This volume of verse by Jane Austen and her family contains all the known poems by Jane herself and a selection of work by her sister Cassandra, four of her brothers, uncle James, her nieces Anna and Fanny and her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh (author of the Memoir). It is clear that her mother influenced her verse writing: Mrs Austen was a skilful, witty practitioner, and all her extant poems are included. Three generations' work can be found within the covers of this volume.

Verse-making was a social activity, a game of greeting, or charades, or bouts-rimés. Generally the poems in this volume are arranged by author, but David Selwyn has included three sets of verse arranged in their playful sequence. He provides an introduction and explanatory notes and takes texts from autograph manuscripts or from the earliest copy. His transcriptions are precise in terms of spelling, punctuation and layout. Textual notes draw attention to significant variants.