Fanny Burney was best known in her own time as the author of Evelina and other novels. Her modern reputation, however, rests primarily on her extensive journals and letters, first published posthumously by her niece and literary executive, Mrs Charlotte Barrett.

In this initial volume of a new edition, Fanny's earliest journals are published for the first time in their original state, freed from the prudent afterthoughts of Fanny's old age. Much new material emerges from a deciphering of several thousand lines heavily scored over by Fanny. We here encounter the keenly observed world of a precocious young girl, expanding outward from the comfort and security of a London middle-class home to the glittering excitement of the capital, with its theatres, operas, pleasure grounds, and park promenades. Principal stars in these pages are Fanny's father, the music historian Dr Charles Burney; her sister Hetty and stepsister Maria Allen, whose love affairs read like a romantic novel; and Dr Burney's old friends Samuel Crisp - virtually a second father to Fanny - and David Garrick, the famous actor. Only a teenager, Fanny already sketches these and a host of other memorable characters with the sure hand of a seasoned artist. The result is a lively and fascinating portrait of Georgian England.