Monday 18th December 2023
Venue: Chawton House
Celebrate the holiday season with an enchanting evening at Chawton House.
7-8.30pm
“This is quite the season indeed for friendly meetings. At Christmas every body invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather.”
Jane Austen, Emma
After a stroll through our fairy-lit Gardens, step into the warmth of our historic home, beautifully dressed for Christmas with handmade decorations. From 7pm, enjoy fragrant mulled wine and freshly-baked mince pies in front of the roaring fire in the Great Hall, before a private view of some of our collections greatest treasures.
As our 20th anniversary year draws to a close, our final private view of the year celebrates our connections to Jane Austen, marking the month of Austen’s birth, but also the publication of three of her novels – Emma (23 December 1815), Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (20 December 1817). Our Curatorial team will transport you through time on this guided viewing, exploring Jane Austen’s connection to Chawton House and Godmersham Park through items from the Knight Family Collection. As part of this exclusive viewing, you will explore the very pages that Jane Austen once touched, with new acquisitions, loans, and works rarely on display. Immerse yourself in the world that inspired Austen’s writing. Our manuscript adaptation of Sir Charles Grandison, written in Austen’s hand, tells the story of amateur theatricals enjoyed with family, whilst Jane’s own signed music book suggests the music she knew and loved. We will also display the copy of Emma that became the most expensive of the author’s works ever sold in 2022: a special presentation copy sent to her friend Anne Sharp, who was governess to her brother Edward Knight’s children at Godmersham Park. Take a deep dive into her fourth novel, Emma, as we consider gifts of food and pianos, hypochondriac relatives, and the position of the governess.
Join us for this unforgettable evening of festive cheer, rare books and manuscripts, and the timeless magic of Jane Austen and Chawton House – the perfect pre-Christmas treat for literature lovers.
Tickets: £30
Includes House and Garden entry from 6pm, mulled wine and mince pies from 7pm.
