Jane Austen

Courtesy of younger brother and his wife Jan, Mrs maytrees and I attended with them at Jane Austen's residence at Winchster Road near Alton and then at her brother's estate nearby at Chawton House, where we all also had an excellent old fashioned high tea together.

The weather turned out well and was not as chilly as has been the case recently.

Mrs maytrees and I had been to Jane Austen's home before but on this occasion it had been considerably repaired and indeed repairs were taking place during our visit including a new roof being laid on one of the larger outbuildings. Our previous visit is described at: Jane Austen.

On this occasion I purchased an old fashioned tweed cap of the kind worn by Nigel Havers' expert valuer in The Bidding Room 

The house was fully open to view and after our visit we adjourned to Chawton House for a delicious High Tea before viewing the House and gardens. 

Younger brother was interested in the way in which books in those days were printed and the press below caught his eye:

Being a Thursday afternoon in May during school term time, there were not many other visitors. As a result, the four of us were able to visit the locked library where the very knowledgeable lady who had opened it to us, described the history and details of many of the tomes on the library shelves as well as a newly acquired first edition of Emma.

I had thought that Jane Austen's Emma was her novel written for younger readers but the guide explained  when showing us the first edition, that this was not the case. 

The volunteer guide explained that most books at the time (Jane Austen was born in 1775) were initially printed without hard covers and that hard covers which were expensive, were generally chosen later.

The talk about Jane Austen, members of her family,  her brother and other relatives  was fascinating   and we were most grateful to the volunteer for taking the trouble to go through the history and details, including one about an older brother  George who was 'handicapped' in some way and went to live with a  family in the village. Jane Austen's sister Cassandra appears to have been an great older sister.

Younger brother and I then took a stroll through the grounds, whilst the two girls chatted together on a bench in the sun.

An excellent day.