Jane Austen was POISONED (...maybe)
Today, July 18th, is the anniversary of famed British author Jane Austen's death at the age of 41. If you search "jane austen death" then you'll get a bunch of news stories about how she was in fact possibly POISONED. By arsenic. If you're saying "who says that," which is a very fair response, it is the British Library.
This guess is due to a total of 2 factors:
1) They have found eyeglasses, supposedly belonging to Austen. Arsenic causes vision deterioration, sometimes in the form of cataracts. Or, as this doctor they found said:
"Arsenic poisoning is now known to cause cataracts. Despite its toxicity, arsenic was commonly found in medicines in 19th-century England, as well as in some water supplies."
NOT CONVINCED YET?
2) The British Library has a blog post that says a crime writer found Austen writing about her facial pigment changing towards the end of her life. This seems to be another effect of arsenic.
The best response to this by far is this quoted bit from Town and Country:
Austen expert Janine Barchas referred to this new speculation as a "quantum leap," and the library's announcement as "a smidgen reckless."
All we can really know is she wrote great books and that Mansfield Park's Henry Crawford was given an extremely raw deal. If you have a better theory about what killed Austen, preferably something creative that has to do with a fancifully decorated teapot, reply to this newsletter. If I get any good ones, I'll send them in a follow-up.