A lively celebration

Fifty years ago, the ardent Janeite collector Alberta Burke--whose husband, Henry, would go on to co-found the Jane Austen Society of North America—left her trove of Austen letters and manuscripts to the institution now known as the Morgan Library and Museum, in New York City.

This year, just in time to mark the anniversary of its Burke inheritance, the Morgan is putting some of those treasures on display as part of “A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250,” an exhibition that opens tomorrow and runs through September 14.

Drawing on books, manuscripts, and artwork from the Morgan’s collection, along with artifacts from Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, England, the Morgan exhibit “immerses viewers in the inspiring story of Jane Austen’s authorship and her gradual rise to international fame,” the museum website says. (Immersion yet again! Clearly, it’s the theme of Austen 250 festivities.)

Included in the Morgan exhibit will be four copies of an early, unauthorized American edition of Emma, which help tell the story of Austen’s reception on this side of the Atlantic-- a longtime research interest of exhibit co-curator Juliette Wells, an Austen scholar who is professor of literary studies at Goucher College, near Baltimore.

As Alberta Burke’s alma mater, Goucher inherited its own cache of her Austeniana, including her extensive scrapbooks of Austen-related ephemera, and items from Goucher’s collection are also included in the Morgan exhibit.

A slate of related programming will take place all summer; among the highlights are a July 17 discussion and dramatic reading of Austen’s “Lady Susan” and an August 14 screening of Clueless, featuring a conversation with Mona May, who designed the film’s hilarious and memorable costumes.

The Morgan’s last Jane Austen exhibition--“A Woman's Wit: Jane Austen's Life and Legacy,” in 2009-10—was a not-to-be-missed event for Janeites, and the new version promises to be equally enthralling. Admission to the Morgan is via timed-entry ticket, and I won’t be waiting till the last minute to reserve mine. Call me crazy, but I think this one might pull in some fans.