Chawton House Library is home to a specialist collection of women’s writings. The Library, set in the former working estate of Jane Austen’s brother, seeks to promote, preserve and protect the study into English women’s writing from the 17th to 19th century. This unique collection is also home to stunning examples of 18th and 19th century portraiture of female writers, intellectuals and literary characters. Highlights of the collection include Sir Joshua Reynolds’s portrait of the Georgian actress Catherine Kitty Fisher and Sir John Hoppner’s portrait of the 18th century actress Mary Robinson playing Perdita in William Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale.