i thought, perhaps, that i ought to begin this post with a quote, but changed my mind because there were so many to choose from, so many little gems and pearls, i could sit here all day and the post would never be written, and i would have, possibly, instead reread my favorite books in the comfort of my pajamas, with a plate of cookies and a cup of tea nearby, happy to forget the world and all my bitsy disasters of responsibility.
and while it is, still, tempting, the post must be written, even if i didn’t know how to start, even if the start is still awkward, even if i know that by this paragraph most of you have gone away. but even so, here i am. and these words, i must tell you, were written initially on a pad of paper, using a fountain pen (surprise), with frequent pauses and silences, and watching the malformed words appear, wondering what sorts of thoughts and processes would a mind as brilliant as jane austen had when she wrote her dainty gems of manuscripts and her crystal shards of letters?
thanks to a recent acquisition by the morgan library and museum, the world can now know just another small portion of those thoughts and processes. located in east midtown manhattan, the morgan library and museum houses the collection of financier pierpont morgan (father to j.p.), in a building beside his residence. it boasts rare collections of manuscripts, scores, first-editions, and illuminated bibles.
its most recent acquisition comprise fifty-one letters of jane austen, many written to her sister, cassandra, as well as a full manuscript of her last novel, lady susan. the exhibit is presented in a gallery on the second floor, to which one arrives via a glass-walled elevator. (take heed, those who fear heights: bring a friend, close your eyes, and hang on.) no matter how many times i visit the morgan, i am always surprised at how small the galleries are. they are uncomfortably intimate, with low ceilings and subdued light, they all but force you to do more than simply acknowledge your fellow museum visitors — for here you are, the lot of you, expressing, all at the same time, the same giddy adoration of jane austen and the opportunity to see her handwriting up close and very personal. you do the gallery shuffle, much more often than usual, because the space is small and the items encased in large glass boxes, and jane austen is still popular and even on a friday night, people — much like you and your adoration — will come.
and in a way, it mirrors the small spaces and social circles that jane austen knew and wrote about, and if that was the intent of the curators, they succeeded very well. so well that i grew rather desperate to be relieved of such mildly cruel intent.
but certainly not before i had my fill of the letters. while some were hung on walls — and fairly low to be seen, even by short people like me (for once i didn’t have to tiptoe!) — others were displayed on free-standing pedestals with a full view of both sides of the letters, which i could barely read, despite its beauty and fine, even hand. the papers were laid or wove, and the ink was iron gall or similar, and now looked burnt onto the substrate but still retaining much of the letterforms. some lines were crossed out in ink, corrections made by austen herself or censored by cassandra, and others were pruned and cut completely, leaving holes in the letters.
accompanying the exhibit were satirical cartoons by artists of the period, including illustrated editions of austen’s emma and pride and prejudice, and books austen herself owned. in a small corner of the gallery (really just a large room) was a viewing area for the documentary film the divine jane: reflections on austen, commissioned just for the exhibit. a few pages of her last novel are displayed at the rear of the gallery space, written in her own hand and possibly provided for the printer to use.
my favorite piece, however, was the very last item that the morgan was able to acquire as part of its collection: a brief letter from austen to her eight-year-old niece, cassandra esten austen, written in a larger hand and in complete reverse, replete with that sliver of wit and humor we all know from her novels.
it was signed, simply, enaj netsua.
notes and first impressions
additional resources:
the morgan library and museum’s online exhibition of a woman’s wit: jane austen’s life and legacy.
PBS’ youtube videos: see this, and this, this one, and this one.
edit: in case you’re wondering (because i know you think me fascinating, darlings), my favorite jane austen book is persuasion.