Friday 28th July 2023
Venue: Chawton House
12-1.30pm.
Join Deputy Director Dr Kim Simpson on a Curator’s Tour of Chawton House’s latest exhibition, Quills & Characters.
On this guided tour, explore the art of letter-writing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: what tools were required and where did they come from? How did one achieve the ‘studied ease’ of a well-written letter? Enjoy stories told by letters in the Chawton House collection that have never before been displayed: stories of science and scholarship, love, and literature. And learn about some of the extraordinary women who wrote the letters on display, including scientist Mary Somerville and her mathematical protégée Ada Lovelace, Quaker and abolitionist Amelia Opie, and Austen’s contemporary novelists Jane and Maria Porter.
Tickets: £18, inclusive of House and Garden entry; £6 with an annual or Neighbourhood pass.
