Friday 15th November 2024 – Sunday 23rd February 2025
Jane Austen’s writing desk is now on display at God’s House Tower, where it remains until February 23, as part of region-wide events to celebrate her 250th birthday.
IN TRAINING FOR A HEROINE is one of the first Jane Austen 250 events happening to celebrate her birth, starting in November 2024.
The focus of the exhibition is Jane Austen’s writing slope, a travel writing desk that Jane took everywhere with her. On show at the aptly named God’s House Tower in Southampton, it is on loan from the British Library. It is the first time the desk has been back in the city since Jane Austen lived here 200 years ago, just a stone’s throw from where she lived at Castle Square.
The travel writing slope is in a special case in the middle of the room, which feels just like a Castle, and reminders of Jane’s writing of NorthangerAbbey is everywhere..
Jane Austen’s Travel Writing Slope is the treasure of the In Training for a Heroine Exhibition at God’s House Tower in Southampton
In Training for a Heroine told the story Jane Austen as a young, ambitious writer at the beginning of her career, the travelling writing desk symbolising a world of opportunity and possibility. Extracts from Jane Austen’s letters provide an insight into her life and her time in Southampton where she lived briefly in 1783 and from 1806-1809.
Dan Crow, Director of ‘a space’ arts, which manages God’s House Tower said: “We are thrilled to host the travelling writing desk and look forward to producing an exhibition that will launch a city-wide programme of events and activities to mark Jane’s 250th birthday.
Claire Whitaker, CEO of Southampton Forward, said: “This is a great opportunity for the city. The return of Jane Austen’s desk to Southampton marks the first in a series of events which celebrate ‘Jane Austen 250’, which is part of a regional programme. “These events will celebrate Jane Austen’s deep ties to Southampton, invite different perspectives of her life and literary works and explore her writing through a contemporary lens”.
Jane Austen’s Travel Writing Slope
Mr Austen purchased the slope for Jane’s 19th birthday in 1794. It is a portable, mahogany desk, sometimes called a ‘lap-desk’, was designed to fold into a case for ease of traveling. It has a secret drawer where Jane stored her most treasured possessions, including letters and manuscripts, and her money!
Jane Austen’s Travel Writing Slope on show.. you can see up close in this photograph the damage it has sustained over time..
Almost Lost
While traveling to Dartford in 1798, she nearly lost it when the slope was accidentally put onto a carriage which was on its way to Gravesend, and the West Indies! Jane told the dramatic story to Cassandra on 24 October 1798.
I should have begun my letter soon after our arrival but for a little adventure which prevented me. After we had been here a quarter of an hour it was discovered that my writing and dressing boxes had been by accident put into a chaise which was just packing off as we came in, and were driven away towards Gravesend in their way to the West Indies. No part of my property could have been such a prize before, for in my writing-box was all my worldly wealth. . . . Mr. Nottley immediately despatched a man and horse after the chaise, and in half an hour’s time I had the pleasure of being as rich as ever; they were got about two or three miles off.
Letters, Sketches and Recorded Clips
Wall display of items relating to Jane Austen’s time in Southampton and the move to Chawton House, where the Austen ladies moved from here
God’s House Tower
Jane would have left town through God’s House Gate, at the south-eastern corner of the town’s walls. God’s House Gate is accessed from Winkle Street, inside the old walled town of Southampton. It was built in the thirteenth century and enlarged in the fourteenth, and allowed access in and out of the walled town, and led directly to Porter’s Meadow and the ferry that took her across the River Itchen.
God’s House Tower in Southampton, part of the original walls that were built to protect the city from French invasion during the Wars
TAGS: Jane Austen, Travel, Writing Slope, British Library, Letters, Regency era, Regency, Southampton, Birthday, 250th, Anniversary, Exhibition, Treasures, In Training for a Heroine.
See Jane’s Travel Writing Slope from all angles at the British Library.
Jane was born on the cold frosty night of 16 December 1775 in Steventon, near Basingstoke in Hampshire. She was the seventh of eight children, and one of two sisters.
The next morning her father Reverend George Austen wrote to his sister-in-law Mrs Walter in Kent with the exciting news,
We have now another girl, a present plaything for her sister Cassy and a future companion. She is to be Jenny, and seems to me as if she would be as like Henry, as Cassy is to Neddy.
A few days after Jane was born, a blizzard struck the south of England, which caused the naturalist Gilbert White to note that the trees in Selborne were looking ‘quite naked’.
It was one of the harshest winters ever to be recorded, and this cold snap lasted through until the following Spring. Only then could Jane be taken out of the house. She was baptised at St Nicholas Church, Steventon on 5 April 1776 as recorded in the church register.
Birthday Celebrations
From Jane’s novels, her surviving letters, and other pieces of writing there seems little mention of Birthday celebrations, although there is one birthday that does stand out.
Jane’s 19th birthday. It was significant as she received from her father a portable writing slope he purchased from Ring Brothers in December 1794.
It cost 12 shillings and would have been an expensive purchase at the time.
The Austen family had bought a number of household items from Ring Brothers, which was a kind of shopping emporium in the town of Basingstoke. They mainly supplied furniture and household goods. You can read the Austen family purchases in the accounts ledger which still survives today.
Jane’s father George had noted the purchase himself in his own pocket book,
A Small Mahogany Writing desk with 1 Long Drawer and Glass Ink Stand Compleat. 12s. December 5, 1794.
It was small, light, and portable, and meant that Jane could continue writing her letters and novels wherever she went. A lock and key secured her papers, and an inner compartment was used to safely store her glasses and the early drafts of her novels.
Once placed on a table, it could be opened up to reveal a sloped leather writing surface, with a small storage place for ink and quills.
Almost Lost
It was almost lost when Jane was returning from a visit to her brother Edward at Godmersham Park at Kent. Upon arrival at the Bull & George Inn at Dartmouth for an overnight stay, it was put on a carriage heading for Dover.
Jane wrote about this traumatic event in a letter to Cassandra on 24 October 1798,
I should have begun my letter soon after our arrival but for a little adventure which prevented me. After we had been here a quarter of an hour it was discovered that my writing and dressing boxes had been by accident put into a chaise which was just packing off as we came in, and were driven away towards Gravesend in their way to the West Indies. No part of my property could have been such a prize before, for in my writing-box was all my worldly wealth, 7l… Mr Nottley immediately despatched a man and horse after the chaise, and in half an hour’s time I had the pleasure of being as rich as ever; they were got about two or three miles off.
At this time, Jane’s writing desk contained her letters and a legal document, plus her life savings of seven pounds. They most certainly would have been lost without Mr Nottley’s quick thinking.
History
The writing desk was passed down through Jane’s brother James family. His son, James Edward Austen Leigh wrote of the desk in his memoirs.
This mahogany desk, which has done good service to the public, is now in the possession of my sister, Miss Austen.
The desk had found its way to Canada where it had been stored in an old suitcase. On 29 October 1999, Jane’s great-great-great niece, Joan Austen Leigh entrusted the desk to the British Library.
It contained a glass ink pot, a penknife, and in the desk drawer two pairs of tortoiseshell spectacles and a pair of wire framed spectacles. According to Jane’s family, they all belonged to her.
It will be on display at various venues as part of the Jane Austen 250 celebrations, marking the anniversary of Jane’s birth. The first port of call is God’s Tower in Southampton from 15 November 2024 to mid February 2025.
