The Royal Family is marking beloved author Jane Austen’s 250th
birthday by displaying a never before seen book from Queen
Victoria’s private collection.
During half-term, Prince Albert’s private copy of Pride and
Prejudice will be on display at Windsor Castle. While there
are many books in the Royal Collection, this was in the Prince’s
private library and he read aloud to Queen Victoria from it in July
1853 when she was recovering from measles.
The rare book has never been displayed publicly before. It will
also be displayed with a first edition of Pride Prejudice
that is believed to have possibly been in the Servants’ Library
previously.
The two copies of Pride and Prejudice will be joined by
King George IV’s personal copy of Emma. The then-Prince
Regent was a massive fan of Austen and requested that her next
novel be dedicated to him. The three volume version of
Emma features gold tooling, to match his luxurious
tastes.
Other Regency-era books from the Royal Library will be on
display at Windsor, including two books showing fashion prints from
the period.
The Pride and Prejudice display will be open to
visitors from Saturday, 25 October until Sunday, 2 November in the
Queen’s Drawing Room at Windsor Castle.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalcentral.co.uk ’
