I'm using the Book-of-the-Month Club (1996) edition of P&P for this Group Read. In it I noticed that Jane's letter to Elizabeth from Netherfield begins "Dear Lizzie," as opposed to "Lizzy," which is the way Elizabeth's nickname is spelled otherwise. Does anyone know, is this just an aberation of the edition I'm using, or is it found in other publishers' editions?

I know that JA was not one of the great spellers of the world (and that spelling at her time was not standardized, so who knew?), but did she really spell it two different ways in P&P? If so, I find that quite curious indeed! I am of the opinion that peoples' names are very important, and that spelling and pronunciation of them is a part of that. (Paradoxically, I don't have trouble with people mispelling my first name [unless they are family!] which is commonly spelled MANY different ways -- go figure!)