An inscribed first edition copy of Emma by Jane Austen was bought for £375 000, making it the most expensive of the author’s works ever sold.

Peter Harrington, the London rare book dealers, said the first edition copy was unique as its the only Austen novel with a written inscription, reading: ‘from the author’.

The inscription was written by the publisher rather than Austen herself. Aligning with standard practice of the time and was for her friend Ann Sharpe, the governess to her brother Edward’s children.

The book was bought by an American buyer but will remain in England. It will be displayed at Chawton House a research institution, and the former home of her brother, Edward.