Mr Brodnax Moore, the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. George Brook Knight, has very kindly made available to us a PDF. file of the booklet which was produced to mark the unveiling of the Centenary Tablet on Chawton Cottage (now the Jane Austen House Museum) in 1917.
This is the cover of the original booklet:
The Cover of the Jane Austen Centenary Booklet
The booklet, now quite a rare find in antiquarian bookshops, contains details of the unveiling ceremony, with photographs and the text of the speeches. Constance Hill, who wrote Jane Austen, Her Home and Her Friends,(1902) and her sister, Ellen G. Hill were the prime movers in the desire to erect a tablet on the cottage, and helped form a committee to raise the necessary funds. They wished to commemorate the fact that this was the house where Jane Austen had lived and worked. At that time in the early 20th century the house was still in the ownership of the Knight family and was part of the Chawton estate. It was not open to the public, and the formation of the Jane Austen Society was some decades away. This booklet records, therefore, the beginnings of the interest in Jane Austen’s life, times and works which continues today.
Ellen Hill designed the tablet, shown below, which can still be seen on the house today, and its interesting symbolism is explained in the booklet.
The Jane Austen Centenary Memorial Tablet, in situ at Jane Austen’s House. ©Austenonly
If you would like to read the booklet, or download it to keep on your computer, then you may by clicking on this link, below, which will take you directly to the file.
I’m sure you will all want to thank Mr. Moore for this very kind and generous gift to us. The original booklet was found by him in one of his grandmother’s albums. She and her husband lived at the Great House, now know as Chawton House Library, below, in the 1930s.
Chawton House, Hampshire. ©Austenonly
He very carefully constructed the PDF file directly from it. I am very grateful to him for making this available to us all, and for his thoughtfulness. So, please, do enjoy reading this interesting item.
4 comments
June 25, 2012 at 11:18 pm
cathyallen
Oh my goodness, how kind of Mr. Moore! I shall download it onto all the computers I use! :-) Thank you for letting us know, Julie.
June 26, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Tina
Thank you so very much Mr.Moore!! This must have been a very touching ceremony, a ray of light in the middle of the preocupations of war, as one speaker mentions. I never overcome my amazement at the incredible admiration Jane has inspired over the years, over the globe.
A fitting homage in 1917…… what’s brewing for 2017???
June 28, 2012 at 1:54 pm
imogen88
Thank you Julie and Mr Moore, this is very kind and will be treasured. ;-)
July 3, 2012 at 8:43 am
jfwakefield
Isn’t it very generous of Mr Moore? Im so glad so many people have been able to download it and enjoy it.