Marks of Genius

Jane Austen's novels on display - Marks of Genius.

I recently visited the new Weston Library's Marks of Genius exhibition at Oxford. It features some wonderful Austen-era treasures. The poet Shelley's notebook, which contains a draft of his poem Julian and Maddalo, is on display, and the travel journal written by Percy and his wife Mary. A miniature portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, and one of the young Shelley, are on view, and a draft of Mary's landmark novel Frankenstein.


An early set of Jane Austen's novels is tantalisingly close to the visitor, and you can also see the manuscript of Jane Austen's unfinished novel The Watsons, and Volume the First, part of her juvenilia (her early works are full of fun).

Austen's Volume the First.

I very much enjoyed the exhibition, which is not limited to Austen's time - you can explore many other fabulous masterpieces from the Bodleian Libray collections, too.

Austen's The Watsons

This free exhibition runs until 20 September 2015, so do make a point of dropping in if you can. If you can't visit, you can buy the exhibition catalogue here.