EVENTS

2026 Events

Rebecca Romney: “Jane Austen, Author in Dialogue”

Rare books specialist and author of Jane Austen’s Bookshelf

October 10, 2026, 2:00

Free Library of Philadelphia, Parkway Central Branch, Montgomery Auditorium

1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia

Free and open to the public. No registration required.

Jane Austen was not a lone genius, toiling to perfection away from the rest of the world. She was an engaged reader as well as writer, and her works show the influence of other writers whose work she loved. This lecture introduces some of the women writers profiled in Jane Austen’s Bookshelf, with special emphasis on the ways in which their books may have shaped or otherwise influenced Jane Austen. Some of them are well known, such as Frances Burney. Others are less so–and deserve more, like Charlotte Smith.

Rebecca Romney is the co-founder of the rare book company Type Punch Matrix and co-founder of the Honey and Wax Book Collecting Prize. Her latest book is Jane Austen’s Bookshelf (Scribner, 2025), chronicling her efforts to build a collection of Jane Austen’s favorite women writers

Jane Austen’s 251st Birthday and Dance

Germantown Country Dancers will provide instruction on Regency dancing and attendees will have the chance to dance. There will also be potluck snacks.

December 13, 2026, 1:30

Merion Friends Meeting Activities Center, 615 Montgomery Avenue, Merion Station, PA 19066

Registration information forthcoming.

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