The 'Sanditon' manuscript comprises three small booklets, the third of which features in the exhibition. It is Jane Austen’s last novel, which she was working on towards the end of her life. The final page of the manuscript is dated 18th March 1817 and is followed rather poignantly by many blank pages. Austen died in July 1817, leaving the novel incomplete.
The manuscript was given to King’s College in 1930 by Jane’s great-great niece Mary Isabella Lefroy, in memory of her sister Florence and Florence’s husband, the late Provost Augustus Austen Leigh (1840-1905), who was one of Jane's great-nephews.
The exhibition at Harewood House, co-curated by Harewood House Trust and the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies at the University of York, celebrates the 250th anniversaries of the birth of both Austen and the painter JMW Turner in 1775. Through Austen’s and Turner’s eyes, the show explores the world of the country house in their time and their impact on how we think about stately homes today.
This is the first time the 'Sanditon' manuscript has been exhibited in the north of England, and we are delighted that it is being made available to new audiences beyond Cambridge. King’s Library has its own plans to exhibit its extensive holdings of Jane Austen’s works this year, including the other two booklets of the 'Sanditon' manuscript, in September. Details will be announced in due course.
Further details of the exhibition can be found here.
