Product description
Few authors in literary history have had the ability to craft dialogue and bring characters to life as elegantly, ironically and astutely as British author Jane Austen. Montblanc has created the Writers Edition Homage to Jane Austen to celebrate one of English literature’s most famous authors. This edition transports us to the picturesque landscape of Hampshire, where, from 1809, Jane Austen found the quiet and inspiration she needed to be able to complete and publish her famous novels. Financially secure thanks to the generosity of her brother, she could dedicate herself fully to writing, literature and playing her cherished piano. Her delight at the beautiful square piano she purchased when she moved to her small cottage in Chawton inspired the design of the barrel, which is made of precious hornbeam wood. The gold-coated cap, whose design echoes the historic wall panelling and fireplace at Jane Austen’s home, harmonises beautifully with the barrel. In honour of what is probably Austen’s best-known novel, Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813, the cap ring is inscribed with the Roman numerals XXXIV. This number signifies the chapter in which the excessively proud Mr Darcy proposes to the wise and independent female protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet. The title page of her first novel Sense and Sensibility, published in 1811, merely declared the work to have been written ‘By a Lady’. These words also adorn the wooden inlay of the cap top surrounding the Montblanc emblem in mother-of-pearl. The writing instrument itself resembles a wax seal stamp, similar to the one Jane Austen herself would have used. The rhodium-coated clip of the Writers Edition Homage to Jane Austen Limited Edition 1813 is every bit as unusual as its cap. Shaped like a braided cord with a drawstring closure, it resembles that of a pouch (reticule) used to carry powder, a mirror and the indispensable pocket handkerchief. The only known silhouette of Jane Austen, showing her delicate features, is immortalised as a fine engraving on the handcrafted, bicolour, solid Au 750 gold nib. Limited to only 1,813 pieces – as a nod to the year of publication of Pride and Prejudice – the Writers Edition Homage to Jane Austen Limited Edition 1813 honours this masterful wordsmith whose subtle wit, acute powers of observation and razor-sharp intellect continue to resonate with and inspire people all over the world.
