Excerpt from The Diary and Letters of Frances Burney, Vol. 1 of 2: Madame D'arblay The present volumes, like those edited by Mrs. Barrett, commence with the publication of Evelina, in January, 1778. Fanny Burney was then in her twenty sixth year, but for ten years previously she had been In the habit of keeping a diary of her doings and Observations. This Early Diary, which is almost as interesting as that of her more mature years, has been only recently given to the public, admirably edited by Annie Raine Ellis. It must not be forgotten that the Diary, at the time at which it was written, was intended for no eyes but those of the diarist herself, and of a very few of the most intimate and chosen of her friends. At its commencement, indeed, in 1768, Fanny, then in her sixteenth year, wrote solely for her own amusement, and addressed her journal, in a whimsical pro logue, to Nobody. A little later she addressed it to her favourite sister Susanna, and continued doing so until the death of the latter in 1799. On its resumption after this event, the Diary was addressed to Dr. Burney and after his death in 1814, it was written for the most part without reference to any particular person. In the present edition we have not adhered to Mrs. Barrett's division Of the text, which does not appear to have been based on any particular plan, but have divided the work into sections, each embracing some important epoch in the writer's career, and to these brief introductory notes have been prefixed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.