The new £10 note featuring Jane Austen
Today is the day that the new £10 note enters circulation in the UK, featuring the great Jane Austen. The new polymer note is said to be more secure and resilient.
So what can be said about what features on the note?
The portrait
Now this picture has caused a little bit of controversy with some stating that it is an almost Disney/airbrushed version of Jane. Admittedly, it has been altered from the portrait of Jane Austen commissioned by her nephew James Edward Austen Leigh for his memoir of his aunt in 1869.
The original artist, James Andrews, based his portrait on the watercolour sketch that Jane's sister Cassandra started around 1810, which is the only authenticated portrait of Jane. Her sister did paint another painting of Jane but unfortunately she has her back turned from us! Cassandra did not finish her portrait, abandoning it half finished, as the family did not think it resembled Jane. However, I find it interesting that the sketch had been kept in spite of this.
The James Andrews portrait is described on Wikipedia as a "victorianised" portrait of Jane Austen, and as it was commissioned quite some time after her death it cannot be entirely accurate. Her niece Anna wrote: "The portrait is better than I expected - as considering its early date, and that it has lately passed through the hands of painter and engraver - I did not reckon upon finding any likeness - but there is a look which I recognise as hers - and though the general resemblance is not strong, yet as it represents a pleasant countenance it is so far a trust - & I am not dissatisfied with it".
You can see the difference between the three below in ascending order:
The quote
The quote has also caused controversy due to the character who says it.
A nice quote on it's own, and it does hint towards Jane Austen being an author. However, it is Caroline Bingley in Pride and Prejudice who actually says the phrase. She doesn't enjoy reading and is only saying it to grab the attention of Mr Darcy:
Miss Bingley’s attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr. Darcy’s progress through his book, as in reading her own; and she was perpetually either making some inquiry, or looking at his page. She could not win him, however, to any conversation; he merely answered her question, and read on. At length, quite exhausted by the attempt to be amused with her own book, which she had only chosen because it was the second volume of his, she gave a great yawn and said, “How pleasant it is to spend an evening in this way! I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”
No one made any reply. She then yawned again, threw aside her book, and cast her eyes round the room in quest for some amusement;
The house
In addition to all the above, the house featured in the background of the note has also caused some slight grumbles. The house is Godmersham, which her brother Edward Knight inherited through his adoption by Thomas and Catherine Knight, paternal relatives. The wealthy couple were childless and adopted Edward to make him their legal heir.
Jane Austen never lived at Godmersham, which is where the grumbles lie, but she did visit her brother and his family at the house, becoming particularly close to her niece Fanny Knight. Some say that Godmersham provided the inspiration for some of the great houses that feature in Jane Austen's novel, like Pemberley.
Illustration
In the background there is an illustration, which has been identified as one of Jane Austen's popular characters, Elizabeth Bennet, reading the letters that her sister had written to her. The drawing is by Isobel Bishop (1902-1988).
The foil image
The image is Winchester Cathedral, where Jane Austen is buried. She moved to accommodation in Winchester in May 1817 to seek better medical care but sadly died on 18th July 1817. Her brother Henry Austen, through his connections, arranged for Jane to be buried in the Cathedral, which it is said she admired. There are several memorials to Jane in the Cathedral.
Overall I think that even though it hasn't been executed perfectly to please everyone, it is quite an accomplishment for a female author to be featured on legal tender; and if it encourages just one person to pick up one of her novels to read, it will be worth it.
Jane Austen's House Museum at Chawton are currently asking people to donate their first new £10 to Jane's Fund #BringJaneHome, to help protect and maintain the house. Details on how to do this can be found below.
