Chawton House Library
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Chawton House Library
Chawton House Library is located at Chawton House[1],Chawton,Hampshire.
The Library is now The Centre for the Study of Early English Women's Writing, 1600-1830,[2]
Opened in 2003, it has a collection of over 9,000 books together with related original manuscripts. It is set in 275 acres of beautiful Hampshire countryside, and is used for conferences,filming and more recently weddings. The Library works in partnership with the University of Southampton, and provides an important resource for the university's MA in 18th Century Study.[3]
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[edit] Women Writers
Below is a list of female authors, who's works are to be found at the Library.
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)
Frances Brooke (1724-1789)
Mary Brunton (1778-1818)
Frances Burney (1752-1840)
Sarah Harriet Burney (1772-1844)
Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849)
Sarah Fielding (1710-1768)
Mary Hays (1760-1824)
Eliza Haywood (1693-1756)
Elizabeth Inchbald (1753-1821)
Sophia Lee (1750-1824)
Harriet Lee (1757-1851)
Charlotte Lennox (1729-1804)
Delarivier Manley (1663-1724)
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu(1689-1762)
Sydney Owenson,Lady Morgan(1783-1859)
Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823)
Mary Darby Robinson (1758-1800)
Anna Seward (1742-1809)
Mary Shelley(1797-1851)
Charlotte Smith (1749-1806)
Melesina Chenevix St. George Trench (1768-1827)
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
[edit] Novels on Line Project
The Novels On Line project[4] makes freely accessible the full-text transcripts of some of the rarest works in the Chawton House Library collection. These texts, explore broad-ranging themes as satire, slavery, marriage, witchcraft and piracy. In bringing these little-known novels to a wider audience, it is hoped to stimulate interest in these works amongst a new generation of readers The texts are completely unedited and have been copied from the originals as accurately as possible. Even printer errors have been retained. This is an on going project with more novels and texts being available on line.
[edit] Events
Events are held regularly at the library[5], these include Open Days,Fellows Lectures and Heritage Open Days.
[edit] Knight Collection
The Library also houses the Knight Collection, a private collection of books belonging to the Knight family who owned and lived at Chawton House for 400 years. This collection of books was once owned by Edward Austen Knight, the brother of Jane Austen, and it is known that she used this collection of books.
[edit] The Walled Garden
Edward Austen Knight had the idea to build a new walled garden during his sister Jane Austen’s lifetime: in 1813, She wrote to her brother Frank:
“He (Edward Austen Knight) talks of making a new Garden; the present is a bad one & ill situated, near Mr Papillon's; — he means to have the new, at the top of the Lawn behind his own house.”
Today, Edward Austen Knight's original walls are mostly still intact. The restoration programme for this area is vast, and requires funding and the support of volunteers as it is the intention to rebuild the glasshouses and potting sheds that have long since fallen into disrepair. The central space is used for the production of vegetables, soft fruits, herbs and flowers. Chawton House is registered with the Soil Association[6] and is now certified as an organic producer. Everything grown in the walled garden is for use by the Library with any surplus being sold locally in aid of the charity. The gardens are being reinstated using Edward Austen Knight's original planting scheme. The walls of the garden,still require repair and re-pointing, and work is being done to reinstate the glasshouses in the near future.
[edit] Visiting the Library
The house and Library can be visited by the public by prior appointment. Tours of the house are undertaken Tuesday's and Thursday's starting at 2.30pm.
The Library can be visited,at any time, appointments are required,however first time visitors will have to bring Identification. Full details can be found on the Charity web site[7]
