Hampshire museum Jane Austen’s House is turning to its online fans around the world to collectively transcribe an unpublished memoir written by the novelist’s older brother.
The 78 page document was written by Sir Francis Austen, in what is believed to be his own handwriting. Interested fans are being asked to receive a high-quality scan of one page, and to send back a completed transcription; including symbols and potential spelling errors.
Once complete, the crowdsourced transcription will become the first complete publication of the memoir, which is currently on display in the museum’s exhibition, Travels with Frank Austen.
The document contains an account of Frank Austen’s life from his childhood in Chawton – the village in which the museum is based – through to his time in the Navy and his return to, and retirement in his home village.
While the text as a whole remains unpublished, some details are known, as short extracts have been published in various biographies of the Austens.
The museum plans to check through each of the submissions before compiling them into a single document, which will then be published online for all to access.
