Jane Austen to appear on the new 10-pound note

The rumours are true: the Bank of England has officially confirmed that writer Jane Austen (1775-1817) will be featured on the next 10-pound banknote. With this news the BoE seems to address the widespread criticism of having no women (other than the Queen) on English banknotes with the introduction of Sir Winston Churchill on the 5-pound note who will replace Elizabeth Fry.

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.

The new note with Jane Austen will be issued in 2017, one year after the Churchill banknote which will be issued in 2016.

Update 2 August 2013: Not everybody is delighted with the choice for Jane Austen. Here's the (quite funny) criticism from a literary point of view.

Below is the artists impression of the new design based on the features mentioned above:

Update 7 February 2017: could this be an image of the actual note?

source - banknotenews.com
Steven Thursday 25 July 2013 at 08:28 am | | news
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