Today I took a day trip to Bath to visit, among other things, the Jane Austen Centre. The Centre is located on Gay Street, one of the streets where Jane Austen lived during her six years in Bath, and is dedicated to maintaining an exhibition about Jane Austen's work, life, and her experiences in Bath and the city's effect on her writing. Two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were strongly affected by her time in Bath. The Centre is also responsible for a regular walking tour of Jane Austen's Bath, and an annual nine-day Jane Austen Festival as well as a magazine titled Jane Austen's Regency World, which contains articles about Jane Austen's writing, family, and world. Any visit to the museum begins with a short lecture outlining Jane Austen's life and work. She was a member of a large family with only one sister, to whom she was devoted. Two of her brothers had successful naval careers, which helps to explain the generally positive light Jane Austen cast on her naval characters, and one brother followed in his father's footsteps to join the church. Neither Jane nor her sister Cassandra ever married. Cassandra's fiancee died, after which she lived as though a widow, and Jane's only engagement lasted only one night. Jane Austen's life seems to have been dedicated to her family and to her writing.
After the introductory lecture, guests are led into the exhibition room to browse the museum's collection. At the time of my visit, they were showing a special collection of the costumes from ITV's television production of Persuasion. The costumes were designed by Andrea Galer, an award-winning film and television costume designer, and feature hand-made lace from The Power of Hands project, which Galer created to assist Sri-Lankan victims of the recent Tsunami. It includes a number of gowns designed for the character of Ann, one designed for the character of Lady Russell, and a short documentary film about the process of designing and crafting the production's gowns. The exhibition is expected to be the first in a continuing partnership between the Centre and Andrea Galer which will combine the museum's educational goals with fashion and film. This partnership seems promising to me, as a great many readers of Jane Austen are introduced to her, or develop their enjoyment of her work, through film adaptations.The regular exhibition was somewhat overshadowed by this special collection, but included text-based displays about Jane Austen's life and work, as well as examples of fashion and furniture contemporary to her time in Bath. The atmosphere was enhanced by the Centre's building, which is very similar to what would have been Jane Austen's home in Bath. It is believed that the Austen family occupied two floors of number 25 Gay Street, just up the hill from the Centre. This is one of the family's four addresses during their six years in Bath, which ended with the death of Jane Austen's father in 1806.
Jane Austen has proven to be an enduring and beloved author. Indeed, her books have never been out of print since they were published, and fresh flowers had been placed on her grave at our previous journey to Winchester Cathedral. She is also the center of an active group of fans, popularly called the Janeites. The Centre itself seems to be very active with the lively Jane Austen fan culture, and achieves its educational goals through distribution of an email newsletter and the magazine in addition to its exhibitions and walks. I was happy to see that the museum had embraced all aspects of the fan culture for this beloved author. They encourage an active engagement with the world of Jane Austen through re-enactments, and facilitate fans and museum-goers in experiencing the world of Regency England in every way possible. The gift shop stocks information about how to have a Regency portrait taken, how to participate in the costumed promenade during the Jane Austen festival, as well as the traditional offerings of books, videos, and souvenirs. It seemed to me that this small museum has done an excellent job of reaching out to its audience, and I hope for continued expansion and improvement to its collection and services.
