Monday 12th June 2017 to Sunday 24th September 2017
Venue: Chawton House
12 June – 24 September
Fickle Fortunes: Jane Austen and Germaine de Staël
July 1817 saw two deaths: Jane Austen, an English novelist with a solid but relatively modest success, and Germaine de Staël, a long-standing superstar of pan-European intellectual, political and literary life. Over the two centuries since, the relative reputations of these two writers have re-aligned in ways that would have astonished their contemporaries, admirers and critics alike.
This exhibition, will present items in the library’s own collection alongside rare items sourced from other international research libraries, reflecting on Austen’s immense popularity, but also exploring the transient nature of celebrity, and introducing one of the period’s most famous, and most oft forgotten, writers.
Access to this exhibition is included in the price of visitor admission.