instrument in the Russell collection. If it is indeed a Backers it would appear that its maker, having found a winning formula, was not inclined to make changes. Americus in fiction In the opinion of expert students of the works of Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice showcases two brand new Americus Backers pianofortes - one purchased by Mr. Darcy for his sister and the other in the "fine modern house" of his aunt, Lady Catherine. Remember that we see Jane Austen's work as historical fiction but she was writing about the height of modern fashion as she saw it. We are intended to envy and to admire her characters who were fashion leaders in the highest society whose new Palladian residences were commissioned with the sole purpose of impressing house guests, to which end they were filled with the very utmost in furnishings and fittings that London and the British Empire has to offer, including the novelty of a brand new class of musical instrument - the piano. So a Backers piano is intended to imply the owner is at the cutting edge of fashion with the taste and disposable funds that make them the leaders and most enviable members of high society. (Remember that Austen is writing contemporarily with Backers. By the time she is published in the second decade of the 19th Century, piano design had moved on and the must-have instrument of the day would have been a piano by Thomas Broadwood, much like the one he supplied to Beethoven.) Bibliography "Fenton House Hampstead, the National Trust 1978 Early keyboard Instruments The Benton Fletcher Collection", National Trust 1976 Harding, Professor Rosamund J., "The Pianoforte, its history traced to the Great Exhibition of 1851", Hechscher & Company Hipkins, Alfred J., "The History of the Pianoforte", Scientific American supplement number 385, New York, 19 May 1883, a paper given before the Society of Arts, London Kottisck, Edward L., "Early Keyboard Instruments in European Museums", published by George Lucktenburg pp 217, 232 The Harpsichord and Fortepiano Magazine 414, October 1987, pp 74–85, Palmieri, Robert and Margaret W (editors), "Encyclopedia of Keyboard Instruments Vol. 1: The Piano", Garland Reference, Library of the Humanities,- 1131.) New York: Garland Publishing, 1994 and 2004 (Revised) Reece's Cyclopedia 1772 Wainwright, David "Broadwood: A Family History" Williams, John Paul, "The Piano, an Inspirational Guide to the Piano and its Place in History", pp 21 References 18th-century