British 10-pound note honors Jane Austen
LONDON—Two hundred years to the day after Jane Austen died, a new 10-pound note featuring an image of one of England’s most revered authors has been unveiled—right where she was buried.
At the unveiling Tuesday of the new “tenner” at Winchester Cathedral in southern England, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the new note celebrates the “universal appeal” of Austen’s work.
Austen, whose novels include “Pride and Prejudice,” ”Emma” and “Sense and Sensibility,” is considered one of the most perceptive chroniclers of English country life and mores in the Georgian era. Combining wit, romance and social commentary, her books have been adapted countless times for television and film.
“Our banknotes serve as repositories of the country’s collective memory, promoting awareness of the United Kingdom’s glorious history and highlighting the contributions of its greatest citizens,” Carney said.
The new note, which is due to go into circulation on Sept. 14, is the bank’s latest effort to make its notes more secure by using plastic, not paper.
It’s printed on polymer, just like the recently re-launched 5-pound note, which features Winston Churchill. A new 20-pound note that will feature the landscape painter J.M.W. Turner is also in the works and scheduled to be rolled out in 2020.
The new note also includes a new tactile feature to assist the visually impaired, which was developed in conjunction with the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
Apart from Queen Elizabeth II, whose portrait is on all U.K. currency, Austen is only the third woman to feature on a modern-day British bank note, after medical innovator Florence Nightingale and social reformer Elizabeth Fry.
She was chosen after a campaign for more female representation.
As well as a portrait of Austen commissioned by her nephew in 1870, the note features a quote from “Pride and Prejudice”: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”
Some Austen fans questioned the choice of the quote—spoken in the novel with deep insincerity by the unlikable Caroline Bingley.
Carney said that the quote was quintessential Austen: It could be read straight or enjoyed ironically.
“It works on many levels,” he said.