British Library

The British Library owns several of Jane Austen’s manuscripts. One of these manuscripts is on display in the Treasures of the British Library exhibit in The Sir John Ritblat: Treasures Gallery. The Jane Austen items currently on display include her personal manuscript of Persuasion and her writing desk.

The British Library also owns other manuscripts which can be accessed in the Western Manuscripts room of the library. This is the first library I became a registered user in during my time in the UK. The process of becoming a registered user at the British Library includes providing two forms of identification, one of which has to include your current address. Not being a resident of the UK or London will not prevent the issue of a reader’s card but these forms of ID are necessary to their process. I also had to provide information about the items I was planning to access before even becoming a reader. Since the items I wished to see are under restricted access I had to take an extra step to become a registered user. Jane Austen’s letters and other manuscripts require a letter of introduction. I had to have my professor write me this letter of introduction and then take it with me to the Manuscripts room when I went to request the items.

Requesting items also proved to be a bit tricky. Once I mastered the use of the catalog and found the items I wanted to see I had trouble actually requesting them. There is a link in the descriptions of items that says “I want this” but that link only works for items like books. When requesting items that are archives or special collections the reader has to go to “Request other items” and provide the shelf marks of the items for retrieval. I did not figure this out on my own. I learned how to do this once I was already in the Manuscripts room and had gone to the enquiry desk to ask for assistance.

After completing the steps I mentioned above I requested the items in question and began to read through all of Jane Austen’s manuscripts. It was a tiresome but rewarding time in the Manuscripts room. Austen’s handwriting can be incredibly difficult to read and I spent a great deal of time going over the letters and discerning what they said. All of the original manuscripts are under restricted access and pictures of the items are prohibited. The letters have been in the possession of the British Library since it was still part of the British Museum.

The person at the enquiry desk who helped me figure out how to actually request the items believed that even though I had a letter of introduction from my professor there was no guarantee that I would be allowed to look at and read the material. Thankfully, she was mistaken but her response to my request was amusing to me.