2025 will see a myriad of new publications about Jane Austen – some will be very rubbishy, and others the result of serious scholarship. I had high hopes for Jane Austen in 41 Objects by Kathryn Sutherland (as I loved her work Jane Austen’s Textual Lives) but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. From its insightful introduction about the importance of ‘things’ in Jane Austen’s life and world, to each concise and beautifully written entry about an object, this book is a delight. It is also gorgeously produced, wth high-quality illustrations and an attractive cover. The book also includes a useful chronology of Jane Austen.
Jane Austen lived in this world only 41 years, so the author has chosen one object (or sometimes place) for each of those years, something that shows us who Jane Austen was, or tells us more of her world or her fiction. There are portraits, letters, the marriage register in George Austen’s church in which a young Jane gleefully married herself off to different spouses, the famous writing table, a muslin shawl, a lock of her hair, the patchwork quilt she made with her mother and sisters, the famed white shirt worn by Colin Firth, banknotes, plates, a tea-caddy, steps on the Cobb, and the last words she wrote on the manuscript of Sanditon. I know plenty about Jane Austen, but still managed to learn new things from this book.
Had I been lucky enough to come up with the idea for this book, what would I have chosen as the 41 objects to represent her? Most of Kathryn Sutherland’s choices would have been mine. I was a bit surprised to see the topaz crosses not get their own entry (though they are mentioned), and I’d have probably added the turquoise ring she owned, and perhaps the cup-and-ball with which she entertained nieces and nephews. I’d never heard of the hand-written Danish translation of Pride and Prejudice and loved that entry, and I have a huge affection for the dining-room grate which resulted in Chawton Cottage being saved for the nation, but I don’t know what I’d have taken out to make room for any new entries. This fabulous new book should have a place on the bookshelves of every Janeite!
What about the importance of ‘things’ in your life? Do you think they’d tell a story like these Jane Austen objects? Let me know in a comment.
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