Exhibit in Hodges Library: 250 Years of Jane Austen

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." That opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice is engraved in the memories of Jane Austen fans.

An exhibit celebrating Jane Austen on the semiquincentennial of her birth is now on view in the Special Collections reading room on the first floor of Hodges Library. Yours Ever, J.A. — 250 Years of Jane Austen features rare books, ephemera, and other items from UT Libraries’ collections.

Jane Austen (1775–1817) is one of the most enduringly popular authors in the world. Her grave and her former homes have become popular tourist sites, and groups such as the Jane Austen Society of North America have been convened all over the world to celebrate her work.

Austen fans continually devise new ways to commemorate her life and her oeuvre. Games, toys, and other ephemera feature the beloved author. The current exhibit includes several examples, among them a board game based on Pride and Prejudice, greeting cards, and paper dolls based on characters from Austen’s novels.

Austen was relatively unknown in her own lifetime. Four of her six novels were published, anonymously, during her lifetime: Sense and Sensibility (1811); Pride and Prejudice (1813); Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816). After her death in 1817, her family published two further novels — Northanger Abbey (1818) and Persuasion (1818) — publicly revealing the author’s name. 

The current display includes first editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion.

Austen’s novels capture social conventions among the landed gentry of Regency-era England. Present-day Austen fans write their own homage fiction, imagining new narratives involving Austen’s characters.

Jane Austen’s popularity — far from waning over the past 250 years — only continues to grow.