A collection of manuscripts written by Jane Austen, which were saved in an unprecedented literary acquisition last month, has been donated to the Bodleian Libraries and Jane Austen’s House in Hampshire by Friends of the National Libraries, the literary charity dedicated to preserving the nation’s written and printed heritage.
The campaign to save the Honresfield Library, a private collection of manuscripts and printed books associated with some of the greatest writers in English literature was led by Friends of the National Libraries, in partnership with a consortium of research libraries and authors’ houses, including the Bodleian Libraries and Jane Austen’s House, amongst others. The campaign involved an intensive public appeal to generate donations to save the works from being dispersed through auction sale. It reached a satisfying conclusion this week, having raised more than £15m in donations to secure the collections, including £4m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The generosity of the principal donor, Sir Leonard Blavatnik, amounted to half of the collections purchase price (£7.5m). The acquisition will ensure public access to these treasured manuscripts and protect them from further sale for many decades to come. It will now be known as the Blavatnik Honresfield Library.
The Jane Austen collection includes two hugely significant personal letters. The autograph manuscripts of fewer than 160 letters by Jane Austen are known to survive, and these two letters will join 14 others already owned by Jane Austen’s House —Austen’s home for the last eight years of her life and the place where she lived and wrote her novels. The letters confirm the museum as one of the world’s most significant repositories of Austen material and the only place where her domestic art can be viewed in its original context.
Professor Kathryn Sutherland, a world expert on Jane Austen who is Emeritus Professor at Oxford University and Senior Research Fellow at St Anne's College, said: ‘I am proud to have been part of the campaign, under the visionary leadership of the Friends of the National Libraries, to save this extraordinary collection of priceless manuscripts and printed books for public enjoyment. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of what the FNL have achieved and the significance of this moment for our shared literary heritage. Held between Jane Austen’s House and the Bodleian Libraries, the Austen letters from the Blavatnik Honresfield Library will enrich two of the world’s major collections of Austen manuscripts and artefacts ensuring their accessibility to scholars and enthusiasts for generations to come.’
Richard Ovenden OBE, Bodley’s Librarian, said: ‘I am delighted to have been able to play a role in such an important literary acquisition - one that will secure literary treasures by some of the greatest writers from these islands for future generations. We offer huge thanks to Friends of the National Libraries for the donation. Jane Austen is a literary marvel, beloved by her devoted readers all over the world and we are honoured to have prized items of such a unique, personal nature, to add to our wonderful Austen holdings at the Bodleian Libraries. We look forward to building on existing links with Jane Austen’s House and to share them with scholars and the wider public, for many years to come.’
You can read the full story on the Bodleian's website.
Image credit: Jane Austen's House
