Leigh Family Papers (Jane Austen’s Mother was Cassandra Leigh) unpublished letters and manuscripts from Jane Austen's mother's family, 1686–1823, 1866. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
"The Council also acquired 52 unpublished letters, poems, and other materials from Jane Austen’s mother’s family, the Leighs of Adlestrop. The collection spans six generations, capturing intimate family relationships across time."
“This is a deeply personal collection of family papers that draws back the curtain on the formalities of society in 17th- and 18th-century England,” said Vanessa Wilkie, William A. Moffett Curator of English Historical Manuscripts. “We’re looking at correspondence revealing the intimate, mundane, playful, and tragic aspects of the times.” The collection spans almost 200 years, with a range of voices from within one lineage. “You get a dear mother, affectionate father, dear son, dear cousin, dear brother, dear little niece, dear Madame, and even A. Nonymous,who writes a really funny letter that cautions against the dangers of falling in love with Miss Fortune.”
Historians and literary scholars continue to mine the legacy of Jane Austen, already well studied. These materials provide an unpublished window into her mother’s side of the family. It does not include Jane Austen material; most of her letters were burned by her sister after her death. The collection supplements other Leigh family material already in The Huntington’s possession."
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