Jane Austen200 celebrates a life in Hampshire in 2017
October 20, 2016 - Richard Moss in News
Jane Austen by Cassandra Austen, circa 1810. Copyright National Portrait Gallery
One of the great literary figures of the Napoleonic age will be celebrated in Hampshire during 2017 as Jane Austen 200 kicks into gear with events and exhibitions across the county of her birth.
With 2017 marking the 200th anniversary of the death of the globally loved author, a year-long series of events in Hampshire will celebrate her creativity and talent and explore the many the local connections.
Hampshire was not only Jane Austen’s birthplace (and where you can visit her grave today), but its people, landscape and the society in which she moved provided inspiration for her novels, classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility.
An exhibition, The Mysterious Miss Austen, opens on May 13 2017 (until July 24) at The Gallery in Winchester Discovery Centre, exploring Austen’s life, work and her relationship to Hampshire via a series of important artworks and artefacts.
Developed in partnership with Jane Austen House Museum, the centrepiece will be five portraits of the author – together under one roof for the very first time – including two works from the National Portrait Gallery, London and three from private collections, one of which has not been seen in public for more than 40 years.
The exhibition will also include a surviving manuscript of an alternative ending to her final novel Persuasion, in her own hand (on loan from the British Library).
visitors will also be able to see a silk pelisse coat (one of the only garments in the world with a provenance that can be traced back to Jane Austen), first editions of her works and fascinating personal letters. Bringing a contemporary view, Grayson Perry’s Jane Austen in E17 vase will offer a wry, contemporary slant on her lasting legacy and influence on the arts.
Accompanying the exhibition will be a series of “big picnics” taking place across the county with Regency delicacies, performances, period costume and talks about Austen and her world, and an Austen-inspired writing competition for both children and adults.
For full details of activities in Hampshire during 2017 visit www.janeausten200.co.uk
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