Jane Austen in 41 Objects
Published on 13. March 2025
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-85124-626-7 (ISBN)
Description
In this riveting, gorgeously illustrated book, Sutherland... has identified 42 objects - one for each year of Austen's life . . . the great advantage of Sutherland's pick and mix approach is that it allows us the buried stories, side angles and overlooked corners that get squeezed out in more conventional treatments of Austen's life.
- Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times, March 2025
More than 200 years after Jane Austen's death at the age of just forty-one, we are still looking for clues about this extraordinary writer's life. What might we learn if we take a glimpse inside the biographies of objects that crossed her path in life and afterwards - things that she cherished or cast aside, or that furnished the world in which she moved, or that have themselves been inspired by her legacy?
Among objects described in this book are a teenage notebook, a muslin shawl, a wallpaper fragment, a tea caddy, the theatrical poster for a play she attended and the dining-room grate at Chawton Cottage where she lived. Poignantly, the last manuscript page of her unfinished novel and a lock of hair kept by her devoted sister, Cassandra, are also featured. Objects contributing to Jane Austen's rich cultural legacy include a dinner plate decorated by Bloomsbury artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Grayson Perry's commemorative pot from 2009 and Mr Darcy's wet shirt, worn by Colin Firth in the 1995 BBC adaptation.
This is a different kind of biography, in which objects with their own histories offer shifting entry points into Jane Austen's life. Each object - illustrated in colour - invites us to meet Jane Austen at a particular moment when her life intersects with theirs, speaking eloquently of past lives and shedding new light on one of our best-loved authors.
- Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times, March 2025
More than 200 years after Jane Austen's death at the age of just forty-one, we are still looking for clues about this extraordinary writer's life. What might we learn if we take a glimpse inside the biographies of objects that crossed her path in life and afterwards - things that she cherished or cast aside, or that furnished the world in which she moved, or that have themselves been inspired by her legacy?
Among objects described in this book are a teenage notebook, a muslin shawl, a wallpaper fragment, a tea caddy, the theatrical poster for a play she attended and the dining-room grate at Chawton Cottage where she lived. Poignantly, the last manuscript page of her unfinished novel and a lock of hair kept by her devoted sister, Cassandra, are also featured. Objects contributing to Jane Austen's rich cultural legacy include a dinner plate decorated by Bloomsbury artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Grayson Perry's commemorative pot from 2009 and Mr Darcy's wet shirt, worn by Colin Firth in the 1995 BBC adaptation.
This is a different kind of biography, in which objects with their own histories offer shifting entry points into Jane Austen's life. Each object - illustrated in colour - invites us to meet Jane Austen at a particular moment when her life intersects with theirs, speaking eloquently of past lives and shedding new light on one of our best-loved authors.
Reviews / Votes
A stunning, sophisticated and thought-provoking journey through Austen's life, written by a world expert. This book is small but so, so beautiful, and utterly perfectly formed. -- Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces and author Objects are witnesses to our lives. It's wonderful to see the dancing slippers belonging to one of Jane Austen's nieces, a scrap of wallpaper, a recipe book from Chawton. Taken all together they form a rich and lively picture of a life cut off too soon. Yes, we have the legacy of her novels, but it's fascinating to experience more of the wider context of her life. Is there room in the world for another book about Jane Austen? Definitely - this one! -- Kate Atkinson MBE In this riveting, gorgeously illustrated book, Sutherland... has identified 42 objects - one for each year of Austen's life . . . the great advantage of Sutherland's pick and mix approach is that it allows us the buried stories, side angles and overlooked corners that get squeezed out in more conventional treatments of Austen's life. -- Kathryn Hughes * Wet shirts and stolen lace * There is not a dull page. I can imagine book club members' impassioned responses, with speculationsinspired by objects so close to the life and the legends. What I cannot imagine is a better gift for a fan of Jane Austen, or for yourself. -- Judith Crabb * Biography * To really understand the life of one of England's greatest novelists is to look through the personal possessions
she left behind. In celebration of Jane Austen's 250th anniversary, author Kathryn Sutherland looks at the 41 objects that depict her short life in a new kind of biography. In this book Kathryn Sutherland shows we can gain new insight into Austen by
examining the everyday artefacts that fed into her work. We are lucky that so many
survive, and in this lavishly illustrated tribute can see a diverse array of the objects and
ephemera that surrounded her. -- Liz Hodgkinson * Mad About Miss Austen * As lovely to look at as it is to read, Kathryn Sutherland's catalogue of 'a life in objects' is set to be one of the stand-out publications of 2025, Jane Austen's 250th anniversary year. -- Joceline Bury * Book Review * 'Jane Austen in 41 Objects' is likely to be among the most attractive of many publications brought out to mark the 250th anniversary year of Jane Austen's birth. No mere keepsake (though well worth keeping), its chunky format and high production values are at the service of a thoughtful, original and deeply satisfying text. -- Maggie Lane * Book Reviews *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
70 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 166 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
690 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85124-626-7 (9781851246267)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Kathryn Sutherland is Senior Research Fellow, St Anne's College, Oxford.
Content
Contents
Acknowledgements
A chronology of Jane Austen
Introduction: A life in objects
Jane Austen: A life in objects
1 Portrait of Jane Austen, c. 1810
2 Mrs Austen to Mrs Walter, 20 August 1775
3 The Revd George Austen's bookcase
4 'Volume the First'
5 Marianne Knight's dancing slippers
6 Marriage register, St Nicholas Church, Steventon
7 Betsy Hancock/Eliza de Feuillide
8 'Juvenile Songs & Lessons': Jane Austen's music book
9 A muslin shawl
10 The trial of Mrs Leigh Perrot
11 Silhouette of Cassandra Elizabeth Austen
12 A flower spray
13 Frances Burney, Camilla, 1796
14 A letter, 26-27 May 1801
15 Portrait of Jane Austen, 1804
16 Wallpaper fragment
17 Martha Lloyd's Household Book
18 Austen family quilt
19 Jane Austen's writing table
20 Four Wedgwood serving dishes
21 Theatre bill for The Clandestine Marriage, Covent Garden, 1813 104
22 Front door, 50 Albemarle Street, London
23 Emma, the Windsor Castle copy
24 A life in banknotes
25 Jane Austen's pelisse
26 The Octagon Room, Bath
27 The donkey carriage
28 A lock of hair
29 Dining-room grate
30 A sermon scrap
31 Caroline Austen, 'My Aunt Jane Austen', 1867
32 The Cobb, Lyme Regis, Dorset
33 Chris Hammond, illustration for Sense and Sensibility, 1899
34 Memorial window, Winchester Cathedral
35 Danish translation of Pride and Prejudice, 1904
36 Jane Austen plate, Charleston, 1932-34
37 Rex Whistler's costume designs for Pride and Prejudice, 1936
38 Mr Darcy's shirt
39 A tea caddy
40 Grayson Perry, 'Jane Austen in e17', 2009
41 Last words
Notes
Further reading
Image credits
Index
Acknowledgements
A chronology of Jane Austen
Introduction: A life in objects
Jane Austen: A life in objects
1 Portrait of Jane Austen, c. 1810
2 Mrs Austen to Mrs Walter, 20 August 1775
3 The Revd George Austen's bookcase
4 'Volume the First'
5 Marianne Knight's dancing slippers
6 Marriage register, St Nicholas Church, Steventon
7 Betsy Hancock/Eliza de Feuillide
8 'Juvenile Songs & Lessons': Jane Austen's music book
9 A muslin shawl
10 The trial of Mrs Leigh Perrot
11 Silhouette of Cassandra Elizabeth Austen
12 A flower spray
13 Frances Burney, Camilla, 1796
14 A letter, 26-27 May 1801
15 Portrait of Jane Austen, 1804
16 Wallpaper fragment
17 Martha Lloyd's Household Book
18 Austen family quilt
19 Jane Austen's writing table
20 Four Wedgwood serving dishes
21 Theatre bill for The Clandestine Marriage, Covent Garden, 1813 104
22 Front door, 50 Albemarle Street, London
23 Emma, the Windsor Castle copy
24 A life in banknotes
25 Jane Austen's pelisse
26 The Octagon Room, Bath
27 The donkey carriage
28 A lock of hair
29 Dining-room grate
30 A sermon scrap
31 Caroline Austen, 'My Aunt Jane Austen', 1867
32 The Cobb, Lyme Regis, Dorset
33 Chris Hammond, illustration for Sense and Sensibility, 1899
34 Memorial window, Winchester Cathedral
35 Danish translation of Pride and Prejudice, 1904
36 Jane Austen plate, Charleston, 1932-34
37 Rex Whistler's costume designs for Pride and Prejudice, 1936
38 Mr Darcy's shirt
39 A tea caddy
40 Grayson Perry, 'Jane Austen in e17', 2009
41 Last words
Notes
Further reading
Image credits
Index