Where Could This Text Go?

When one is considering a potential collection for a text, it is important to recognize the distinctive features of said text. These can generally include the medium of transmission, the subject matter of the text, and/or who wrote the text. In the specific case of my text, which is a letter from Jane Austen (dated 1820) to her sister, this could most realistically be sorted into either a collection of letters from early 19^thcentury writers or a collection of Jane Austen memorabilia (including, but certainly not limited to, rare first or second editions of her novels).

For a special collection, I would prefer to group my text in a collection with other Jane Austen memorabilia, as opposed to grouping it with other letters. My rationale for this is that, in the future, a collection of Jane Austen memorabilia, which includes other texts from Austen, is more likely to survive and be viewed by the general public than a group of loose letters. If this letter is part of a collection of Jane Austen materials, people who are scholars of (or even generally interested in) Jane Austen will come to see this text, whereas a collection of letters would probably be of interest to only a smaller subset of the population (specifically, 19^thcentury scholars).

The Harvard College Library System contains a myriad of funds for varying purposes, including the acquisition of Judaica and the collection of fine arts materials. Of the Harvard College book funds, I have found two that could potentially fund my collection. The Louis J. Appell Jr. Fund for British Civilization specifically functions to preserve British literature-related materials, and the Austen letter falls under this umbrella. Additionally, the Nathaniel Lauriat Book Fund in English Literature is for the general study of English Literature, and English Literature scholars could certainly study this text in terms of its unique letter formatting.