Chawton House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chawton House is a grade ll* listed Elizabethan manor house in the village of Chawton in Hampshire. It was formerly the home of Jane Austen's brother, Edward Austen Knight, and is now a library and study centre.
In 1992 a 125-year lease on the house was purchased for £1.25 million by a foundation established by Sandra Lerner, co-founder of Cisco Systems.[1][2]
The house has been extensively restored and is now the The Centre for the Study of Early English Women's Writing, 1600-1830,[3] which runs study programmes in association with the University of Southampton.
It incorporates Chawton House Library, opened in 2003, a collection of over 9.000 books together with related original manuscripts, formerly located in Redmond, Washington, U.S.
Chawton House is the venue of the Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom.[4]
In 2003 the Jane Austen Society of North America held its 25th Anniversary AGM in the grounds of Chawton House.[5]
Contents |
[edit] Jane Austen's House
Jane Austen's House Museum is a large 17th-century house in the centre of the village of Chawton, preserved in her memory, where she spent the last eight years of her life. It is a museum, owned by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust since 1947.[6]
The two houses, Chawton House and Jane Austen's House, are entirely separately run charities. However, they work in partnership to provide complementary experiences for the visitor.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ A WRITER AT LARGE: Sandy Lerner's Persuasion | Independent on Sunday, The | Find Articles at BNET.com
- ^ Daily Telegraph 2003: "Money's my little defining thing: Sandy Lerner says wealth is only interesting for what it can do. Her fortune has helped establish a women's literary centre, she tells Elizabeth Grice."
- ^ Chawton House Library: Home to early English women's writing
- ^ Jane Austen Society UK : Aims and Activities
- ^ The Jane Austen Society of North America
- ^ Jane Austen's House Museum
[edit] Sources
- Wheeler, Michael. "Chawton House Library: Transforming the Literary Landscape." Early Modern Literary Studies 6.3 (January, 2001): 9.1-16 <URL: http://purl.oclc.org/emls/06-3/chawton.htm>.
- Laura Tennant "A WRITER AT LARGE: Sandy Lerner's Persuasion". Independent on Sunday, The. Jul 20, 2003. FindArticles.com. 03 Jan. 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030720/ai_n12741978
