Jane Austen's Travelling Writing Desk on display at a space, Southampton

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Jane Austen’s travelling writing desk is going on display in Southampton for the first time since she lived in the city over 200 years ago, providing literary and history fans the chance to see up-close what she used to pen early drafts of now internationally famous novels.

From November 2024 until February 2025, the famous novelist’s travelling writing desk will be displayed in God’s House Tower, just a stone's throw from where she lived during her time in Southampton. This marks the start of a city-wide programme of activities and events celebrating the writer’s 250th birthday in 2025, including opportunities for local communities to get involved through workshops, creative commissions and activities.

Given to Jane Austen by her father in December 1794, the portable writing desk opens to provide a slope on which to write, and has various compartments, including a lockable drawer for paper and valuables.

‘a space’ arts has worked with Southampton Forward to secure the desk on loan from the British Library, supported by funding from Art Fund, the national charity for art. This is the first time the writing desk  will be returning to Southampton since the famous author lived in the city between 1806 and 1809.

One of the most famous British authors, Jane Austen’s strong connections to the south of England - Hampshire and Bath in particular – have been well publicised, but the writer’s links with Southampton are lesser known. Austen was sent to school in Southampton when she was 7 years old and visited several more times before living in the city in her early 30s.

From November the desk will be exhibited in the Collections Gallery, with a contemporary artist commissioned to fill GHT’s main gallery from January 2025. A participatory women’s creative writing programme will offer routes to explore Austen’s life through the lens of her writing, the desk, and her time in Southampton.