Interview With Jacqui Grainger, Librarian, Chawton House Library, Hampshire, Uk

摘要

Chawton House Library is a research library with a unique collection of books focusing on women's writing in English from 1600-1830. This specialist collection, set in the home and working estate of Jane Austen's brother, provides the opportunity to study and savour the texts in their original setting and inspires passion in readers of all ages. The Chawton Estate has been closely connected with the Knight family since the early 16th century. Chawton House was built in 1583 by John Knight and passed by inheritance to Jane Austen's brother, Edward, on the death of their childless cousin Thomas Knight, in 1794. Jane, her mother and her sister subsequently moved to a house in Chawton village, now Jane Austen's House Museum. Edward himself later changed his surname to Knight. In 1987, the house was inherited by Richard Knight, but was by then in such a dilapidated state that radical action was required. In 1993, following the failure of a plan to convert the estate to a country club and golf course, the American philanthropist, Sandy Lerner, acquired a 125-year lease for the purpose of forming a library and study centre based on her collection of 7,000 works by women writing in English before 1830. Following ten years of meticulous research, planning and restoration work, Chawton House Library opened as a research library and study centre in July 2003.