Collection: Jane Austen’s House

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Jane Austen’s House is located in the house where Jane Austen lived from 1809-1817. The House was purchased by Mr. T. Edward Carpenter in 1947 after seeing an advert in The Times, placed by the Jane Austen Society, appealing for funds to purchase Jane Austen’s former home. Mr. Carpenter set up the charitable Jane Austen Memorial Trust to administer the Museum; he also began the Museum’s collection, buying objects associated with Jane Austen to furnish the House and to put on display. He purchased objects at auctions, from shops, and directly from owners. These objects, acquired between 1948-1954, include many of the letters in the collection written by Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra, and many first editions of Jane Austen’s novels. Mr. Carpenter’s collecting also involved contacting and building relationships with present members of the Austen family who either donated or sold items to the Museum. Mr. Carpenter’s collecting continued until 1963 when he retired from playing an active role in the running of the Museum. Many of the objects he purchased were lent to the Museum; they were bequeathed to the Jane Austen Memorial Trust on his death in 1969.

  Mr. Carpenter’s collecting was assisted by the Jane Austen Society. The Society purchased items at sales and auctions and donated them to the Jane Austen Memorial Trust. An example of this is the bureau bookcase and pair of Hepplewhite chairs that belonged to Jane Austen’s father, purchased at auction in 1950. From time to time the Jane Austen Society were also given items; these items were then displayed in the Museum on long term loan. In 2020 the Trustees of the Jane Austen Society gifted all items belonging to the Society and held on long term loan at the House, to the Museum. These objects include Jane Austen’s writing table, topaz crosses that belonged to Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, and a patchwork coverlet made by Jane Austen, her mother and sister.

  In the period following Mr. Carpenter’s retirement in 1963, the day-to-day running of the Museum was carried out by volunteers; the Museum’s collecting during this period was sporadic and there is little documentation relating to it. Important objects acquired between the 1960s-1980s were dealt with through the Jane Austen Society (as noted above), or members of the Society acquiring on behalf of the Museum. A more professional method of acquiring objects was introduced when the Museum hired a professional curator, Jean Bowden, in 1985.

  In 2015-19 the Museum was awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund Collecting Cultures award, which saw a revised collecting policy. Collecting activity is now more strategic, ambitious and outward looking. The Museum is informed by a better knowledge of Austen material that exists in private ownership, that may come to light, either by auction, private sale, donation or loan, and is active at seeking these out where possible.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The Jane Austen’s House collection is made up of approximately 1000 objects including manuscripts, books, furniture, jewellery, paintings, ceramics, and textiles. Objects in the collection date from as early as the seventeen century to as late as the twenty-first century, but the majority of objects date to the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century.

  The collection comprises an exceptional number of highly personal objects connected to Jane Austen’s domestic life and her career as a writer. Many objects are interlinked, helping to paint a complete picture of Jane Austen as a woman and a writer. Jane Austen left relatively few worldly possessions, so the collection is by its nature a small and select one; but in terms of its weight and interest, both academic and commemoratory, it is exceptional.

  The collection is classified in three categories: Objects, Books and Letters. These categories relate to the Museum’s collection management system, conservation requirements and storage.

  The collection comprises four subject strands:

  1. Items directly associated with Jane Austen and her close circle
  2. Items associated with Jane Austen’s social circle and her brothers’ descendants
  3. Items associated with the Austen industry
  4. Period furnishings and set dressing

  Objects in the first category include manuscript letters and music books, a small writing table, jewellery and other objects owned by Jane Austen, a patchwork coverlet, furniture from Austen’s childhood home, first edition books with family provenance and a donkey carriage. They also include personal possessions of Jane Austen’s immediate family, including hand written items, furniture and paintings.

  Objects in the second category include jewellery, clothing accessories (e.g. mitts and baby bonnets), drawings, and furniture. These objects mainly date to the mid to late nineteenth century.

  Objects in the third category include further early editions of Jane Austen’s novels, late nineteenth century illustrations from Austen’s novels, costume designs and other paraphernalia from theatre adaptations of the novels, and some late twentieth/early twenty-first century items relating to the Austen industry (e.g. film memorabilia from adaptations of the novels).

  Objects in the fourth category include pieces of furniture and accessories (e.g. kitchen items) from the late eighteenth and nineteenth century (some are early twentieth century) and are used to furnish the House in order to present a middle-class Regency home to visitors. These objects were accessioned in the early days of the Museum’s collecting activity; today, items in this category are considered as handling or set dressing items; they may still be acquired but are not accessioned.

  The Museum holds a reference library of books related to Jane Austen including foreign translations and early and modern academic writing about Austen. This library does not form part of the Museum’s accessioned collection. These books are accessible to Museum staff and volunteers, general visitors, and researchers.

  The Museum also owns a handling and set dressing collection, which is used to aid interpretation and learning and does not form part of the Museum’s accessioned collection. Items in the handling collection do not fit within the collections policy as they have no association with Jane Austen and may date to a later period than the Museum’s collection represents. They are also purchased with the express purpose of being handled by visitors. This collection is utilised for learning and extended access activities. Handling collection items are kept completely separate from objects in the accessioned collection.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC