Jane Austen's Music Collection Now Online
Monday, March 21, 2016
“When that business was over, he applied to Miss Bingley and Elizabeth for an indulgence of some music. Miss Bingley moved with some alacrity to the pianoforte; and, after a polite request that Elizabeth would lead the way which the other as politely and more earnestly negatived, she seated herself.
“Mrs. Hurst sang with her sister, and while they were thus employed, Elizabeth could not help observing, as she turned over some music-books that lay on the instrument, how frequently Mr. Darcy’s eyes were fixed on her.”
- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Any fan of Jane Austen (1775-1817) knows to what degree music permeates the atmosphere of her books, making a recent announcement from the University of Southampton’s Hartley Library (GB-SOu) all the more exciting: the Austen Family Music Books collection has been digitized and is available online. Several of the books were compiled or used by Austen herself.
The collection includes around 600 pieces in 18 albums, mostly songs and pieces for keyboard or harp. British and international composers are featured in the albums. The music is owned by Jane Austen’s House Museum (GB-CHA, on deposit at the Hampshire Record Office [GB-WCr]) and two private collectors who are both descendants of the Austen family: Richard Jenkyns (GB-Ojenkyns) and Richard Knight, whose collection is on deposit at the Chawton House Library (GB-CHAchl).
The digitized albums may be viewed online through the Internet Archive. Jeanice Brooks of the University of Southampton writes that “the books present a vivid picture of domestic musical culture in England in the years around 1800, furnishing valuable insights on music making in the homes of gentry families as well as essential contextualisation for musical episodes in Austen’s fiction.”
Image: “Ouverture des Pretendus” for keyboard instrument, p.1, c.1790-1810, by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, arr. by M. Blattman. In album CHWJA/19/2, entitled Juvenile Songs & Lessons for young beginners who don’t know enough to practise.
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