Chawton House Library

Chawton House Library (www.chawtonhouse.org) is an independent research library and study centre which focuses on women’s writing in English from 1600 to 1830. It is accommodated in the Elizabethan manor house that once belonged to Jane Austen’s brother, in the village of Chawton in Hampshire, England. The library’s main aim is to promote and facilitate study in the field of early women’s writing. Pickering & Chatto is proud to be participating in a major joint venture to make available many of these rare texts in new scholarly editions.

The series is organized into three areas: Women’s Memoirs, Women’s Travel Writings and Women’s Novels. The Memoirs and Travel Writings are multi-volume editions with full texts reproduced in facsimile with new scholarly apparatus. The texts have been carefully selected to illustrate various themes in women’s history.

In addition the Chawton House Library Series will include reset editions of rare and important novels by women authors, complete with extensive introductory matter and endnotes.

• All texts are republished in full
• Selected for their rarity, the texts are drawn from Chawton House’s unparalleled collection
• Most of the texts included have never before been republished
• Each set in the series includes a substantial general introduction, headnotes, endnotes and a consolidated index in their final volume
• Each facsimile page is digitally cleaned and enhanced, significantly improving on the quality and legibility of the original

Stephen Bending is at the University of Southampton

Stephen Bygrave is at the University of Southampton

Jennie Batchelor is at the University of Kent

Gillian Dow is at the University of Southampton

Isobel Grundy is at the University of Alberta

Emma Clery is at the University of Southampton

Jacqui Grainger is the Librarian at Chawton House

Helen Scott is at Oxford University Library Services

We invite submissions from established scholars and first-time authors alike. Prospective authors should send a detailed proposal with a rationale, chapter outlines and at least two sample chapters alongside a brief author’s biography and an anticipated submission date.

For detailed information on submitting a proposal, including an example of a successful submission, please click here.

Please contact either Mark Pollard, Publishing Director (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ), Kate Macdonald (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or Ann Rea (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) for preliminary review.