AUSTEN (JANE) Autograph fragment of a sermon, [c.1814]

AUSTEN (JANE) Autograph fragment of a sermon, written in ink recto and verso, the sermon composed by her brother the Rev. James Austen, recto comprising 5 lines reading '...Our liturgy cannot indeed be other than Scriptural when we consider by whom [...] it was formed...'; verso of 5 lines '...they were not impelled by headstrong Zeal on a perverse Spirit of Opposition to reject whatever was left sculptural in the old service of the Church - only because it had been used by the Catholics...', pencil note 'Jane Austen's writing' in another hand, cut from a larger sheet, c.35 x 157mm., [c.1814] Footnotes: 'OUR LITURGY CANNOT INDEED BE OTHER THAN SCRIPTURAL WHEN WE CONSIDER BY WHOM [...] IT WAS FORMED': A RARE 'SERMON SCRAP' COPIED OUT BY JANE AUSTEN TOUCHING ON THEMES IN MANSFIELD PARK. Our fragment of religious text, whilst in her handwriting, is clearly unlike the style of her usual correspondence and Dierdre Le Faye calls such fragments 'Sermon Scraps' (Jane Austen's Letters, 2011, p.xv). She explains that, in Spring 1870, Jane's favourite nephew and biographer James Edward Austen-Leigh received a request from the Mechanics Institution in Guernsey for a copy of his newly-published Memoirs together with an example of one of her letters. He wrote to his daughter Mary-Augusta that he was keen to do as they ask '...on account of the pleasant visit I paid there, with the Le Marchants more than twenty years ago...' (Letters, p.xvi). Not having a letter to give, however, he found one of his father James Austen's old sermons that had been partly written out by Aunt Jane, cut it up into about twenty sentences, and sent one off to Guernsey with a note of authentication confirming that it was in her hand, but not her composition. After the publication of the Memoir he received many such requests for Jane's autograph, and he was thus able to satisfy the requests by sending out these fragments of her handwriting, accompanied by his note of authentication and caveat. The present 'sermon scrap' was discovered loose within the leaves of an album originally compiled by James Edward's wife, Emma (see lot 72). It can therefore be assumed that our fragment was one of the twenty sentences cut from the sermon, but not yet prepared by James Edward for despatch, and has thus remained hidden in the album until now. Whilst not listed in Dierdre Le Faye's Letters, David Gilson has noted the whereabouts of eight other 'sermon scraps', including the Guernsey fragment, one of which, like ours, was not laid down and did not have James Edward's note of authentication (see David Gilson, 'Query 371. Jane Austen' Handwriting', The Book Collector, 36/2, Summer 1987, pp.269-270). Another fragment, possibly that sent to Guernsey, was rediscovered in 2014, and is now in the collection at Jane Austen's House (CHWJA.JAH380.1-3). Even by looking at these few sentences, a link can be seen between James Austen's sermon and the work of his sister. With several members of the clergy in the wider family, it is unsurprising that their religious discussions would influence Jane Austen's writing and perhaps, it has been suggested, vice versa. This is seen particularly in Mansfield Park, her most overtly religious novel, published in 1814 (thus suggesting a possible date for our fragment): '...Mansfield Park's concern with proper moral behaviour, its presentation of the dangers of stage entertainments, and its focus on the duties of clergymen have often led critics to regard it as the product of Anglican Evangelicalism... Austen... looks to the ruptures of the Reformation to explain the spiritual aridity of Mansfield Park, and she expresses her concern by evoking medieval religious spaces and commenting on their transformation... a multi-layered consideration of the legacy of the English Reformation...' (Roger Emerson Moore, Jane Austen and the Reformation, 2016, Chapter 5, pp.110-111). The text of our fragment touches on the loss of '...whatever was sculptural in the old service of the Church...', thus echoing Fanny's disappointment on seeing the lack of furnishings in the plain chapel at Sotherton Park, and her nostalgia for the end of the form of devotion formerly practiced there, leading '...to a broader discussion of the decay in spiritual devotion in a world defined by plain, uninspiring worship spaces...' (Emerson, p.111). Similarly, the recently discovered fragment at Jane Austen's House echoes a discussion in Mansfield Park on the 'art of reading' and its importance to the modern clergyman. Provenance: Emma Austen-Leigh (1801-1876, wife of the Rev. James Edward Austen-Leigh); by descent to Margaret Austen-Leigh (d.1986), of Isel Hall, Cumbria, second wife of Richard Austen-Leigh (d.1961), great nephew of Jane Austen; her friend and distant relation Mary Burkett (1924-2014); thence to the present owner. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing