News

This Week’s Web Round-Up

August 30, 2008August 30, 2008 BookLady DebLeave a comment

Another week, and just a few things about Jane…my next post will be on some reading thoughts with several book reviews…..

*Head over to She is Too Fond of Books blog and “simply leave a comment mentioning what you would find most appealing and most challenging about living in Jane Austen’s world” …and enter to win the free giveaway of Rigler’s Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. The contest ends September 5…

*And again, you MUST visit Austenprose and Laurel Ann’s ongoing tribute to Mansfield Park. The posts and giveaways are nearing an end (oh! woe is me!…they have been delightful!), so be sure to visit the last few posts on the final chapters of the novel, the several sequels, and some contemporary opinions of MP. It all ends today August 30…

*See a reproduction of a Jane Austen quilt at JASA (this was sighted on the blog Quiddity Quilts.)

*Great Brampton House up for sale for £5 million… Lady Pidgeon’s Recency style home in Herefordshire.

Click here for more on the Duchess, being released on September 5, with Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling; the Sept / Oct issue of Jane Austen’s Regency World Magazine (recently revamped with a whole new look by its new owners) has Knightley on the cover. Click here for the Table of Contents.

New from Sourcebooks! The Darcy’s & the Bingleys

August 27, 2008August 28, 2008 BookLady DebLeave a comment

The latest sequel from Sourcebooks by Marsha Altman is titled The Darcy’s & the Bingleys: a Tale of Two Gentlemen’s Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters (Sourcebooks September 2008)

Three days before their double wedding, Charles Bingley is desperate to have a word with his dear friend Fitzwilliam Darcy, seeking advice of a most delicate nature. Bingley is shocked when Darcy gives him a copy of The Kama Sutra—but it does tell him everything he needs to know.

Eventually, of course, Jane finds this remarkable volume and in utmost secrecy shows it to her dear sister Elizabeth, who goes searching for a copy in the Pemberley library…

By turns hilarious and sweet, The Darcys & the Bingleys follows the two couples and the cast of characters surrounding them. Miss Caroline Bingley, it turns out, has such good reasons for being the way she is that the reader can’t help but hold her in charity. Delightfully, she makes a most eligible match, and in spite of Darcy’s abhorrence of being asked for advice, he and Bingley have a most enduring and adventure-prone friendship.

(quoted from Sourcebooks)

Please join us on Tuesday September 2nd to view a guest post from the author Marsha Altman on the recent appeal and abundance of Austen sequels! We will also be giving away a copy of her book, courtesy of Sourcebooks, to the winner of a random drawing…so please visit and post a comment or ask a question of the author to enter the drawing!

Book reviews · News

Another Austen Web Round-Up ….. there is no keeping up!

August 25, 2008August 26, 2008 BookLady DebLeave a comment

Some interesting items this week to pass on:

*JASNA-New York Region has published its Fall 2008 newsletter online with much on the Austen-Byron Conference, the news that New York City will host the 2012 AGM, and other chapter happenings.

*The Rethinking Jane Austen blog has a post on Austenmania, the blog author’s efforts to find the strangest item “boasting Jane Austen’s image”….. there are a few good ones out there!

*Jane Austen’s World has posted Ellen Moody’s take on the Mansfield Park 2007 movie. See also Austenprose’s ongoing MP discussion.

*The Guardian.uk and a blogger’s review of Cassandra and Jane by Jill Pitkeathley.

*A blog on vintage fashion, ZipZip’s Vintage Clothing, offers “thoughts about vintage and period sewing patterns, lists of links to worthwhile online vintage sewing resources, comments on sewing with treadle sewing machines.”

*Click here for the Sunday Herald (Scotland) interview with Keira Knightley on playing the Duchess of Devonshire

*A resource on Regency Information has been compiled by the Favors and Fortunes blog: there are some great links here, including references to a map of London for 1827, card games, cost of living values, a slang dicitonary, and many others. But NOTHING compares to the links to Regency Social Life and Customs than those compiled by Ms. Place at Jane Austen’s World… if you have an extra 24 hour day sometime in this long upcoming winter, take a look at this grand resource!

*And more on ITV’s Lost in Austen show at Austenblog, with numerous comments, as well as the show’s fansite filled with all sorts of information on this Pride & Prejudice in space!

And just added: The Musee McCord Museum in Montreal has posted an interactive game on 19th century women’s fashion. Click here for the game and instructions. There are also other interactive games on 19th century high fashion (for beginner and expert), interior decoration, and games and toys: click here for the Museum’s website and list of games.

Jane Austen · News

Web Round-Up… all things Austen!

August 22, 2008August 22, 2008 BookLady Deb2 Comments

A few thoughts for this week….

Again, I encourage you to visit Austenprose for the delightful and on-going discussion of Mansfield Park. Laurel Ann has created an inspiring 17-day journey through the book, movies, audios, etc. Please particpate by posting your thoughts on Fanny and perhaps win one of her giveaways along the way…
The JASNA site has added a most helpful section: a map for each book to guide the reader around the England of Austen’s fiction. This section reproduces maps of the novels from Where’s Where in Jane Austen . . . and What Happens There, by Patrick Wilson, published by the Jane Austen Society of Australia (JASA). The maps include both real and fictional places, and the book provides information about more than 400 locations in Austen’s fiction. The book is available for purchase on JASA’s web site.
The JASA site is a minefield of Austen information… there is a great selection of book reviews; and click here for their reviews comparing ten biographies of Austen….
And back at the JASNA site, you can read the winning essays for 2008 from High School and College students. The topic was on the new Masterpiece Theatre adaptations (essays are available in full-text)

I have discovered the Dressing Jane website…read the newsletters about fashion in Jane Austen’s time as well as the Dressing History site for all possible types of fashion reproductions for purchase.

This has little to do with Jane, other than the fashion obsession, but see this great article “Dressing by the Decades” in the Calgary Herald on what to wear this season….you can pick your favorite fashion style and rest easy (but alas! no regency gowns in sight!)

Oxford University has several online courses of interest: on Jane Austen; the Brontes; Reading Victorian Fiction (Dickens, Trollope, Eliot, and Hardy); Fiction of Victorian Women (Eliot, Gaskell, Oliphant, and others) [but alas! the courses are quite expensive for a non-EU participant]
For you Walter Scott fans (and indeed, Scott loved Austen, so he should be reverenced…), the Edinburgh University Press has just published two of Scott’s “undecipherable and unfit for publication” stories. See the full article at the Guardian.uk
For those costume-drama lovers out there, link to this Mail Online (U.K.) article about the latest P&P (Lost in Austen) and Hardy’s Tess, both starring the latest Bond girl….
A new book titled “Who the Hell is Pansy O’Hara?” tells the back stories of 50 of the greatest books… and Austen’s Pride & Prejudice is one of the books discussed…
Becoming Jane Fansite has been posting an Austen quote each week…. click here for this week’s choice, one of my favorites from Persuasion…
Jane Austen’s World has another lovely post on The Etiquette of Calling Cards
Pamela Aiden, the author of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman Series, has a new work she is publishing online called Young Mr. Darcy…. click here for the first 2 chapters (this news as per the Central New Jersey JASNA Chapter)
The New Jersey Chapter is also again requesting comments on Jane Austen…10 words that best describe Austen and her work. Click here to participate and see other comments.

News

Jane Austen only Number 4??

August 19, 2008August 19, 2008 BookLady DebLeave a comment

Breaking news from the Mirror.UK: 8/19/08. Enid Blyton beats JK Rowling and Jane Austen to be Britain’s best loved author of all time:

Noddy creator Enid Blyton yesterday beat literary heavyweights Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters to the title of Britain’s bestloved author of all time.

The late writer, who still sells eight million books a year worldwide – over a million of them her Famous Five novels – topped a 2008 Costa Book Awards poll to find the top 50 most cherished authors.

Children’s writers swept the board, with Blyton followed by Roald Dahl and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling.

A spokesman for Costa said: “Enid Blyton has kept millions of children entertained over the years with tales of mystery, adventure and magic.

“This research demonstrates how influenced we are in later life by the authors and books we read as a child.”

Top 10: 1 Enid Blyton; 2 Roald Dahl; 3 JK Rowling; 4 Jane Austen; 5 William Shakespeare; 6 Charles Dickens; 7 JRR Tolkien; 8 Agatha Christie; 9 Stephen King; 10 Beatrix Potter.

News

This Week’s Web Round-up….Part 2

August 16, 2008August 16, 2008 BookLady Deb2 Comments

So here is another Round-up this week, largely because I discovered a few tidbits sitting in a draft that I forgot to put in my last “round-up” post…so while this is mostly old news, it is still perhaps good enough news to pass on…

This is for THIS WEEKEND, so head over there if you can!: A reminder about the Jane Austen Weekends at the Governor’s House in Hyde Park, Vermont. For more information, go to the website… the first scheduled weekend is August 15-17 (but there are others if you missed out on this one!)
Obama as Darcy?? see the New York Times article by Maureen Dowd “Mr. Darcy Comes Courting” comparing Obama to our Mr. Darcy… please bring your sense of humor! (the Austen discussion boards are filled with chatter about this!)…and now this is such old news, I am embarrassed!
Send an Austen e-card to your favorite Janeite! see the cards at the Austenfans site: (as reported on Jane Austen Today blog)
Throwdown poll at Jane Austen Today blog (you must go there to understand it!)
There is a Pride & Prejudice quiz at About.com, so test your knowledge!
And this is likely VERY old news, but I just discovered Mrs. Darcy’s Story, so take a look at what this fanfiction site offers….
Read Ms. Place’s review along with Ellen Moody’s analysis of the 1971 film adaptation of Sense & Sensibilty.
And more news on the ITV show Lost in Austen, billed as Jane Austen Meets Life on Mars…
And I have certainly noticed this, but the Central New Jersey JASNA Chapter has posted how journalists are crazy for the phrase “it is a truth universally acknowledged…” to apply to any number of thoughts…little did Austen know that “it [would] be a truth universally acknowledged that the new two-door Ford Capri is a dream to handle.” See the full article at the Telegraph.UK site.

And now for some current news items:

Read about Stoneleigh Abbey…the house that inspired Austen…. from the Leamington Spa Courier.
If you are in the market for buying real estate in the U.K., the Pynes, widely considered the model for Barton Park in Sense & Sensibility, is on the market for £2.5 million.
Ms. Place at Jane Austen’s World has another fashion-filled post on The Regency Gentleman’s Neckwear.
At Australian Women Online, August is Jane Austen Month: you can purchase various books and DVDs of Austen movies from their ABC Shop (there is a nice write-up of the products, but you will need an Australian DVD player to view the movies….)
Pride & Prejudice is offered as an ebook at Project Gutenburg (available in MP3, iTunes, Ogg Vorbis and Speex formats). Northanger Abbey, Emma, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Love & Freindship, and Lady Susan are also downloadable audiobooks.
John Kessel’s “Pride and Prometheus”is available online as a podcast…..”Miss Mary Bennett, the bookish younger sister of Elizabeth Darcy…” (Originally published in 2008 in Fantasy and Science Fiction)
Graeme Blundell of The Australian writes of his “pride in overcoming his prejudice against bonnet dramas”…he reviews Cranford and other costume-laden television productions in “The Eyes Have It.”
Jane Austen’s Sailor Brothers is now available for download at Manybooks.net. The book was written by J.H. and Edith Hubback and first published in 1906.

And please visit Austenprose every day for the next two weeks for the “Mansfield Park Madness” journey of Laurel Ann….post a comment and become eligible for all sorts of giveaways and learn to love Fanny in the process!

News

Web Round-up…all things Austen

August 14, 2008August 15, 2008 BookLady Deb1 Comment

So here is another week’s worth of tidbits on Jane….[and this is only a smattering!]

An article by Gary Dexter in The Telegraph U.K. tells how the title Pride & Prejudice originated in Fanny Burney’s Cecelia.
On the JASNA site, a real treat is Diana Birchall’s In Defense of Mrs. Elton , now online and as originally published by the 1999 AGM with Janet McMaster’s illustrations, with a new introduction dated August 2008 by the author.
Be sure to visit Laurel Ann’s Austenprose for her Mansfield Park Madness events over the next two weeks (starts August 15)…there will be contests and free book giveaways, and there is always the hope that you might change your view about Fanny…
There’s an indie pop group called Pemberley, but Austen is nowhere in sight…
Ms. Place pens a delicious post on Hot Chocolate, 18 – 19th Century Style on her Jane Austen’s World Blog
Dame Boudicca names Elizabeth Bennet the “Pop Culture Woman of the Week”
At Fashion-era.com, see the article on the Regency Gentlewoman of Jane Austen’s time.
And on another fashion note, here is blog devoted solely to BUTTONS: see the postings on the types of buttons and the history of the button at Petronella Luiting’s Buttons & Fabrics Blog.
If you cannot visit the Geffrye Museum in London, trek over to its website where you can view the museum collection “Life in the Living Room from 1600-2000” It shows the changing style of the English domestic interior in a series of period rooms from 1600 to the present day. There are also several virtual tours… great fun…
And Jane makes another list…this time as one of the Top Ten Literary Virgins at John Sutherland’s book blog at the Guardian.uk.
Author Kate Atkinson (her Behind the Scenes at the Museum is one of my favorite books) reveals in an interview in the Times-Online that her next book will be about Jane Austen and will be titled “What Would Jane Do?”…can’t wait!
At Paper Menagerie, the Jane Austen Notebooks are available again…. check them out…

The August newsletter from the Jane Austen Centre in Bath has two articles on hunting during the Regency Period: Sport Hunting in Regency England, and In the Pink: Dressing for the Fox Hunt.

and the Burnley & Trowbridge Co. of Williamsburg, VA is offering three fall workshops in 18th century fashion: The Lady’s Stay (Sept 6-7); An 18th century Gown of the Last Quarter (Nov 14-16); and Ladies’ Riding Habits (Jan. 31- Feb 1, 2009)

Books · News

Cassatt/Austen

August 1, 2008August 2, 2008 Janeite KellyLeave a comment

“As I find my pose, I think about how, when I first met Degas, he gave me the impression of an intelligent but fierce dog…
And yet, something else emerged as he asked me questions. ‘Had I begun to feel better?,’ he asked, and ‘What was I reading?’ When I told him, ‘Jane Austen,’ he looked curious. ‘Ah, lequel?’ ‘Persuasion,’ I said, and then, surprisingly, his eyes lit on mine. A feeling connected us, quickly and with an absorbing depth.” (pp. 16-17)

I have just finished Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman. It is a small book, but I read slowly … to savor it.

It is a book I bought (used) some years ago (published date is 2001) after having read a library copy. It tells the compelling story of Mary Cassatt and her sister Lydia, through Lydia’s words and strung out in scenes centering on her modeling for several of Mary’s paintings. One of the paintings lends it name to the book: Lydia is shown reclining in a green chair, reading the newspaper. But this quiet little story has great depth. Lydia (like Austen one might be tempted to say) faces her past, her present, and the shortness of her future – for the action begins in September 1878, ends in June 1881, and Lydia died (of Bright’s disease) in November 1882. So it confronts death, sisterly-affection, sibling-rivalry, lovers lost and gained. An exquisite book.

It is particularly a propos at this moment, for the Shelburne Museum (Shelburne, VT) is hosting a Cassatt exhibition. Entitled “Mary Cassatt: Friends and Family,” the retrospective offers more than 60 works, gathered together from many sources. The guest curator is Cassatt ‘authority’, Dr. Nancy Mowll-Mathews. Highly recommended, and on until 26 October 2008.

Jane Austen · News · Regency England · Social Life & Customs

Queen Victoria and her rather large “unmentionables”… Royal Undergarments on the Block

July 31, 2008August 1, 2008 BookLady Deb1 Comment

In a follow up to the BBC news a few weeks ago that several pieces of Queen Victoria’s undergarments were being offered at auction, there was some speculation that her bloomers might fetch £500. So it comes as a surprise that they sold for £4500 ($9,000. !)…. Her chemise, with a 66″ bust, sold for $8,000. and her nightgown sold for $11,000. See the full article from the Guardian where it is revealed that the bloomers had a 50″ waist: Queen Victoria’s bloomers, and here at Yahoo News with a picture…

The history of undergarments is fascinating…. I offer up a few links to start your study:

The Foundation of Elegance
A Short History of the Corset
Fashion History of Undergarments
The Fashion Page, History of Undergarments (part 1) and part 2
Bras and Underwear, a history
Costume.org on 19th century undergarments, including many links to other sites.
The Lingerie Collection at the Kent State University Museum [ and see also the homepage Bissonnette on Costume, A Visual Dictionary ]
Jessamyns’ Regency Costume Companion on underthings
At Jane Austen’s World, see Ms. Place’s post on A Regency Lady gets Dressed

News

Another Round-up…..all things Austen

July 30, 2008July 30, 2008 BookLady Deb1 Comment

Another week and all sorts of news… I post here several of interest. I will do a separate post tomorrow on book reviews and booklists…so make some room on your bedside table…

The Chawton House Library has announced its call for papers for its July 2009 conference celebrating the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s return to Chawton.
a great article on a new ITV Lost in Austen production:
infographs of Northanger Abbey: http://www.peanberg.com/index.php?/janeausten/northanger-abbey/
At Jane Austen Today… Laurel Ann poses the question: Have you placed Darcy on a pedestal?
At Jane Austen’s World, Ms. Place has a lovely post on ladies regency fans .
Food and drink in Regency England, by Laura Wallace includes definitions and recipes…
Regency Ramble , a blog by Michelle Ann Young, the author of several regency romances…posts her research tidbits about the Regency period.
Writers’ Rooms series at The Guardian Online (this link is from the Victorian Peeper Blog)
Another article on the Pride & Prejudice play headed to Broadway. And see Austenblog’s excellent interview with the producer Lori Bajorek.
“Weather in Novels” cites Jane Austen’s use of weather to evoke characters’ emotions.
Enter a comment on the Home Sweet Home blog and win a Jane Austen audiobook (contest ends on Friday August 1)
The Jane Austen Festival blog has information on its next event, April 17-19, 2009 in Australia
“Mrs. Elton Sez” is back this week with another letter brimming with sage advice (and you might offer assistance if you are in need of a lady’s maid yourself…)
Here is a link to the Penguin Group Essay Contest for high school students: for the upcoming year (due April 2009), the topic is Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte.
The Central New Jersey Chapter of JASNA offers its “little known factoid #9” about the first film adaptation of Austen (do you know which novel??)
I wrote last week about the site Jane Austen in Portuguese…Raquel has written me that she now has put the Google translator link on her site…. so you can now read about her reviews of Austen’s books and movies in English!
Remember to renew or begin your membership in JASNA: sign on to their website to find all the reasons why you should join and print off a membership form! Don’t delay….