Jane Austen News - January 2019

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Note Discovery Proves Jane Austen Portrait Authentic? 

The portrait opposite has to be one of the most controversial images of Jane Austen that there is. It's known as the Rice Portrait, and for years the Rice family who own the portrait have been fighting to prove that it is in fact a portrait of a young Jane Austen. Now, an overlooked note has come to light which may help to prove once and for all in the Rice family's favour that the portrait is a genuine original portrait of Jane.

Of the Rice Portrait, the Rices have always explained that it was commissioned from the portrait painter Ozias Humphry in 1788, when 12-year-old Jane and her sister Cassandra were taken to visit their great-uncle Francis in Kent. According to the Rice family, Humphry’s 1788 accounts (held at the British Library) show a bill to Francis Austen for 13 guineas. However, experts in the art world, especially some of those at the National Portrait Gallery, say that it could not be of Austen. They have said that the style of the dress dates it to later than 1800. The unsigned note which has recently be rediscovered, and which helps to support the Rice family's claim of authenticity, is believed to have been written by Jane Austen’s great-niece Fanny Caroline Lefroy. Kept in Austen’s writing desk, it had been overlooked, said John Nettlefold, son of the painting’s owner Anne Rice, until its current owner noticed the small brown envelope containing it was marked “history of the portrait of Jane Austen”.

The note reads as follows: “The history of the portrait of Jane Austen now in the possession of Morland Rice her Gt nephew. Old Dr Newman, fellow of Magdalen years ago told him that he had a portrait of Jane Austen the novelist, that had been in his family many years. He stated that it was done at Bath when she was about 15 & he promised to leave him (Morland Rice) the picture. A few months before Dr Newman died, he wrote to a friend of his (a Dr Bloxam) sending him a picture as a farewell present & added ‘I have another picture that I wish to go to your neighbour Morland Rice. This a portrait of Jane Austen the novelist by Zoffany. Her picture was given to my step-mother by her friend Colonel Austen of Kippendon [sic], Kent because she was a great admirer of her works.’”

The note names the artist of the painting as being Johann Zoffany, to whom the painting has been attributed in the past. The note is unsigned, but after looking at it next to other documents held in the Hampshire Record Office, the Rices and independent scholar Kelly M McDonald (who is researching the letters and diaries of Emma Austen-Leigh, who was the wife of Jane Austen’s nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh) are sure it is written by Fanny Caroline Lefroy. John Nettlefold said that the letter "is written before there was any kind of issue. The problems only started in the 1930s … Unfortunately, there was then an institutional enmity towards it and it just got worse and worse." He says that the letter is enough evidence to officially establish the painting as being an authentic portrait of Jane Austen. So what next? Going forward, the Rice family wish to sell the portrait once/if it is officially certified as being of Austen. The family hopes that the portrait will come to be loves by Jane Austen fans and scholars worldwide.

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A Library We Love! 

This week the Jane Austen News came across images of one of the most charming libraries we've ever seen. It's not the biggest of libraries (in fact it ranks highly on the list of smallest libraries we've come across), but it makes up for it's diminutive size with it's charm and creativity. In what used to be a dying black cottonwood tree, Sharalee Armitage Howard has made her "Little Free Library" in her front yard in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. There are stone steps leading up to the entrance, and the door is a repurposed vintage window. The library operates a “take a book, share a book” policy.  

We especially love the tiny wooden book decorations (with titles chosen by her husband and four children) and the miniature lantern lighting the entrance!

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Jane: From Hampton to Hollywood 

At the end of this week on February 2nd, a wonderful literary discussion about Jane's work is set to take place in California. Between 9:30AM and 2PM there will be two presentations on Jane Austen (as well as pastries, coffee and tea, and lunch!) given to attendees of the event, Jane: From Hampton to Hollywood, by Professor Regulus Allen and Collins Hemingway. Professor Regulus will explore Jane Austen's novels through film adaptations in his lecture entitled 'From Hampshire to Hollywood: Teaching an Austen Fiction and Film Course'; and Collins Hemingway will explore social conditions and political dissent in England during Jane Austen’s lifetime in his talk titled 'Riots and Insurrections'.  Mr. Hemingway has spent years researching the broad social, political, military, and scientific history of the Regency era, while Professor Allen is Associate Professor of Literature at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. This event is presented by the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), San Diego region. Those wishing to attend must register beforehand at:

https://jasnasdfeb2019.brownpapertickets.com. The price of the event is $25 for students and JASNA members, and $35 for non-members. The event will take place at La Jolla Riford Library in La Jolla, California

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Pride and Prejudice and Pretty Covers  Monday 28th January (this past Monday) marked the 206th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice. To celebrate, Book Riot compiled an article of some of their favourite Pride and Prejudice covers from the past 206 years. At the Jane Austen News we thought this was an excellent idea and we thought we'd do likewise in this week's Jane Austen News. Enjoy!