Exhibition Celebrating

250th Anniversary of Jane Austen’s Birth

Opens June 6, 2025

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New York, NY (April 15, 2025) – The Morgan Library & Museum will present A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250, a major exhibition devoted to the life and legacy of the beloved literary icon. On view from June 6 through September 14, 2025, A Lively
Mind immerses viewers in the inspiring story of Jane Austen’s authorship and her gradual rise to international fame. Iconic artifacts from Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, England, will join manuscripts, books, and artworks from the Morgan, as well as from a dozen other institutional and private collections, to present compelling new perspectives on Austen’s literary achievement, her personal style, and her global legacy.

“Jane Austen has inspired generations of readers, and the Morgan is honored to join the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of her birth,” said Colin B. Bailey, Katharine J. Rayner Director of the Morgan Library & Museum. “Bringing together the Morgan’s expansive collection of Austen works, particularly her letters, alongside many exquisite loans, A Lively Mind is a rare opportunity to experience Austen’s many facets at once, from her family life to her authorship and her legacy.”

Born on December 16, 1775, Austen began cultivating her imaginative powers and her ambition to publish during her teen years. Austen’s upbringing was unconventional, particularly in the degree of familial support she received for her creative endeavors. Her creativity found expression in a range of artistic pursuits, from music making to a delight in fashion. Writing with an intimate knowledge of women’s lives but removed from many of the gender expectations herself, Austen gave voice to the everyday experiences and emotions of English gentlewomen.

Drawing significantly on Austen’s correspondence with Cassandra, her sister and lifelong confidante, A Lively Mind allows a picture of Austen’s life to emerge through her own words. Contemporary prints and drawings evoke sights familiar to her, while first-edition copies of her six major novels, from Sense and Sensibility to Persuasion, demonstrate how her identity as author was concealed from her earliest readers.

“A Lively Mind examines how it was possible for Austen
to publish her now-beloved novels when women generally
were not permitted to become writers, much less
encouraged to be,” said Dale Stinchcomb, Drue Heinz
Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts at the
Morgan Library & Museum. “In addition to her own
brilliance, many people—friends, family, readers—made her who she is today, and we hope visitors come away feeling that they can have a profound impact on literature and the arts as well.”

Though Austen’s novels now hold international renown, this was not always the case; those who loved her novels helped new generations of readers to appreciate them. American readers, in particular, played a major role in securing her place as one of the great English novelists. Unbeknownst to Austen, her work reached an appreciative audience in America during her lifetime. Among other notable editions and letters that highlight Austen’s influence in America, the exhibition brings together four of the six known surviving copies of the first American

edition of Emma, printed in Philadelphia in 1816. Each copy bears markings left by its past owners and readers.

“It’s exciting to share books and artworks, many of which have never been exhibited before, to bring to light how American readers first encountered and responded to Austen’s novels,” said Juliette Wells, co-curator of the exhibition and Professor of Literary Studies at Goucher College, “as well as to show how American advocates broadened Austen’s readership later in the nineteenth century.”

Additional highlights of the exhibition include Austen’s only surviving complete fiction manuscript, Lady Susan; Austen’s gold and turquoise ring; a playful letter to her niece, with every word spelled backwards; and a painting by Amy Sherald, A Single Man in Possession of a Good Fortune (2019), whose title is drawn from the opening line of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

In addition to celebrating Austen, A Lively
Mind commemorates the 50th anniversary of the landmark gift of Austen manuscripts to the Morgan by Alberta H. Burke. Burke bequeathed her Austen manuscripts to the Morgan because the institution welcomed her to view manuscripts even without an academic title, which members of the public can still request to do today. The exhibition also draws extensively on the extraordinary collection Burke bequeathed to Goucher College, in Baltimore.

The Morgan is home to nearly a third of Jane Austen’s surviving letters, the largest collection of her letters anywhere in the world. Alongside the opening of the exhibition, the Morgan will publish digital facsimiles of all fifty-one letters on our website for researchers, students, and lovers of Austen near and far to enjoy.

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Organization and Sponsorship

Organized by Dale Stinchcomb, the Morgan’s Drue Heinz Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts, and Juliette Wells, Professor of Literary Studies at Goucher College.

A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250 is made possible by generous support from the Drue Heinz Exhibitions and Programs Fund, Cynthia H. Polsky, Martha J. Fleischman, the Caroline Morgan Macomber Fund, and the Lucy Ricciardi Family Exhibition Fund, with assistance from the Morgan’s Literary and Historical Manuscripts Committee, Alyce Williams Toonk, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and Susan Jaffe Tane.

Programs

A Lively Mind is accompanied by a robust series of programs: Morgan After Hours on June 12, featuring live music, English country dancing, and more; a virtual teacher workshop on July 14; a dramatic reading and discussion in J. Pierpont Morgan’s Library of Austen’s short epistolary novel, Lady Susan (1871), on July 17; a three-part online course in August exploring Austen’s authorship; a 30th anniversary screening of Clueless (1995) with the film’s costume designer Mona May on August 14; a curator-led tour of the exhibition on August 29; and a wide-
ranging roundtable discussion on Austen’s fashion, letters, manuscripts, family, and posthumous recognition on September 12. Families can look forward to Austen-themed activities at the Spring Family Fair on June 14, as well as family-friendly exhibition tours and storytime on July 5 and August 2.

For more information and programs, visit themorgan.org/programs/list.

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Morgan Library & Museum

A museum and independent research library located in the heart of New York City, the
Morgan Library & Museum began as the personal library of financier, collector, and cultural benefactor Pierpont Morgan. The Morgan offers visitors close encounters with great works of human accomplishment in a setting treasured for its intimate scale and historic significance. Its collection of manuscripts, rare books, music, drawings, and works of art comprises a unique and dynamic record of civilization, as well as an incomparable repository of ideas and of the creative process from 4000 BC to the present.