Websites
About JASNA. (2016). Jane Austen Society of North America. Retrieved from http://www.jasna.org/info/about.html
Anyone wanting to discuss and celebrate Jane Austen with like minded enthusiasts will enjoy this website. The Jane Austen Society of North America’s website includes information about Austen’s life, Austen on Film, and links to other Jane Austen resources. Visitors can find membership and regional group information as well. The society also features Persuasions, JASNA’s premier journal on Austen Studies. Included within Persuasions are essays about Austen’s work and era. From the website one can access past issues and articles by clicking on the publications tab. To become a member, simply fill out the membership form and pay the annual fee. Members have the option to attend lectures, book discussions, conferences, a regency ball, and guided tour groups of Austen sites. Members also get a subscription to the JASNA newsletter and journal as well.
Home. (2014). Jane Austen’s House Museum. Retrieved from http://www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk/
Established as a museum in 1947, the Jane Austen house museum located in Chawton, Hampshire features the cottage where Jane Austen spent the last eight years of her life from 1809 to 1817. She lived at this dwelling with her mother and sister, Cassandra, until her death in 1817. During her time at the cottage, she comprised the bulk of her work. This included the reworking of three manuscripts and the completion of an additional three novels.
The website features interactive links, a blog, news, research guides, and information regarding group visits and tours. Another interesting feature is the research aspect of the museum. The estate retains a library specifically focused on women’s writing from 1600 to 1830. For those interested in Austen studies, the collection of books written by or about Jane Austen should be particularly captivating.
A guide to the Jane Austen collection. (n.d.). Goucher College. Retrieved from http://meyerhoff.goucher.edu/library/jausten/jane.htm
The Jane Austen Collection located at Goucher College in Baltimore is a collection made up of rare books and audiovisual materials. The collection includes early editions, translations, of Austen’s works as well as secondary source material about Austen’s life and Era. Past and current scholarship on Jane Austen works are also featured within the collection. Most impressively, the library retains twenty linear feet of Jane Austen related materials. The website acts as a finding aid or guide and contains information regarding the provenance, scope, and content of the collection. For those interested in rare books and archival materials related to Jane Austen, refer to this website. Collectors, scholars, and students alike will find this resource indispensable.
Home. (2016). Jane Austen’s Fiction Manuscripts. Retrieved from http://www.janeausten.ac.uk/index.html
This archival site retains digital copies of Jane Austen’s fiction manuscripts housed in various museums throughout the world. Through digitization, 1100 fiction manuscripts are accessible to the public online. The manuscripts display Austen’s style and evolution of writing from her childhood until her death. Scholars and researchers should find these manuscripts especially illuminating to Jane Austen’s writing process and history.
The manuscripts can be viewed by going to the manuscript index and choosing one of the subject formats, for instance, ‘Juvenilia.’ Within each subject heading the materials are arranged by type into fair copies, working drafts, and further materials. Moreover, within each material type the manuscripts are arranged chronologically. A physical description, history, and transcription for each item is provided in addition to the original manuscript.
A woman’s wit: Jane Austen’s life and legacy. (2010). The Morgan Library & Museum. Retrieved from http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/a-womans-wit?id=22
For those wishing to view Jane Austen’s papers, including manuscripts and letters, the Morgan Library and Museum’s website is a necessity. Their 2009 exhibit, “A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy” featured over a hundred of Jane Austen’s works. The exhibit was arranged in three parts, Austen’s life, works, and legacy. Specifically, the exhibit featured early editions, personal letters, manuscripts, and drawings and prints associated with Jane Austen. Another interesting feature of the exhibit was the inclusion of a film, The Divine Jane, exploring Austen’s legacy through a series of interviews by contemporary scholars. Most of these materials including the video can be viewed online from the exhibit’s webpage. This is an excellent resource for accessing primary source material.