Nature 238, 161 - 162 (21 July 1972); doi:10.1038/238161a0

Scanning Electron Microscope Study of Jane Austen's Hair

J. A. SWIFT

Unilever Research, Isleworth Laboratory, 455 London Road, Isleworth, Middlesex

JANE AUSTEN (1775−1817) bequeathed a lock of her hair to her niece Fanny Knight. In 1949 this lock, mounted between two glass disks in a gilt frame, came into the possession of the Jane Austen Society and since then has been exhibited in the museum at Chawton in Hampshire. Recently we were approached by the society to examine the hair, for it was thought that some deterioration had occurred. Certainly some bleaching by light had taken place because the side of the lock which was exhibited uppermost was a light straw colour, whereas the underside was mid-brown. As it was desired to preserve the majority of the hair lock intact, our studies have been restricted to the examination of a few of the fibres with the aid of the scanning electron microscope.

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