Last month I wrote about my trip to the Morgan Library in New York to view A Woman’s Wit:Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy, and of my impressions of the letters.
Exhibition room for Jane Austen's artifacts at the Morgan Library
But I didn’t mention the many other interesting artifacts: the Gillray prints of a lady dressing and Rowlandson’s caricature of The Comforts of Bath,
Progress of the Toilet, The Stays, James Gillray
the books that Jane owned,
Jane Austen's personal books, including The Spectator and Poems by William Cowper
a lovely steel engraved oval image of her,
Steel engraved image of Jane Austen and Lady Susan
an original copy of the Memoir of Jane Austen, fair copies of the first 7 letters of Lady Susan,
Viewing the Lady Susan letters on the far wall of the exhibit room
a rough 12-page fragment of The Watsons, a watercolor by Paul Sandby,
Paul Sandby's View in a Park
and a well-known image from An Analysis of Country Dances by Wilson, 1811.
Five positions from An Analysis of Country Dancing by Wilson, 1811
An account of Jane’s personal purchases of a little over 42 pounds for the year (1807), Isabel Bishop’s images for Pride and Prejudice,
Isabel Bishop's image of Jane and Bingley standing together
and the correspondence between Jane and Cassandra, her letter to Francis Talbot, the Countess of Morley and a letter from the Prince Regent’s librarian, James Clarke add to our knowledge of her world.
James Clarke's letter to Jane Austen, on the left
There were artifacts from Byron and Fanny Burney and Sir Walter Scott, and more images than I can recall so many weeks later.
The Panorama of London
William Blake and Georges Mail drew two portraits that forcibly reminded me of my internal images of Jane and Elizabeth Bennet
Georges Maile (fl. 1818–1841) Marchioness of Huntley.
Which brings me to my only (and major) disappointment with this exhibit: no catalogue. Thankfully, I can reconstruct my memory of the visit from my notes, images I have gleaned online or taken myself, and from a list provided by the Morgan Library (see the link below.) For anyone who lives within striking distance of the Morgan Library, you have until March 14th to travel to New York. The exhibition room might be small, but it is filled with treasures and is well worth the effort.
More links:
View PBS’s video of the Jane Austen exhibit at the Morgan Library on YouTube.
- Jane Austen at the Morgan Library, my first post about the exhibit
- A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen and her Letters, my second post about the exhibit
- Art Knowledge news
- Listen to a 15-minute podcast interview with Declan Kiely, the show’s organizer, and Sarah Drummond, the assistant curator of the Morgan Library at this link.
- Click here to view a ten-page PDF document of all the artifacts shown in the exhibit.
- The Morgan Library link to the exhibition
Jane Austen's World 
What a wonderful exhibit it must be! Thank you for showing it to those of us who cannot visit it. And thank you for the links to further information.
I’m going to see the exhibition next weekend. I can’t wait!
I wish I could see this! Thanks for posting all the great pictures.
Thanks for sharing this, Vic! Wonderful seeing so many of these photos. :)
Thanks for posting this! I think yours is the first I’ve read that mentions the 12-page fragment of The Watsons on display. All the while, I thought it was just the manuscript of Lady Susan included in the exhibit. Oh, all the more I’m envious! =)
I absolutely lurve seeing all these pictures! Sigh….THANK YOU VIC!!!
Hi There Vic,
Aren’t you lucky having that exhibition in New York. Has it been to London yet or is it coming?
I would like to see it.
I live in Wimbledon, South London and live in the heart of Jane Country. I can use Jane’s letters like a guide book.I’m within walking distance or a short drive of many of the places she mentions in her letters and novels.
I have been running a blog for the past few weeks which uses her letters and references from the novels to give a commentary on the world she lived in and what those places are like now.
Please feel free to have a look.
I’ve managed to connect Kingston upon Thames, the town Mr Knightley and Mr Robert Martin visit in their capacity as farmers and landowners, with a bit on slavery. It’s more a comment on the fact that there were slaves in Janes world but there is total lack of comment by Jane. Mansfield Park,does give a mention I suppose.
I love your BLOG by the way.
All the best,
Tony
http://general-southerner.blogspot.com/
Thank you, Tony! I just caught your comment, which for some reason went to my spam box.
Love your blog and added it to my British Links list. I look forward to reading your posts.
I traveled to NYC this past weekend for the Westminster Dog Show, but I made sure to visit the Morgan Library when I heard about this wonderful exhibit! I spent 2 hours there and could have easily spent more — to see some of Jane’s most famous quotes written in her own hand is something not to be missed. I loved all the contextual elements that you mentioned here, and to see prints that I’ve seen a hundred times online in person was also special. If you get the chance, do go!
My saddest regret is not being able to go back again. I agree, two hours is not enough. I managed to stay there for the morning, but I could have stayed all day. Thank you for urging others to visit. This exhibit is truly unique.
I saw the exhibit last weeks. The papers are part of the Morgan’s collection and usually archives don’t lend papers for exhibitions in other places, but in this case, I hope they do. It was awe inspiring to see Jane’s actual letters in her own handwriting and see the images that put her life in context. Though I’ve seen many of the images and transcripts of the letters online, it’s much better to see them in person. The exhibit was well done, though they need a larger space because it was too crowded for me.
[…] Images of A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy […]