UPDATE: Mr Darcy’s [a.k.a Laurence Olivier] jacket sold for $6,500. – estimate was $1500. – $2000. Russell Crowe’s Gladiator tunic sold for $7500!
There is a Hollywood auction taking place today in California – the Profiles in History auction house has a number of Hollywood artifacts being offered at their Hollywood Auction 56, the costumes for the Sound of Musicmovie for starters. But here is one item of interest to Jane Austen followers, a pure piece of Austen and movie memorabilia to grace anyone’s closet:
Lot 422: Laurence Olivier screen-worn “Mr. Darcy” jacket from Pride and Prejudice.
Laurence Olivier screen-worn “Mr. Darcy” jacket from Pride and Prejudice. (MGM, 1940).
A beautiful smoking jacket, screen-worn by Laurence Olivier as “Mr. Darcy” in the epic film adapted from the classic Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice. Consisting of crimson, corded silk jacket with wide quilted satin lapels, black braid brocade loop and cloth-covered button front closure, integral sash with black fringed ends, crème-colored pleats peeking from sleeve cuffs and dark maroon satin lining throughout. MGM internal bias label on inside collar with “Larry Olivier” handwritten in black ink. This striking costume exhibits barely detectable age and wear. Fabric remains fresh with colors vibrant. Overall in vintage fine condition.
and view the various other pieces of Hollywood history that are available, 988 lots in total, from Marilyn Monroe to the Von Trapps – the catalogue itself a work of art and collectible for any movie nut. Here is the link to the flipbook – Mr. Darcy’s jacket is on page 141, right next to Gary Cooper’s costume from Sergeant York and opposite Judy Garland Wizard of Oz posters…
It all goes live this morning 11:00 am. PST!
p.s.: do you think Mr Darcy SMOKED??
p.s. 2: just so you don’t think that my other fantasies are not touched on in this auction, if you go to page 298-300, you will find the following:
Lot 803: Russell Crowe’s Maximus tunic from Gladiator.
Estimated Price: $2,000 – $3,000
Description:
Russell Crowe’s Maximus tunic from Gladiator. (DreamWorks, 2000) This tunic was worn by Russell Crowe as “Maximus” in Gladiator. The sleeveless, knee-length tunic is constructed from studio-distressed, unbleached cotton homespun fabric and lined with a light weight muslin reinforcement lining. A bias tag with “Max” written in black ink is sewn under the muslin lining at the back of the neck. “Max” wears this tunic when he is abducted from his destroyed home by Roman slave traders and taken to Zucchabar, a Roman city in North Africa. There, he is bought by the trader “Proximo” and forced to become a gladiator. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from the costumer.
[Note: Bidding for this item begins on July 29, 2013, 11:00 am PST]
“A lady stands at her dressing-table (right), her hair in an enormous pyramid decorated with feathers torn from a peacock, an ostrich and a cock. A young girl wearing a hat holds the peacock by a wing; another wearing a cap tugs hard at one of its tail feathers (which are very unlike peacock’s feathers). An ostrich (left), which has lost most of its tail feathers, is about to pluck out those which ornament the lady’s hair. A cock stands in the foreground (right), having lost almost all its tail feathers, many of which lie on the floor. A black servant wearing a turban stands on his mistress’s right, handing feathers from a number which he holds in his left hand. The lady, who faces three-quarter to the right, is elaborately dressed in the fashion of the day. Her pyramid of hair is decorated with lappets of lace and festoons…
There are Jane Austen events all over the place this summer, as a number of previous posts have shown, and thankfully I can post on a few that are right here in Vermont! – so mark your calendars!
Enjoy the company of like-minded enthusiasts on Saturday July 20 for a Garden Party at Inn Victoria’s Secret Garden:
If you wish you may dress in period costume
Enjoy book readings
High Tea in an elegant & peaceful garden setting
Evening movie [a Jane Austen of course!] on the 8′ x 12′ screen
You can reserve for the day [events begin about 1pm and go through the evening movie and will cost $35. / person], or you can call to Reserve for the day and a room to spend the night….802-875-4288
Inn Victoria Chester Vermont
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The Governor’s House in Hyde Park Vermont continues its series of Jane Austen weekends with two events this August:
Governor’s House – The English Room
Pride and PrejudiceWeekend on August 2 – 4, 2013 [and if you cannot make this weekend, you can also try September 13 – 15, 2013 or January 10 – 12, 2014!]:
A leisurely weekend of literary-inspired diversions has something for every Jane Austen devoteé. Imagine a literary retreat that will slip you quietly back into Regency England in a beautiful old mansion where Jane herself would feel at home. Take afternoon tea. Listen to Mozart. Bring your needlework. Share your thoughts at a book discussion of Pride and Prejudice and how the movies stand up to the books. Attend the talk about the time of Jane Austen. Test your knowledge of Jane Austen, her books, and the Regency period and possibly take home a prize. Take a carriage ride. For the gentleman there are riding and fly fishing as well as lots of more modern diversions if a whole weekend of Jane is not his cup of tea. Join every activity or simply indulge yourself quietly all weekend watching the movies. Dress in whichever century suits you. Just imagine the interesting conversation with a whole houseful of Jane’s readers under one roof. Weekend guests have commented that they wish there had been a tape recorder under the dinner table so they could replay the evening again and again. It won’t just be good company; it will be the “company of clever well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation”. It will be the best! It’snot Bath, but it is Hyde Park and you’ll love Vermont circa 1800.
And also this: Special Jane Austen Weekend in Character, August 9 – 11, 2013
Another Jane Austen “in character” weekend is scheduled for August 2013. Each guest will choose to be a character from any one of Austen’s novels. Period dress is optional, but guests will interact in character throughout the weekend. The activities will depend somewhat on the weather and participant interest, but may include a Regency dinner party, an evening of games, letter writing, fencing, English Country dancing, crewel embroidery, tatting, rolled paper decoration, a game of croquet, a very long walk, riding, carriage driving, archery, shooting, and a picnic with or without Colonel Brandon. Rates are the same as regular Jane Austen weekends, but there is an additional charge to participate in some activities. Now’s your chance to be Elizabeth Bennet, Anne Elliot or Lady Catherine, but only one of each character may sign up so make haste to confirm your reservation. Bring your own Darcy or maybe meet him on the croquet lawn. Perhaps the door to the romance of Jane’s world isn’t in Hammersmith after all.
You can view the video of last year’s character weekend here:
You can also participate in the Inn’s periodic Afternoon Teas: [see website for costs]
Afternoon Tea and Tea Etiquette Talk – June 30, 2013 3:00 pm
Jane Austen Tea – August 3, 2013 3:00 pm
Jane Austen Tea – September 14, 2013 3:00 pm
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And a small digression here: Innkeeper Suzanne began her series of Downton Abbey discussion dinners this past winter and these will continue once the new season is broadcast, so watch the website for dates and times. And if this isn’t enough to fill up your schedule, Suzanne is also embarking on a new literary adventure called the Vermont Apple Pie Literary and Travel Society:
The fictional Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Peel Society began as a spur-of-the-moment inspiration to make it possible for the people of Guernsey to get together and enliven their existence during the time of the World War II German occupation of the islands. Although this is Vermont and our pie will be apple, we too want to enliven our evenings with stimulating conversation. Guernsey during the occupation and how that impacted the daily lives of its citizens will be the topic for our first series of dinners and talks. We will organize a travel adventure to Guernsey and other Channel Islands in May.
It’s not your ordinary book club, more like a salon where discerning minds can share their intellectual curiosity, although books will be part of the backdrop of our discussions and we will suggest a list of possible titles to consider reading for each topic. The dinners will be held on Saturday evenings and for those who spend the weekend, there may be other activities to expand the general topic. We invite your thoughts and participation. So if you enjoy the society of people who read and think, want to learn something new, enjoy talking about ideas, yearn to visit new places and expand your circle of interesting friends, then please join us because we want to hear what you have to add to the conversation.
The dinners will be held at the Governor’s House in Hyde Park, 100 Main Street, Hyde Park, Vermont. Cost is $45.00 plus tax per person and, of course, includes home-made apple pie. See the website for reservation information.
The local Library in Bluffton South Carolina has been having weekly Downton Abbey discussions since the first episode of Season 3, all culminating in an Afternoon Tea this past week. A Season recap, Delicious fare, Fine company, Gorgeous hats, and Games of trivia to test our Downton Abbey brain power! – all staged with perfect finesse by Amanda, our fearless leader and Reference Librarian, the intent to keep us all (over 70 of us!) from falling into a deep Downton Abbey depression. We toasted Julian Fellowes, bid our adieus to Sybil and Matthew and wondered aloud as to where the show shall take us next year, alas! eleven months of impatient waiting. We were asked which actor would we most like to have dinner with; which actor we would most like to be in a scene with; our favorite quotes; most memorable scene? and trivia questioned on our knowledge of all things Downton [like: Where does Lord Grantham sit at the dinner table? What is the proper dress for a dinner at home without guests? Where is the story set? Where is the actual Highclere Castle?, etc…] – most of us found we should have to re-watch all three seasons to get a a passing grade!
I append some pictures to share the day, with a Hearty Thanks to Amanda and the Friends of the Bluffton Library for all their efforts to prolong the Downton Abbey season as long as possible – I think even Violet would approve!
Delicious fare!Our Gracious Hostess Amanda…and her gorgeous hat!Our very own Mrs PatmoreOur very own Mr CarsonA bevy of Hats!Best hat for Afternoon Tea!The long wait until next January!
Comment below for the chance to win a surprise Jane Austen-related giveaway!
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The Ten Best Reasons to Go to a JASNA AGM, Or, Why I would celebrate Jane Austen’s Birthday
by Spiriting Her Around Such an Event
Well, I had the best of intentions to do a full write-up of all the major events at the latest JASNA AGM in Brooklyn – a special location for me personally as I am a New Yorker born and bred – but as I have mentioned elsewhere life gets in the way of our best-laid plans and as the AGM now seems light-years away, I propose to just offer a grand summary in the context of why one should go to this annual Jane Austen conference; and why do so many plan on being there year after year? Friends and family just shake their heads with the typical “she only wrote 6 books, whatever can you talk about for 4 days??” and I nod knowingly that a lifetime of conferences would not satisfy… It takes me a long while to re-enter the 21st century – how delightful it is to enjoy the late 18th and early 19th without all the attendant inconveniences! I shall make a best effort to give the salient points of this year’s conference, memory perhaps failing me, with a dependence upon sketchy notes, not enough pictures taken (and those that were, not very good…)
One often finds Jane Austen popping up in the oddest places; and this one that I stumbled upon the other day points out a scene in Emma that one can so easily pass by without much notice [Austen being such an expert at this – and the reason for repeated readings!] – this time in a book on of all things, “Buttons”!
Nina Edwards new book, On the Button: The Significance of an Ordinary Item (London: Tauris, 2012), has this little gem in the introduction:
In Jane Austen’s Emma, when Emma contrives to find out if Mr. Knightley is considering Jane Austen romantically, buttons both betray his real affections to the reader and come to his aid by concealing his distress from Emma herself: (xix-xx, I have added a bit to the quoted text]
“I know how highly you think of Jane Fairfax,” said Emma. Little Henry was in her thoughts, and a mixture of alarm and delicacy made her irresolute what else to say.
“Yes,” he replied, “any body may know how highly I think of her.”
“And yet,” said Emma, beginning hastily and with an arch look, but soon stopping — it was better, however, to know the worst at once — she hurried on — “And yet, perhaps, you may hardly be aware yourself how highly it is. The extent of your admiration may take you by surprize some day or other.”
Mr. Knightley was hard at work upon the lower buttons of his thick leather gaiters, and either the exertion of getting them together, or some other cause, brought the colour into his face, as he answered,
“Oh! are you there? But you are miserably behindhand. Mr. Cole gave me a hint of it six weeks ago.”
He stopped. Emma felt her foot pressed by Mrs. Weston, and did not herself know what to think. In a moment he went on —
“That will never be, however, I can assure you. Miss Fairfax, I dare say, would not have me if I were to ask her; and I am very sure I shall never ask her.”
Emma returned her friend’s pressure with interest; and was pleased enough to exclaim,
“You are not vain, Mr. Knightley. I will say that for you.”
He seemed hardly to hear her; he was thoughtful, and in a manner which shewed him not pleased, soon afterwards said,
“So you have been settling that I should marry Jane Fairfax.”
(Emma, Vol. II, Ch. XV)
Here the gaiters seen to represent his morally dependable (but compared with the dashing Henry Crawford*) unexciting character; the buttons provide a refuge, the simple task of buttoning masking his emotion.
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what Mr. Knightley was so busily buttoning
image: Gaiters, 1805-10, British, the MetMuseum.org
(*I think she must mean Frank Churchill here, as Mansfield Park is nowhere in sight…!)
Isn’t this a wonderful passage? – one forgets how clearly Austen has strewn clues throughout the book as to Knightley’s true affections. Significant indeed! And it harks back to the scene with Emma contriving to repair her broken boot-lace to aid Mr. Elton and Harriet in their “courtship.”
Any thoughts?
The book, by the way, for anyone who has an interest in fashion and its cultural history, and especially the all-important button, looks quite wonderful:
What do you use every day that is small and large, worthless and beyond price? It’s easily found in the gutter, yet you may never be able to replace it. You are always losing it, but it faithfully protects you; sexy and uptight, it is knitted in to your affections or it may give you nightmares. It has led to conflict, fostered and repressed political and religious change, and epitomizes the great aesthetic movements. It’s Eurocentric, and is found all over the world.
On the Button is an inventive and unusual exploration of the cultural history of the button, illustrated with a multiplicity of buttons in black and white and color. It tells tales of a huge variety of the button’s forms and functions, its sometimes uncompromising glamour, its stronghold in fashion and literature, its place in the visual arts, its association with crime and death, and its tender call to nostalgia and the sentimental. There have been works addressed to the button collector and general cultural histories, but On the Buttonlinks the two, revealing why we are so attracted to buttons, and how they punch way above their weight.You can view it here: http://books.google.com/books/ibtauris?id=Rb46WTFfQAAC&dq=jane+austen&source=gbs_navlinks_s
The AGM in Brooklyn brought many pleasures, and one of the most pleasurable was meeting and talking with Susannah Fullerton. I have long been an admirer – she is the President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia and a quick perusal of their website shows the extent of what she and her organization do, from annual meetings to conferences and the JASA publications Sensibilities and The JASA Chronicle. Susannah also leads a number of literary tours for ASA Cultural Tours [Australians Studying Abroad], and lectures on Austen around the world. And I must add that she was perfectly cast as the close-to-hysterical Marianne in the “Austen Assizes” script by Diana Birchall and Syrie James staged in Brooklyn!
Susannah has written many articles and a few books, one on which remains an all-time favorite, Jane Austen and Crime (Jones Books, 2004), wherein Ms. Fullerton gives us the real world that Jane Austen alludes to in all her works, the realities of such pieces in the narrative as Willoughby as serial seducer, Lydia’s “elopement,” and even the gypsies in Emma. In her newest work, A Dance with Jane Austen: How a Novelist and her Characters went to the Ball(London: Frances Lincoln, 2012), Fullerton offers up the same detailed analysis of what Austen so off-handedly tells us, most of which we don’t quite “get” as 21st-century readers – the dressing for the dance, getting to the Ball, the various types of balls, proper etiquette, the music, the conversation, the Men! – all of it to enhance our understanding of Austen’s time and therefore her stories…
I have asked Susannah to join us today to tell us a little about her book, and her publisher has generously offered a copy for a giveaway – please see the information below on entering to win!
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SF: Some years ago I was having dinner with Joan Strasbaugh of Jones Books, the publishing firm which had brought out the American edition of my book Jane Austen and Crime, when Joan suggested that a book that really needed to be written was a book about Jane Austen and Dance. I was taken aback for a moment! Surely, with dances playing such a vital role in Jane Austen’s fiction, that subject had already been covered. But when I stopped to think, I realised it had not. Many Austen scholars have written about her dance scenes as part of other works, but there was no one book devoted entirely to that subject, a book that explored the social etiquette of the ballroom, the vital role dance played in courtship, the suppers served and the music played. Would I be interested, Joan asked, because if so, she could recommend the project to Frances Lincoln UK Ltd. And so I started writing.
image: Republic of Pemberley
What I wanted to do, I decided, was to follow Jane Austen’s characters to a ball. Had I been Jane or Elizabeth Bennet, what would the whole process of going to a dance have involved? How did a heroine get to a ball in the first place if her family had no carriage (the case for Emma Watson), how did she dress for the occasion, what rules governed her behaviour while there, and what differences did she find between assembly balls and private balls? When she stood up with a young man, what were the possibilities for flirtation and courtship, and how does Jane Austen show this happening with Elizabeth and Darcy, Jane and Bingley, Emma and Mr Knightley, Catherine and Henry, Marianne and Willoughby, when they are dancing with each other? Poor Fanny Price suffers the day after the Mansfield ball when she has no suitable confidante with whom to talk it all over, but for luckier young ladies often the ‘post-ball discussion’ was almost as much fun as the event itself.
Jane Austen loved to put on her satin slippers and go off to dance. In my book I wanted to provide information about the balls she attended, from the Basingstoke assemblies of her youth when she danced happily with neighbours and family friends, to the later balls where she chaperoned nieces and preferred to sit by the fire with a glass of wine rather than dance. She too enjoyed courtship in a ballroom when she danced with Tom Lefroy; she too knew the excitement of being asked by the right man, and the challenges of avoiding the wrong one.
As I wrote my book I discovered patterns in Jane Austen’s use of dances in her fiction. Several of the novels have one informal dance and one more formal one, and she uses each to progress her themes, characterisation and relationships. In some novels what happens is romantic, as is the case when Darcy and Elizabeth are partners and you can almost see the sparks between them, but in Mansfield Park everyone always seems to be dancing with the wrong person and balls in that novel illustrate selfishness, not romance. Jane Austen makes a great deal happen at a ball!
image: Brock illus Mansfield Park, Mollands
A Dance with Jane Austen is beautifully illustrated with contemporary pictures or illustrations from the novels. I include a brief chapter about dances in the film versions, but decided not to make this extensive because so often film-makers get it wrong and put in a dance, such as Mr Beveridge’s Maggot, which Jane Austen would not have danced. However, there are some lovely pictures from some of the movies that I chose to include.
For the past 17 years I have served as President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia. In that time I have lectured extensively about Jane Austen and her works, and have seen the joy that her books give to readers around the world. I hope that my book will increase the enjoyment of those readers by taking them into the ballrooms to discover that there is “nothing like dancing after all.”
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JAIV: One question I would ask Susannah is ‘What is your favorite dance scene in a Jane Austen novel and why?’
SF: My favorite dance scene is the Crown Inn ball in Emma. This is the evening when Emma first starts to view Mr. Knightley as an attractive male, rather than as an old friend and family connection. She watches his “erect” figure move about the room, sees him rescue Harriet Smith from the embarrassment of being rejected as a dance partner, prods him into asking her to dance with him, and can hardly take her eyes off him all night! Jane Austen achieves so much in all her dance scenes – she gives a sense of a full community of living people, progresses courtships, reveals character and shows faults and foibles – but this scene is particularly rich. The moment when Emma reminds Mr. Knightley that they are “not really so much brother and sister as to make (dancing together) at all improper” and he replies “Brother and sister! No, indeed!” is one of the most erotic moments in all of Jane Austen’s fiction. It thrills me every time!
image: theloiterer.org
Oh I agree – I love this scene! Thank you so much Susannah for sharing your love of Jane Austen and dance with us!
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Gentle Readers! please ask any question you might have for Susannah Fullerton or post a comment here and you will be entered into the random drawing for a copy of A Dance with Jane Austen. Please do so by 11:59 pm, Sunday November 4th, 2012. Winner will be announced on Monday Nov. 5th – Worldwide eligibility!
Susannah Fullerton is President of JASA, and author of Jane Austen – Antipodean Views, Jane Austen and Crime and the forthcoming Celebrating Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen’s Masterpiece (due out Jan. 2013) – note that the UK title of this work is Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
A Dance with Jane Austen Frances Lincoln, October 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0711232457
Upcoming book: (Feb. 2013)
US edition title and coverUK edition title and cover
As many of you as Jane Austen in Vermont blog readers know, The Governor’s House in Hyde Park, Vermont offers Jane Austen weekends throughout the year (you can visit their website to see upcoming events). This past August Innkeeper Suzanne B. held another of her annual Character Weekends, wherein participants are to choose an Austen character from any of her works [alas! only one of each character allowed – who could take an entire weekend with not only one but perhaps FIVE of a fawning Mr. Collins! And one chatty Miss Bates is certainly enough ….] and play the role all weekend, through all the various activities of reading, chatting, needlework, writing, eating, dancing, horse adventures, and sport [the likes of archery and fencing!] – perhaps only giving up the role for a few hours of contented sleep!
This year a full-weekend I could not do, so I went for several hours on the Saturday and had the pleasure of chatting with the various characters, practicing a bit of archery, watching fencing matches, eating a sumptuous Regency-era meal, and dancing the night away with Val and Tom of the Burlington Country Dancers. I came home well-satisfied indeed, and in Jane’s own words, “[I] smiled & whispered to [myself] ‘This [was] a day well spent.'”
One of the guests was Tess Quinn, who recently wrote a post on this blog about her experience at the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville – Tess has kindly offered to write another post about her weekend here in Vermont, along with many fine pictures! Thank you Tess for sharing this with us! [and it was great to see you again!]
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A fair prospect
How often have Jane Austen readers wished they could experience Regency life as her protagonists do – at least the romanticized notion of it we derive from her books? I can’t be the only one, or there would not be such a market for the myriad books published that deal with Austen fans, disillusioned with modern society, who suddenly find themselves transplanted in time and place to inhabit the body of an Elizabeth Bennet (e.g. Lost in Austen) or some other early 19th century character – for a day, a month or an eternity. These books and films appeal because, for a little while, they take us away from mortgage payments and term papers and our children’s math homework; they sweep us off into a world our imaginations sketch as more genteel, more polite, less frenetic – more romantic.
Yes, literary time travel has huge appeal, no matter the book genre or historical era in question. Readers well versed in Jane Austen’s society as depicted in her books must ‘experience’ the Regency in their imaginations; for as far as I know, a working time travel machine has not yet been perfected. We cannot practically turn the clock back two hundred years… or can we?
I recently vacationed in Vermont where we came close to doing just that! The Governor’s House at Hyde Park formed a distinguished setting for a gathering of ladies to come together and experience Jane Austen’s era for themselves—or rather, by adopting the personas of her characters for a few days. The Governor’s House (formerly belonging to the gentleman who provided its name, and now a bed and breakfast inn) was built in the Victorian era but as a reproduction of a Colonial house. As such, it reflects both periods in its ambience, yet gives one enough of the ‘feel’ of bygone days to transport one’s mindset to Regency England.
Governor’s House in Hyde Park, Vermont,
the setting for a Jane Austen Character Weekend,
and the whole of the experience was delightful.
We gathered first on Friday evening for introductions, each participant in turn describing something of her background until correctly identified. Most of the books were represented. Present were Elizabeth Bennet and her aunt Mrs Gardiner, along with Miss Charlotte Lucas. Anne Elliot attended in the company of her sister, Mary Musgrove and her friend, Lady Russell; as well as a recently-arrived tenant of Kellynch Hall, Mrs Croft. Eleanor Tilney appeared quite affable in the absence of her father the General. And Emma Woodhouse came, being in company with both her former governess, Mrs Weston and her nemesis, Mrs Elton; as well as a most entertaining trio – Miss Jane Fairfax, Miss Bates and the elder Mrs Bates, the latter making her presence felt all the weekend though she uttered not a word.
Lady Russell – Miss Tilney – Mrs Weston
Introductions accomplished, we became friends over refreshments, followed by moving to the card tables for an evening of Whist. I was grateful to find myself at one of the less competitive tables; we did not play deep, but we laughed deeply.
At the Whist table
As most of us had travelled long that day, we retired after a few rounds, but gathered early on Saturday for breakfast in order to make the most of the day’s activities. We began with a most excellent fencing master, Vivica Fox, who after providing us some historical information on the sport, led the group through the proper positions and stretching exercises.
Viveca Fox
Throughout the morning, then, Miss Fox gave private lessons to each of us who ventured so boldly. The moves appear so graceful and natural when one observes accomplished fencers; but after many attempts to combine form, technique and strategy all at once in lunges, parries and ripostes, my best accomplishment was a greater appreciation for the skill and difficulty involved. I was highly intrigued by my session, however, and would love to continue my training.
While several took advantage of the individualized fencing lessons, others of us moved to the back garden to take up bows for archery.
Archery lessons for Lady Russell and Emma Woodhouse
I am delighted (relieved) to report that a grand time was had by all, the target often was struck, and no dogs were dispatched.
Miss Fairfax, archer
The morning had begun with a fine hot sun which continued throughout our activities; fans and parasols were employed assiduously. A number of our party, after archery, chose to retire to the shade of a large porch with their books or embroidery, rather than be kept in a continual state of inelegance.
Mary Musgrove driving Judge
But for some, a short journey to a horse farm brought the next adventure: learning to drive a gig!
The head groom very graciously allowed us to assist in harnessing Judge, an extraordinarily gentle animal (one could hardly call him a beast) – although of course, as ladies we would never perform this task for ourselves in the usual manner of things. We then began by walking Judge around the paddock. This was to become accustomed to working with him, especially for any of us who were no horsewomen. Once each had achieved some comfort with the reins, a lovely small carriage was attached and off we went through a park land of varied prospects. (I must confess that I saw little but the posterior of the horse in my turn, so concerned was I lest I steer poorly and hit a post which might have overturned us.)
Just as we bid adieu to our mount and made to leave, another group from our party arrived for a carriage ride. We bade them a lovely tour and made our way back to the Governor’s House. There we enjoyed a light fare set out by our hostess – since we had breakfasted so early – to tide us over until the dinner hour.
The last hours of our morning were passed again in satisfying retirement on the back porch; for as we all know, to sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment. Some ventured to trundle a hoop, or play the Graces. Most found contentment in a cool libation and the company of clever, well-informed people who had a great deal of conversation – the best company!
Finding shadeCharlotte LucasReading Jane AustenLawn Ladies
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Quite soon, it seemed, the time came to dress for dinner and we dispersed to don our fashions.
Mrs. Elton in full fashion!
Jane Fairfax – Mrs Bates [there in spirit!] – Miss Bates
Our repast for the evening was a full course, enlivened by so much entertaining discourse and laughter that we all remained at the table right up until the arrival of visitors who had been invited to join us for the hour of tea! Mr and Mrs Bennet with their daughter Lydia were presented, the latter immediately pronouncing that what the party required for success was… dancing!
Of course, all were amenable to this particular proposal! Immediately, furniture was shifted and carpets rolled and removed, the music struck up and Mrs Bennet, an accomplished English Country Dance caller (sometimes peculiarly addressed as Val Medve), led us through an evening of dances with only a short ‘supper break’ to regain our breath. Most invigorating, indeed!
When finally the night ended, few I think did not drift into sleep the moment they fell into their beds.
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A Turn about the Estate
Sunday dawned as bright and promising as had the previous day. Following our breakfast, some of the party went off to ride, others for a lengthy turn about the estate (such prospects to enjoy) and still others preferred the sedentary nature of their work in the elegant parlour. But soon activity called once more.
Walking Ladies
Since letters are the lifeblood of communication in the world we were visiting, we learned to cut our own quill pens and then practice our hand, writing letters on parchment. No blotting here! And following this, we employed our fingers in an alternative manner – in learning to tat with yet another master of the art. I should like to boast of having made the sample you see below; but in truth I had not the talent. My fingers did not fly through the string with anything like accomplishment. This is indeed one art in which no excellence can be achieved without constant practice.
Instruction in tatting for Miss Lucas, Mrs Weston, and EmmaTatting sample
Sunday noon found us gathering around the dining table for the last time together. A lovely luncheon may have passed serenely but for the introduction of one final pastime, one perhaps not quite of the Regency period but relating to it. It was a Quiz! Questions to test our newly-experienced knowledge of Regency life. Our hostess had gone to some effort to challenge us and had risen admirably to the occasion. I would like to say we responded in kind; and so I will. Our answers as a rule, when we discussed them collectively, were creative, humorous, clever and entertaining. What matter if they were seldom correct?
This capstone event marked the end of our journey to Jane Austen’s time. When we had laughed our fill, ladies slowly drifted off to supervise the packing of their trunks by their maids. All ventured fare wells to friends old and new amid the exchange of addresses and promises to post pictures at facebook. (Whatever can they have meant by such strange speech?)
I retired to my room as I would not leave until the following morning. There my mind was most agreeably engaged in meditating on the very great pleasure which a gathering of fine characters from the pages of Miss Austen’s novels can bestow.
Emma Woodhouse – Lizzy BennetLady RussellMary Musgrove – Charlotte Lucas – Mrs EltonMiss Bates – Mrs Bates – Miss FairfaxMiss Tilney – Mrs Croft – Miss LucasSunday morning parlour
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About the Author: Tess Quinn (a nom de plume) read Pride and Prejudice years ago at the age of thirteen, and has been hooked on Jane Austen – and Mr Darcy, unsurprisingly – ever since. She has read all the novels multiple times and doesn’t plan to stop any time soon. Some time ago she was introduced to Austen-based fan fiction and, unsatisfied with some of the depictions and approaches, took up her own pen to try to carry on beloved characters in a manner consistent with Miss Austen’s originals. In 2011, her first short story was published in an anthology called A Road to Pemberley. With that encouraging milestone she is hoping shortly to publish another anthology, all her own stories, tentatively titled Pride Revisited. She has two completed P&P based novels (awaiting final edits and a willing publisher); and is nearing completion on her own darling child, a retelling of P&P from Georgiana Darcy’s perspective.
Descending into dinner
Tess, in her lovely evening dress, is on the left; do you agree that Mrs. Elton is looking rather miffed?? – perhaps we have caught her unawares displaying her displeasure at not being first into the dining room …
We are pleased to welcome our two Distinguished Authors and one Regency Fashionista for a
full Afternoon with Jane Austen!
The event is co-sponsored by JASNA-Vermont and Bygone Books as part of the Burlington Book Festival.
There will be Door Prizes!
Books will be available for purchase and signing!
Light Refreshments will be served! Regency dress encouraged!
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Join us for an afternoon of ‘Channeling’, ‘Imagining’, and ‘Dressing Jane Austen’. Presentations by authors Elsa Solender (Jane Austen in Love: An Entertainment) and Stuart Bennett* (The Perfect Visit) will take us back in time to meet our favorite author! These two sessions will be linked with a talk by our very own Hope Greenberg as she takes us through the stages of “Dressing Jane” in the proper Regency clothing of her day.
[*no relation to the esteemed Mr. Bennet…]
We will meet at the Hauke Conference Center of Champlain College on Sunday 23 September, 2012, from 1-5 pm; the visiting authors’ books will be available for purchase and signing; other books relating to Jane Austen and her times will also be offered for sale; and light refreshments will be served. Regency dress is encouraged!
1-2 pm: Elsa Solender: “Channeling Jane Austen”
Who was Jane Austen – really? Was she the chaste, unworldly spinster, mild and religious, who miraculously created six of the world’s most beloved love stories? Or a sharp-eyed ironist whose engaging plot and characters disguise the splinter of ice in her heart that transformed what she saw and heard into subversive criticism of her world that resonates to this day? In her novel, Jane Austen in Love: An Entertainment, Elsa Solender retells the novelist’s own life story, blending missing aspects of her “romantic career” with the sparse known facts. She will describe her search for a voice and style not unlike Austen’s to explore Jane’s inner life as the heroine of her own bright tale.
About the author:
Elsa A. Solender, a New Yorker, was president of the Jane Austen Society of North America from 1996-2000. Educated at Barnard College and the University of Chicago, she has worked as a journalist, editor, and college teacher in Chicago, Baltimore and New York. She represented an international non-governmental women’s organization at the United Nations during a six-year residency in Geneva. She wrote and delivered to the United Nations Social Council the first-ever joint statement by the Women’s International Non-Governmental Organizations (WINGO) on the right of women and girls to participate in the development of their country. She has published articles and reviews in a variety of American magazines and newspapers and has won three awards for journalism. Her short story, “Second Thoughts,” was named one of three prizewinners in the 2009 Chawton House Library Short Story Competition, chosen from over 300 writers who submitted stories inspired by Jane Austen or the village of Chawton. The story was published in Dancing with Mr. Darcy, an anthology of the twenty top-rated stories of the contest, and is part of her new work Jane Austen in Love.
Ms. Solender’s story “A Special Calling” was a finalist in the Glimmer Train Short Short Story Competition, and of more than 1,000 stories submitted, was ranked among the top fifty and was granted Honorable Mention. She has served on the boards of a non-profit theater, a private library and various literary and alumnae associations. Ms. Solender is married, has two married sons and seven grandchildren, and lives in Manhattan.
2:30 – 3:30 pm: Stuart Bennett: “Imagining Jane Austen”
Stuart Bennett’s foray into historical fantasy/fiction, The Perfect Visit, follows his long career in the world of antiquarian bookselling and scholarly publications on bookbinders and publishers in Jacobean, Augustan, and Regency England. He will ask the audience to consider how much scholarship properly belongs in an historical novel, and what is the right balance between fact and fiction? “Imagining Jane Austen” will focus on these topics, illustrated by short passages from The Perfect Visit. Audience participation is invited.
About the Author:
Stuart Bennett was an auctioneer at Christie’s in London before starting his own rare book business. He is the author of the Christie’s Collectors Guide How to Buy Photographs (1987), Trade Binding in the British Isles (2004) which the London Times Literary Supplement called “a bold and welcome step forward” in the history of bookbinding, and many publications on early photography, auctions and auctioneers, and rare books. He currently lives and works near Boston, Massachusetts.
4:00- 5:00: Hope Greenberg: “Dressing Jane Austen”
Can one dance comfortably in a corset? Is it true that some ladies dampen their gowns to make them cling revealingly? Must one wear white all the time? Jane Austen’s novels and letters contain many fashion tidbits. Modern films offer their own take on the fashions of the period, but do they get it right? Through a collection of over 400 fashion images we will explore the revolutionary changes in fashion during Austen’s lifetime. Shifts, trains, petticoats, apron gowns, pelisses, spencers, narrow backs, high waists–we’ll see them all. Then together, we will try to solve a fashion mystery.
About the Speaker:
Hope Greenberg holds an MA in History from the University of Vermont where she is currently an Information Technology Specialist in the Center for Teaching and Learning, promoting and supporting the use of technology to further research and education. She is also an avid English Country Dancer. Her fascination with the creation and wearing of historic clothing as a way of gaining insight into the past predates all of these. Her absolute joy at the willingness of historic clothiers to share their insights is matched only by her gratitude to the museums and collectors that increasingly publish examples of extant clothing and fashion plates online so that we may continue to develop our understanding of clothing of all periods.
Hope you can join us for this Afternoon of All Things Austen!
Jane Austen in Vermont 