Our First Anniversary Give–Away

Today is the anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth in 1775 at Steventon in Hampshire. Visitors to the museum will be asked to join in our celebrations, as usual, by being offered a warming cup of coffee and a seasonal mince pie. And exactly one year ago we began this blog. So, to celebrate, we are going to offer a very easy competition with a rather special prize.

The rules are very easy. If you leave a comment to this post, then you will be automatically entered into a draw to win a copy the Chawton Edition of Sense and Sensibility  which has been especially commissioned by the Museum to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the first publication of Sense and Sensibility in 2011.

This edition includes a facsimile of the first edition of the book that was published by Thomas Egerton in 1811.  All three volumes are bound in one, and it has been published in a strictly limited edition of 500.

The book comes in a beautiful presentation box, which also contains a reproduction of the Austen family seal, a feather quill, and a certificate of authenticity. In addition to all this, the Museum commissioned a foreword in the form of an essay about Sense and Sensibility written by Professor Kathryn Sutherland, of St Anne’s College, Oxford, who is the Museum’s Patron.  This is contained in a separate 20 page booklet which is also included in the presentation box.

The competition will be open until the 17^th January, 2013. You can add your comment until then, limited to one comment per person. The winner will be chosen at random by Louise West, the Museum’s Curator, on the 18th January and the result will be announced soon thereafter . We ought to emphasise that the competition is open to anyone who reads this blog, wherever you are in the world, for, we consider that if you take the trouble to read us, and to comment, you should be eligible to enter!

And now it only remains for us to say….Good luck!