Jane Austen's House Museum needs people with good communication skills to be stewards. From July 2009 the Museum will also require additional volunteers to help with events. If you have any time to spare and would like to know more about these rewarding volunteer roles please ring: 07740 717601

Professor Sutherland says: ‘The manuscripts were originally held in a single collection by Jane’s sister Cassandra. However at Cassandra’s death in 1845, they were dispersed - first among the Austen family and subsequently into museums and private collections across the world; so the collection hasn’t been viewed as a whole for over 150 years. But now, thanks to the latest digital technology and funding from the AHRC, the manuscripts have been reunited online for the benefit of scholars and the general public alike.’

The project breaks new ground in the online presentation and encoding of any author’s manuscript materials, enhancing remote access to Jane Austen’s writings and allowing anyone interested in her work to make new discoveries for themselves and to see her imagination at work. The Jane Austen’s Fiction Manuscripts Digital Edition, edited by Kathryn Sutherland, is at http://www.janeausten.ac.uk