A pamphlet giving an account of the trial of Mrs Leigh Perrot on a charge of stealing a card of lace, of which she was found not guilty, though her own counsel believed her to be a kleptomaniac. Jane Austen’s aunt, Mrs Leigh Perrot is said to have been the inspiration for two unappealing characters in the author’s novels. The pamphlet is one of the featured items in Jane Austen in 41 Objects by Professor Kathryn Sutherland, a don at St Anne’s College, Oxford (Bodleian, in association with Jane Austen’s House, £25 (£22.50); 978-1-85124-626-7)
