A new website which launches this week is collating and making publicly available for the first time a wealth of previously unseen materials from the hand-written fiction manuscripts of Jane Austen.

Jane Austen (1775- 1817) is one of English literature’s most celebrated names. Her novels, set among the English middle and upper classes, are notable for their wit, social observation and insights into the lives of early 19th century women, and they remain as popular today as ever.

Led by Professor Kathryn Sutherland from the English Faculty of the University of Oxford, and funded by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the digitisation project is supported by sophisticated technology developed in collaboration with the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at King’s College London. It means anyone with an interest in Jane Austen can now read the author’s own hand in rare manuscripts that have previously only ever been seen by a handful of privileged scholars. 

Professor Sutherland says: ‘The manuscripts were originally held in a single collection by Jane’s sister Cassandra. However at Cassandra’s death in 1845, they were dispersed - first among the Austen family and subsequently into museums and private collections across the world; so the collection hasn’t been viewed as a whole for over 150 years. But now, thanks to the latest digital technology and funding from the AHRC, the manuscripts have been reunited online for the benefit of scholars and the general public alike.’

The manuscripts were written throughout Jane Austen’s life, from early childhood to the year of her death. Professor Sutherland says:  ‘There are no manuscripts extant for Austen’s most famous novels - Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice – the manuscripts for these novels appear to have been routinely destroyed once they were set in print. But what we do have are Austen's juvenile writings; parts of the novel Persuasion; and some experimental novels. We also have the manuscript for the novel, Sandition, which she was writing when she died.’

The digitisations include ‘The History of England ... By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian’, a spoof history written by a teenage Jane Austen in a notebook that she entitled Volume the Second.  Jane’s sister Cassandra illustrated the ‘History’ with 13 medallion images. In an account of Mary Tudor,  Austen wrote ‘This woman had the good luck of being advanced to the throne of England, inspite of the superior pretensions, Merit, & Beauty of her Cousins Mary Queen of Scotland & Jane Grey.’

Such previously unseen materials reveal new understandings of Austen and her working methods as a writer. Re-engagement with the primary materials and the discovery of new readings of some key or previously unreadable words will enhance the study of Jane Austen’s working practices across her career.

Professor Sutherland worked in collaboration with the Bodleian Library, British Library, the Morgan Library and Museum in New York and many other libraries and private collectors around the world to produce digital images of all of Jane Austen’s fiction manuscripts. 

The project has set a world standard for the complex encoding of draft or working manuscripts. The highest quality images were taken of every page, many of them with the help of the camera and photographer who photographed some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Professor Sutherland continues: ’There are over 1,100 pages in total and very high quality images were taken of every page.’

Dr Chris Fletcher, Keeper of Western Manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries says: ‘The Bodleian has been delighted to be involved in this innovative project to preserve, make available and better understand the early manuscript work of one of English literature's most celebrated talents.’

Dr Declan Kiely, Curator, the Morgan Library & Museum, New York says: ‘This immensely rich resource breaks new ground in the online presentation of any author’s manuscript materials by providing painstakingly faithful transcriptions alongside digital facsimiles. It enormously enhances remote access and amplifies the potential for new research into Austen’s imagination at work.’

The manuscripts are also searchable genetically, or in time, which means that you can follow the order in which Jane Austen wrote and see when she went back to score out and change words.

Professor Sutherland concludes: ’Now, anyone interested in the life and work of Jane Austen can access and analyse the complete set of her original fiction manuscripts on the Jane Austen Manuscripts website. 

Ends

Notes to the editor

• For images, quotes or to arrange an interview with Professor Kathryn Sutherland please contact AHRC’s Communications Officer: Emi Spinner on 01793 416020 or 07854 005662.

• Image should be credited ‘By kind permission of the British Library and the Jane Austen’s Fiction Manuscripts Digital Edition’.  It can only be used in connection with any publicity for this partnership project between the British Library and the AHRC-funded Austen Fiction MSS. 

• Image Caption: The History of England ... By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian’, a spoof history written by a teenage Jane Austen. Jane’s sister Cassandra illustrated the ‘History’ with 13 medallion images.  In an account of Mary Tudor,  Austen wrote ‘This woman had the good luck of being advanced to the throne of England, inspite of the superior pretensions, Merit, & Beauty of her Cousins Mary Queen of Scotland & Jane Grey.’

• Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £112 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,300 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.