Twenty-Five Years of Jane Austen

              I t is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
However litt le known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the
minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.
“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his dear lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last ?”
JULIA ROGERS LIBRARY | GOUCHER COLLEGE
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF Jane Austen
Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch-hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Barontage; there
he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect, by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there any unwelcome sensations, arising from domestic affairs, changed naturally into pity and contempt, as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century – and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his “I think all collections, particularly book collections, are necessarily love stories.” -Henry Gershon Burke, in a talk to the Baltimore Bibliophiles
Twenty-five years Twenty-five years ago Alberta and Henry Burke presented to Goucher College their personal
collection of 18th, 19th, and 20th century books related to Jane Austen and her times—an extraordinary
love story. The Burkes bequeathed such items as first editions of Jane Austen’s novels, rare gardening manuals, costume and carriage books, and an extensive list of critical works. To mark the 25th anniversary of this outstanding gift, we are pleased to present this brief look at the history of the Jane Austen Collection at Goucher College. The very positive effect of the collection on the
intellectual climate of Goucher is demonstrated in the list of milestones included here. The collection has clearly not languished, but rather has made an important contribution to student and faculty scholarship. The best description of this marvelous resource is in Henry Burke’s own words, in a letter we reprint for you here.
To further celebrate this anniversary of the Alberta and Henry Burke Collection, Goucher College has
established a special endowment to continue the work of the Burkes. According to the guidelines,
funds may be used in several ways: to add to the collection, to support student interns, and to catalog
or display the collection. The college is also pleased to announce the availability of a visiting
fellowship, described inside the back cover, for scholars who wish to use the collection.
We hope you enjoy this publication and its vicarious look at the lives of the collectors. Through this
document we wish to underscore the importance of the Burkes’ legacy to student and faculty
scholarship in the humanities and arts. Goucher College is proud to share in this love story.
OF JANE AUSTEN
The family of Dashwood had been long sett led in Sussex. Their
estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of
their property, where for many generations they had lived in so respectable
a manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding
acquaintance. The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to
a very advanced age, and who for many years of his life had a constant
companion and housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which happened
ten years before his own, produced a great alteration in his home; for to
ALBERTA AND HENRY BURKE
August 4, 1945
Letter Dear Mr. Ryskamp:
In reply to your letter of June 17, 1975, I am going to present
the story of my wife’s Jane Austen collection in this letter to
you rather than attempt to do it as a third person narrative. I
shall also be writing about us and refer to my wife as “Alberta.”
Like Mrs. Norris, I did write many of the letters concerning our
acquisitions and I am sure that, if the telephone had been
invented, Mrs. Norris would have made the calls. Alberta was
frequently asked how she came to be interested in Jane Austen
but the expression on her face in response to that question was
very much the kind of expression that you would see on the
face of someone sitting over a filet mignon and being asked
how he came to like steak.
She was a natural and avid reader and from the days of her
earliest recollection had the run of the La Crosse Library in
the town where she was born. She was also an exceedingly
retiring individual, which explains why her letters to friends
were brilliant but at no time did she feel an impulse to publish.
Perhaps this was one of her links to Jane Austen and the
collection itself was the two inches of ivory on which she
worked so exquisitely. She was incapable of breaking out of
this enclosure just as Jane Austen rejected the allurement of
writing about the House of Saxe Cobourg and never in her
novels touched on the Napoleonic wars or the class struggle.
The keystone of the collection was certainly the large paper
edition of the novels and the Keynes Bibliography. These were
sitting on the Austen shelf shortly after our marriage on
December 26, 1930. The letters appearing in 1932 were added
to the shelf as a birthday gift. I do not think at that time Alberta
seriously saw herself as a Jane Austen collector.
Perhaps, the turning point came in the summer of 1935, when
we arrived at Waterloo Station and David Cecil’s paper bound
essay was on view at the bookstall. We wandered up and down
Charing Cross Road, trying to find some of the items that had
especially entranced us in Keynes. We found a sympathetic
friend in Mr. Cohen at Marks and Company on Charing Cross
Road not too far from Trafalgar Square. We gave him a list of
our wants and were amazed at the response we received with-in
the next few months. Equally significant was Mr. Plummer,
FROM MR. HENRY BURKE TO
MR. CHARLES RYSKAMP, DIRECTOR OF THE PIERPONT MORGAN LIBRARY
who was working on reconstituting complete sets of
Ackermann’s Repository. A complete set in beautiful green
morocco was selling for $350.00. We contented ourselves with
buying odd, inexpensive, imperfect volumes. This was, how-ever,
the beginning of Alberta’s interest in color plate books.
She always had an abiding interest in clothes, whether called
costume or fashion. Among our shipboard reading in 1935 was
Elizabeth Hawes’ Fashion is Spinach. This interest in costume
led to the acquisition of Heideloff’s Gallery of Fashion. R. W.
Chapman had used Heideloff extensively for his illustrations.
It had been on loan at Platt Hall in Manchester for a short peri-od
and was then offered for sale by the owner. Thus, even from
the start, the Jane Austen collection spread into a search for
books dealing with background material of the late 18th and
early 19th century. These ranged from the specifically related
works of Gilpin and Repton to books on furniture, architecture
and the Cries of London [London Cries]. The costume collection
spread to include folk art and peasant costume. The beautiful
two volumes of plates of Greek regional costumes published by
the Benaki Museum in Athens was eagerly acquired.
Another early acquisition of collateral material included the
Winchester edition of the Complete Angler illustrated by D. Y.
Cameron and William Strang. A charming addition was offered
us by Elkin Matthews in 1937. This was Traditions by A Lady
(Mrs. Sherwood), containing a list of subscribers, which
included Miss Austen of Steventon near Overton. This was
obviously Cassandra but it was close enough to make the
Austen shelf.
We subscribed to the Sotheby catalogues but our first
purchase of a manuscript later at Hodgdon’s was R.W.C. No. 96
from the Richard Bently collection and arrived on July 8,
1938. A little later the same year, we were surprised to find
that William Randolph Hearst had a Jane Austen letter in his
vast miscellany. On a Saturday evening in December 1938, I
met a gentleman in front of the closed Parke-Bernet
Galleries in New York and he handed me a folder with
R.W.C. No. 89 with an offering price of $155.00. We did not
ask for any reduction. Later, we acquired manuscripts at
Sotheby’s, Maggs and other dealers. We used Percy Muir of
Elkin Matthews and Quaritch as our agents.
Keynes provided the targets that kept us busy. We pursued the
periodicals and when an early Dublin Review, Atlantic Monthly, or
Nation came our way, we felt as though we had discovered
some medieval manuscript. From 1935 on, the Listener and
T.L.S. were rich mines of Austen material. Alberta started keep-ing
notebooks where even the most casual Austen reference
merited an entry. Approximately 2,800 items of this sort have
LETTER FROM MR. HENRY BURKE TO MR. CHARLES RYSKAMP
found their way into the 10 notebooks which are now a part of
the Austen collection. Anything worth clipping was pasted into
the notebooks but where substantial articles were involved, the
entire magazine was saved. The publication of Scrutiny, every
copy of which was retained, further enriched the collection.
The three big events which almost filled a notebook apiece
were the production of Helen Jerome’s Pride and Prejudice, the
movie with Lawrence Olivier and Greer Garson, and the musi-cal
First Impressions. Records and stills were also added.
The interest in translations came early in the 1940’s when we
were vacationing in Canada. One of the most surprising
events was finding the six novels in Finnish when we
inquired for translations at a department store in Helsinski.
On another occasion, when we were in Copenhagen, we
walked halfway across the city to a publisher’s warehouse to
pick up the last remaining copy of a Danish Lady Susan.
Friends assisted in the search and came back joyfully from
their trips with a Spanish Pride and Prejudice or an Italian
Emma. The translations, many of which are ephemeral
paperbacks, include Italian, German, French, Flemish,
Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish, Portuguese,
Hebrew, Russian, Greek, and a Pride and Prejudice in Japanese
with charming illustrations.
The most valuable part of the collection is first editions, with
an almost perfect copy of Emma in boards and the labels
intact. Some of the firsts are rebound in attractive contem-porary
bindings. Second editions and American firsts were
also added. One of the most interesting items is the first
American Emma, which at one time belonged to Siegfried
Sassoon. Individual novels and sets of novels were purchased
only if the illustrations had a special appeal or the introduc-tions
had critical or literary value.
Under the heading of books containing Austen material were
those where only part was specifically devoted to Jane Austen.
Needless to say, all books devoted entirely to the Austen canon
were a part of the collection. In the meantime, entries in the
notebooks continued to grow, and the Keynes and Chapman
letters received elaborate pencil notations.
One of the most dramatic events came as a result of a listing by
Sotheby’s. The May 3, 1948 catalogue contained as part of a
Lot 266 a lock of George Austen’s hair with the annotation in
Jane’s hand “My father’s hair” and a lock of Jane’s hair with the
annotation in Cassandra’s hand “Miss J. Austen’s hair.” The
hair was forwarded to Miss Palmer by Cassandra. Lot 266 was
purchased by Alberta at the auction. When we attended the
Jane Austen Society meeting on July 23, 1949, Mr. Edward
Carpenter, who had recently acquired Chawton Cottage as a
memorial to his son killed in the war, complained bitterly that
because of a shortage of funds valuable relics were leaving
England and noted with particular sadness that a lock of Jane
Austen’s hair had been purchased at Sotheby’s by an American.
Alberta muttered under her breath, “I will give them the damn
hair.” She then rose and said very simply, “I am the American
who bought Jane’s hair and if the society would like to have it,
I shall be glad to make a contribution of the hair.” At that point,
the tent in which the meeting was being held almost collapsed.
The later story of the hair, how it was exposed to too much sun-light
and acquired a strange disease, was submitted to a leading
firm of consulting chemists for analysis, how the chemists dis-covered
that Jane had been careless in her grooming during the
last months of her life, and finally came up with a cure is all set
forth in the chronicles of the Jane Austen Society.
The collection is also enriched by Warner’s Travels from Jane’s
library with her autograph, gold coins ranging from the Austen
years through the Regency, and post cards and photographs of
Chawton, Bath and Lyme Regis.
During the early weeks of May, Alberta engaged in correspon-dence
with Professor Andrew Wright of the University of
California (San Diego). He was seeking confirmation of
material for a paper on dramatizations, radio and T.V. presenta-tion
of Austen material. As a result of this correspondence, an
additional item was added to the Austen collection. Professor
Wright kindly provided a copy of Jane, a theatrical piece by
Joan Mason Hurley, a descendent of J. E. Austen-Leigh.
In response to your request, I am sending you passport photos
and shipboard photographs taken over a number of years. In
each case, the year is marked on the back. These are probably
more representative than formal studio portraits.
I am leaving for London on the QE2 on Sunday evening,
July 6, and plan to return on Tuesday, August 12. I hope you
have had a pleasant stay in Europe. I shall be at the Hotel
Dorchester.
With the kindest regards, I remain
Sincerely,
LETTER FROM MR. HENRY BURKE TO MR. CHARLES RYSKAMP
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich with a comfortable
home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of
existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very
litt le to distress or vex her.
She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate,
indulgent father, and had, in consequence of her sister’s marriage, been
mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother had died too
long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembrance of her
Emma, London, printed for J. Murray, 1816.
First edition, as issued. Photo credit, Juanita Ignacio
1979 The inaugural meeting of the Jane
Austen Society of North America
(JASNA), founded by Joan Austen-
Leigh, J. David Grey, and Henry
Burke is held in New York City.
1976 • “Dedication Concert: a tribute to Alberta Hirschheimer
Burke ’28 in appreciation of her legacy to Goucher
College” includes the world premier of Professor of Music
Robert Hall Lewis’s “Three Prayers of Jane Austen,” a
work commissioned by Henry Burke.
• The Burke collection is first used by students in Professor
Ruth Limmer’s course in the history of the English novel.
1975 The Jane Austen Collection arrives at the Julia Rogers
Library after the death of Alberta Hirschheimer Burke on
May 22. The gift is presented to Goucher in honor of Mrs.
Burke’s parents, Louis and Joanna Hirschheimer. According
to Mrs. Burke: “From the time when my Jane Austen
material first began to overflow the one-shelf bounds
assigned to it, I have always intended that Goucher
should be the ultimate recipient, and I have hoped that,
sometime in the future, others would partake of the very
great pleasure which they have given me for many years.”
Bookplate the Burkes designed for their
Austen collection in 1935. The view is of
the west front of the Winchester Cathedral
and below the drawing is the first line of
the quatrain that precedes Kipling’s
story, The Janeites, “Jane lies in
Winchester-blessed be her shade.”
Illustration from Ackermann’s
Repository of Arts, Literature,
Fashions, Manufactures & C. New
Series. Vol.I, No.1. January 1, 1816.
Milestones OF THE JANE AUSTEN COLLECTION, 1975-2000
1980 The second Annual General Meeting (AGM) of
JASNA, coordinated by Henry Burke and Elsa
Solender, is held in Baltimore at locations includ-ing
Goucher College, Towson University, and the
Walters Art Gallery. Goucher College features an
exhibition of the Burke Collection.
1983 The fifth annual meeting of JASNA is held in Philadelphia. The Julia Rogers
Library lends a rare copy of the first American edition of Emma, published in
1816 in Philadelphia, for an exhibition of rare books and letters held at the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
1982 • A Bibliography of Jane Austen by David Gilson is published by
Clarenden Press in Oxford. To compile this bibliography, Gilson had
visited distinguished international libraries, including the Burke
Collection, to examine first and second editions of Jane Austen’s nov-els.
In his acknowledgments, Gilson expresses “special debts of grati-tude
to Alberta and Henry Burke,” as well as to the Goucher College
Library. His text includes the bibliographic specifications of the copies
he viewed at Goucher. For the first edition of Pride and Prejudice
(1813), for example, Gilson cites the following owners and locations of
these rare books: “H.M. the Queen, Windsor Castle (bookplate of
King George VI); Goucher College, Baltimore (no half-titles, from the
collection of Alberta H. Burke); Bodleian Library . . . .”
1984 A seven-session course on Jane Austen is team-taught at the
Goucher Center by Henry Burke, Elsa Solender, and Professor
Laurie Kaplan, Department of English. For the final session, a
gala luncheon program at Hampton House is honored by the
presence of President Rhoda Dorsey.
Excerpt from a Bibliography of Jane Austen by David Gilson, published by
Clarenden Press in Oxford.
1988 • Dances of Jane Austen’s time. Chorégraphie Antique, Goucher
College’s historical dance troupe, makes its debut perform-ance
at the annual meeting of the Baltimore chapter of
JASNA in a joint meeting with the Friends of the Goucher
College Library.
• Henry Burke is honored by Goucher College with a special
reception at the President’s house and presented with an
honorary membership in the Friends of the Library.
• The Burke collection travels to Georgetown University
with a special exhibition on Sense and Sensibility designed for
JASNA’s Annual General Meeting.
• Henry Burke, “the most interesting man in Baltimore—
The Baltimore Jewish Times,” dies on December 23.
1992 Professor Laurie Kaplan offers a senior seminar focus-ing
on “Jane Austen and the Georgians.” Among the
topics of student research are “Accommodation and
Society in Pride and Prejudice,” “Prosperity, Property,
and Tranquility in Mansfield Park,” “Courtship,
Flirtations, and Sexual Politics in Emma,” “Parody and
Satire in the Juvenilia,” and “Society in Motion:
Sanditon.”
1996 The Chronicle of Higher Education features
the Burke Collection in “Materials
Reflect a Couple’s Passion for Jane
Austen,” by Zoë Ingalls. The Baltimore Sun
highlights the Collection in “With ’Pride,’
without prejudice,” by Laura Lippman.
1991 A celebration of the 216th anniversary of Jane Austen’s
birth is held by the Baltimore chapter of JASNA at
Goucher. The afternoon of eighteenth-century cha-rades
and games is featured in The Baltimore Jewish
Times on December 20.
1993 Publication of “Such a lovely display of what imagi-nation
does”: a guide to the Jane Austen Collection is
funded by the Friends of the Goucher College
Library and a Henry Burke grant from JASNA.
1997 The Dunnock Theatre, Goucher College, pres-ents
the American premiere of My Solitary
Elegance: the Woman Behind the Works of Jane Austen,
written and performed by Judith French of
London, England.
Meital Waibsnaider ’99 is awarded a Goucher
Presidential Scholarship for research in England
to study Jane Austen’s music books and to recre-ate
the dances of the Regency Period mentioned
by Jane Austen in her novels and letters.
Goucher College adds Emanuel Bowen’s 1744
map of Antigua, with many place names reflected
in Jane Austen’s novels, to the Burke Collection.
Emanuel Bowen’s 1744 map of
Antigua
1998 • “Such a lovely display of what
imagination does”: a guide to the Jane
Austen Collection is added to the
Julia Rogers Library web page at
www.goucher.edu/library.
• The Winn Family Collection, which
comprises more than 275 volumes, is
bequeathed to Goucher College
through the generosity of Barbara Winn
Adams, a long-time JASNA member.
• The Georgian Fund is established by
the family of Gloria Maizel, a found-ing
member of The Readers’ Guild, in
her honor.
1999 Professor Laurie Kaplan is named Editor of Persuasions: The Jane
Austen Journal by the JASNA Board of Directors.
Goucher College sponsors the journal’s new cover design, which is
based on a letter from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra (repro-duced
courtesy of the Pierpont Morgan Library from the Alberta H.
Burke bequest).
Student internships for Persuasions are funded through a Strategic
Planning Grant awarded by Goucher College and a special grant
from JASNA.
The first issue of Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal On-Line,
published by JASNA, appears. Stinehour Press of Vermont
sponsors a special cover for a printout of 100 copies of this issue.
2000 • To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of
the Oxford Scholarships by Margaret Mahoney, Professor
Marilyn Butler, Oxford University, presents a lecture enti-tled
“About the House: Jane Austen’s Anthropological
Eye.”
• Chorégraphie Antique presents the spring dance concert
program “Great People & Great Dances,” with Professor
Laurie Kaplan as Jane Austen. For this program, Professor
Chrystelle Bond, Department of Dance, reconstructs the
Polonaise, the Prince of Wales Waltz, Les Graces, and Le
Boulanger, dances mentioned by Jane Austen in her letters
and novels.
• Persuasions and Persuasions On-Line, edited by Laurie
Kaplan, receive a $5,000 grant for development as educa-tional
resources from the Sonia Raiziss Giop Foundation,
and a $10,000 grant for inaugural changes from the
Colorado Springs AGM Coordinating Committee.
• The archival materials of JASNA arrive at the Julia Rogers
Library.
• The Friends of the Goucher College Library visit Jane
Austen manuscript materials donated to the Morgan
Library, NYC, by Alberta and Henry Burke.
• The Yousem Fund is established by Stella Platnick
Yousem, Goucher ’54, to provide financial support for the
Jane Austen Collection. According to the terms of the
gift, funds may be used for research, travel, visiting
lecturers or scholars, stipends for student interns, and
other expenses related to the care and promotion of the
collection.
Bookplate of Barbara Winn Adams
In conjunction with the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Alberta and Henry
Burke Collection, Goucher College invites scholars to apply for the biannual Burke
Jane Austen Scholar-in-Residence Grant. This five-day residency offers scholars the
opportunity to use the materials in the Burke Collection in the Rare Book Room of
the Julia Rogers Library at Goucher College and includes a $1000 stipend, travel
expenses, and hotel accommodations.
The scholar will offer one public lecture on Jane Austen and will meet with
students and faculty to discuss research methods and scholarly interests. The
residency must be taken during the fall or spring semesters. Applications must be
received by April 15, 2001 and the first grant will be awarded during the 2001-
2002 academic year.
Interested scholars should send a vita, statement of purpose, and two confidential
letters of recommendation to: Nancy Magnuson / College Librarian / Julia Rogers
Library / Goucher College / 1021 Dulaney Valley Road / Baltimore, MD 21204.
Biannual BURKE JANE AUSTEN SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE GRANT
Drawing by David Levine. Reprinted
with permission from The New
York Review of Books. Copyright
c1963-2000, NYREV, Inc.
Original drawing purchased by
Henry Burke for the Collection.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“Twenty-five Years of Jane Austen” was written by Laurie Kaplan, professor of English,
Goucher College and Nancy Magnuson, college librarian, Julia Rogers Library, Goucher
College and designed by the Office of Communications, Goucher College.
Support for the publication of “Twenty-five Years of Jane Austen” has been provided by
Goucher College, The Friends of the Goucher College Library, The Office of the Academic
Dean and Vice President, The Goucher College English Department, Dance Department,
History Department and Honors Program, the Katherine Parker Scholl Library Fund, and
The Jane Austen Society of North America.
For more information see the Library web page at www.goucher.edu/library or write to
jrogers@goucher.edu or the Julia Rogers Library, Goucher College, 1021 Dulaney Valley
Road, Baltimore, MD 21204.
C1172-10/00
JULIA ROGERS LIBRARY | GOUCHER COLLEGE | 1021 DULANEY VALLEY ROAD | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21204