The manuscript consists of three quires. The first and second, which are sewn together, are of 16 and 24 leaves respectively, measuring 7½ in. × 4¹¹⁄₁₆ in. The watermark, which occurs several times in both quires, is Kent 1812.
The first quire contains Chapters 1–3. The third chapter appears to end, on f. 16v, with an incomplete sentence; but the concluding words, [that Loveliness was complete], were written at the foot of f. 1r. The second quire contains Chapters 4–8 and part of Chapter 9.
The third quire (marked 2 on the first page) is of 40 leaves, 6⅜ in. × 4 in. It bears a large ornamental watermark, and also the name Joseph Coles and the date 1815. Folios 21–40, i. e. the latter half of the quire, are blank; a fact which suggests that no part of the manuscript is lost. This quire contains the remainder of Chapter 9 (beginning with the words [with a thousand regrets]—p. 117 of this edition) and Chapters 10–12.
The dates added by Miss Austen are:
(1) at the top of the first page of the first quire, Jan: 27.–1817
(2) at the top of the first page of the third quire, March 1st
(3) at the end of the last sentence (the last page of the third quire), March 18.
Part of the second quire was originally written in pencil, and afterwards inked over. The passage so written is that printed on pp. 99–101 of this edition (from [cried Lady D—] to [so seriously that Charlotte]). The author of the Memoir writes, on this point:
The chief part of this manuscript is written in her usual firm and neat hand, but some of the latter pages seem to have been first traced in pencil, probably when she was too weak to sit long at her desk, and written over in ink afterwards.
But the manuscript as such does not bear out this implication of a progressive decline. The place at which pencil was used is in fact not much later than the middle; and the latter part of the manuscript shows no change in legibility or in accuracy.