Jane Austen Bank note

Jane Austen

Jane Austen has officially replaced Charles Darwin as the face of Britain's £10 note.

 

A new polymer £10 note featuring the image of renowned author Jane Austen has been unveiled on the 200th anniversary of the author's death.

 The controversy kicked off in 2013 when the central bank announced that former Prime Minister Winston Churchill would replace prison reformer Elizabeth Fry on the £5 note.
The design for the new note, which will be released into circulation in September, includes a portrait of Austen alongside the words: 'I declare after all there is no enjoyment but reading!'
While the quote from Pride & Prejudice praises the pleasure of reading and appears to be fitting for the banknote, it's actually a bit of an odd choice, as many Austen fans have pointed out.


That would have left British notes entirely dominated by men: Churchill on the fiver, Darwin on the £10, economist Adam Smith on the £20 and steam engine pioneers Matthew Boulton and James Watt on £50.
(The Queen is pictured on the front of all the notes by virtue of her being the current monarch.)
A campaign to have a woman on a note quickly gathered tens of thousands of signatures. Advocates also threatened legal action before the bank made concessions.
Caroline Criado-Perez, who launched the campaign, received hundreds of sexist tweets telling her she would be maimed, raped or killed. Her personal details were posted online.

 The Austen note will be issued as a £10 note printed on polymer in September 2017.

Features of the design on the reverse of the Jane Austen note will include:
 
  • The quote – “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” from Pride and Prejudice (Miss Bingley, Chapter XI).
  • Portrait of Jane Austen. Commissioned by James Edward Austen Leigh (Jane Austen’s nephew) in 1870, adapted from an original sketch of Jane Austen drawn by her sister, Cassandra Austen.
  • An illustration of Miss Elizabeth Bennet undertaking “The   examination of all the letters which Jane had written to her”– from a drawing by Isabel Bishop (1902-1988).
  • The image of Godmersham Park. Godmersham was home of Edward Austen Knight, Jane Austen's brother. Jane Austen visited the house often and it is believed that it was the inspiration for a number of her novels.
  • Jane Austen’s writing table – the central design in the background is inspired by the 12 sided writing table, and writing quills, used by Jane Austen at Chawton Cottage.​

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