Gentle Readers, Frequent contributor Christine Stewart recently took a trip to England. Here are some of her impressions. For fabulous images, click on her blog, Embarking on a Course of Study.
It’s a funny thing to visit an object used, worn, or created by people you admire, whether historical, literary, political, or religious figures. There’s an immense satisfaction in standing in its presence. I had been to the Morgan Library in NYC for the exhibit of Austen letters, but there was something about her desk. It was an everyday object that had been important to her writing life. She used it to write amazing novels that outlive and outsell those of her contemporaries.
And I had worked very hard to get there!
I arrived in London just before noon from Reykjavik, where I’d been attending the wedding of a friend, ready to officially begin my Jane Austen Pilgrimage. I had a couple of suitcases and decided to go to the flat of my friend’s new husband to drop them off before venturing out further.
British Library Lobby
So, after getting up at 4 a.m to catch the shuttle to the flybus to the airport, then a plane, three trains, and one cab later (the cab driver called me ‘Luv,’ awesome), I dropped off all my bags and went out again. I then got caught up in taking pictures of the very charming streets as I walked down to the tube station.
That, coupled with the train to King’s Cross/St. Pancras, the tube stop near the British Library, took up another hour, so I arrived after 4:00 p.m. and had to let go of my plan to also go to the British Museum as there just wasn’t enough time before they closed. Oh well, onward! The British Library was easy to find – it’s basically next door to St. Pancras (see the picture, is that an amazing building or what? It’s also a hotel).
Once inside the Library I had a difficult time navigating the floor plan. There are several levels to the front lobby, perhaps I should say landings, and then other floor levels themselves off of the lobby, which are not clear via the map. Perhaps the fact that there is a lower ground, upper ground, and ground floor before you even get to floors 1, 2, and 3 and they are not full levels beneath one another or all reached by one flight of stairs or set of elevators that is the problem!
Eventually I located the Sir John Ritblat Gallery where the Library’s ‘treasures’ are, including Jane’s desk. Unless you know exactly which room the desk is in and what it looks like, and how deceptive the word ‘desk’ is, you will have just as much trouble, so let me tell you exactly what to do.
To read the rest of the post and see the pictures:http://www.embarkingonacourseofstudy.com
Jane Austen's World 
Thanks for the link. I really enjoyed seeing London through Christine’s eyes.
Your blog is always fresh, with new things. I feel I’d like to make my own pilgrimage sometime—made more poignant because I was raised in some of the places where Jane Austen lived or visited.
Hampshire and Winchester were visited often because Mother had an old school friend there, but I never thought to visit Chawton. The Devon she visited in some summers were where I was raised, and yet I never knew she stayed in Dawlish until I had left the country. My last visit was in 1993 to sort out Mother’s house after she passed away, but my memory still holds details of the whole area like a map. I wonder where she stayed; many of the houses date from Regency and before.
I have a copy of the Jane Austen family record, but it has no detail of the visits. Jane herself made places like Lyme Regis easily identifiable, so I wonder if some snippet of description is hidden somewhere in one of the novels.
Christopher Hoare.
My blog http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com has some Austen reference in a writing exercise.
That was an interesting post. I subscribed to her blog.
Perfect blog with interesting content!
Nikolay
Great Christine.Love your fresh approach to writing. I can sense your excitement at being there. You sound as though you had a wonderful time. I”ve never been into the British Library.
Do you remember that Harry Potter scene when Ron whisks Harrry off to Hogwarts in an old Ford Anglia? They fly right in front of Kings Cross Station. I think platform 9 3/4 is in Kings Cross Station or is it St Pancras next door.. No it’s Kings Cross I’m sure.
All the best,Tony
GREAT!!!
J’aime beaucoup cet article sur le pélerinage de Christine!
J’aurais voulu faire le même! Peut-être un jour!
Son blog a de nombreuses photos sympas!
Bises,
Dentelline
The 11th Jane Austen Festival in Bath, Somerset, England will be held from the 16th to the 24th of September 2011. It includes coach trips to Montacute House & Lyme Regis, Steventon & Chawton, and Winchester Cathedral on the 21st & 22nd of September.
http://www.janeausten.co.uk/jane-austen-festival/festival-events/
[…] PS I, of course, learned about Ms. Stewart’s blog through Vic Sanborn’s Jane Austen’s World. […]
[…] this past summer. The author of Embarking on a Course of Study, you will enjoy her reminiscences.The day after visiting Jane’s writing desk and portrait in London, I went to Paris. Yes, for the day. It was there so I popped over to squeeze in what I could […]