Today is Jane Austen’s birthday, 246 years ago! 

To quote her father George Austen in a letter to his sister Mrs. Walter on Dec 17, 1775:

“You have doubtless been for some time in expectation of hearing from Hampshire, and perhaps wondered a little we were in our old age grown such bad reckoners but so it was, for Cassey certainly expected to have been brought to bed a month ago: however last night the time came, and without a great deal of warning, everything was soon happily over. We have now another girl, a present plaything for her sister Cassy and a future companion. She is to be Jenny, and seems to me as if she would be as like Henry, as Cassy is to Neddy. Your sister thank God is pure well after it, and sends her love to you and my brother…” (Austen Papers, 32-3)

*******************  

In celebration of Austen’s birthday, JASNA has published it’s Persuasions On-Line vol. 42, No. 1, which features a selection of the AGM presentations on Jane Austen and the Arts, the theme of the 2021 JASNA AGM in Chicago. You can view the Table of Contents here – all essays are fully accessible: https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/vol-42-no-1/

It is also a perfect time to donate to Chawton House, via the North American Friends of Chawton House: Please visit the website at https://www.nafch.org/ and read about their endeavors. Anyone who donates $150 or more will be sent NAFCH’s 2nd annual limited-edition bobblehead “Creative Jane” (while supplies last), though any amount is gratefully received!:

You can donate here: https://www.nafch.org/give-join

What better way to honor Jane Austen on her birthday than to give a little something in support of the “Great House” she visited often:

‘Let me thank you again and again’

Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice (1813)

2021, Jane Austen in Vermont