively cheap and always

available, and on a day (October 1805) when 

it rained heavily for many hours:

My wife read the novel of Camilla to us all

the whole day with little intermission so

that we were all much entertained with that very

affecting narration!

Letters also provided entertainment when

read aloud among family and friends.  Writing was

essential for long-distance communication;

those who had the time corresponded on a daily

basis with friends and family.  Jane Austen was

a prolific letter writer, but the greater part of

her letters were destroyed by her sister Cassandra

and other family members.  The cost of sending

a letter was relatively high, charged according

to the distance travelled and the number of enclosures.