By August 1797 Austen finished 'First Impressions' and her father submitted it to a publisher, who declined it.
By August 1797, Jane Austen had completed the manuscript of First Impressions. Recognizing his daughter's talent, her father, the Reverend George Austen, wrote to the London publisher Thomas Cadell offering the manuscript for publication, even proposing to cover printing costs himself.
Cadell declined the offer without even requesting to see the manuscript—a rejection that, in hindsight, denied the literary world an earlier introduction to what would become Pride and Prejudice.
This episode is historically notable as an early example of the obstacles faced by aspiring authors, particularly women, in securing publication in the late eighteenth century. Publishing houses were cautious about unknown authors, and the anonymous, unsolicited nature of the submission—typical for the era—did little to help its chances.
The rejection did not deter Austen; she continued to write and eventually revised the manuscript extensively over the next decade and a half. The episode underscores both the precariousness of a literary career for women without independent means or connections, and Austen's quiet persistence, which would ultimately be rewarded when a much-revised version was published in 1813.