For those of us on this side of the pond, those who cannot yet see the just broadcast “The Many Lovers of Jane Austen” with Amanda Vickery on BBC Two – here is a short clip from the show about the JASNA AGM in Fort Worth Texas this past October… enjoy, at least until we can see more of the show…
In March of this year, I wrote a post on the auction of an “imaginary” portrait of Jane Austen, one of the portraits that Deirdre Le Faye wrote about in her article for the Jane Austen Society Report 2007, pp. 42-52. This portrait sold at the Bonham’s March 29, 2011 auction and the image copyright became the right of the new owner.
Dr. Paula Byrne, author of a number of Austen scholarly articles, her book Jane Austen and the Theatre [fabulous read!], and her forthcoming biography of Austen [The Real Jane Austen], is going to broadcast “Jane Austen: The Unseen Portrait?” on BBC Two on December 26 about the validity of this portrait, and if this illusive image might indeed be Jane Austen. Here is the press release on the upcoming broadcast … and an illustration of the portrait, with permission of Dr. Byrne.
[Image from JAS Report for 2007. The copyright of the portrait now belongs to Paula Byrne.]
From the BBC:
BBC Two follows academic’s investigation into possible
unknown portrait of Jane Austen
This month, BBC Two follows a British academic as she unveils a portrait that may be one of the only remaining images of Jane Austen. In a one-off special, Martha Kearney follows the search to find out whether an unusual drawn portrait really does capture the face of the well-loved author.
Will the picture stand up to forensic analysis and scrutiny by art historians and Austen experts? And if it does, how might it change our perception of one of Britain’s most revered writers? Jane Austen: The Unseen Portrait? (9pm, Mon 26 Dec, BBC Two) follows the investigation behind one of the literary world’s most exciting art works.
Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two: “Jane Austen: The Unseen Portrait? will sit at the heart of our Christmas schedule and will be a fascinating chance for the BBC Two audience to delve deeper into the life of one of Britain’s best-loved authors.”
Jane Austen is one of the most celebrated writers of all time but with only a rough sketch by her sister we have just an inkling of what she may have looked like. Austen academic and biographer Dr Paula Byrne thinks that this may be about to change. She believes that she’s discovered a portrait of the author that has been lost for nearly two centuries and may offer fascinating new insight into how Jane once lived and portrayed herself to the world.
Paula Byrne: “If this really is an authentic portrait of Jane Austen, it has the potential to change our image of her for ever — instead of the prim spinster of Cassandra’s unfinished sketch, here is a professional writer at the height of her powers.”
Martha follows Paula’s search to gather as much evidence as possible in her quest to prove that she really may hold one of the rarest literary portraits of all time. From eighteenth century costume experts to the editor of Jane Austen’s letters, Paula must interrogate as many experts as possible to build a case for why this really might be Jane. After months of research, she presents the portrait to three of the world’s most prominent Austen experts. Will she be able to convince them that it really is as authentic as it seems?
Jane Austen: The Unseen Portrait? airs at 9pm, Monday 26th December, BBC Two and is one of two films commissioned by the BBC Arts department to celebrate the life and work of one of our greatest authors this Christmas.
The programme was commissioned by Janice Hadlow (Controller, BBC Two) and Mark Bell (Commissioning Editor for Arts) and will be executive produced by Liz Hartford for Seneca Productions and Adam Barker for BBC Knowledge. The director is Neil Crombie.
from: Victoria Asare-Archer, Publicist, BBC
____________________________________________
You can read more about it at Dr. Byrne’s website here.
But alas! we on this side of the pond, who must live without the BBC Two, will just have to wait …
For those who did not go to the AGM [and for those who did because the sound was flawed] – here is the video previewing the upcoming AGM in New York City next October [via Kerri]: http://jasna.org/agms/newyork/video/
“The Making of a Homemaker” – a Smithsonian Institution online exhibition about the domestic guidebooks written for the 19th century American housewife: many images
Image: Mrs. Lydia Green Abell. The Skillful Housewife’s Book: or Complete Guide to Domestic Cookery, Taste, Comfort and Economy. New York: R. T. Young, 1853.
Articles of Interest
Gemmill, Katie. “Jane Austen as Editor: Letters on Fiction and the Cancelled Chapters of Persuasion.” ECF 24.1 (2011): 105-122
Persuasion, An Annotated Edition, edited by Robert Morrison [in the same series as the Annotated Pride and Prejudice edited by Patricia Myers Spacks] – http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?recid=31301
I think I might weigh in after reading it myself – I thoroughly enjoyed the Hodge biography…
If you have read Bill Bryson’s At Home and Amanda Vickery’s Behind Closed Doors [and etc. regarding her titles] – and need another fix for your domestic matters obsessions, here is a must-have: If Walls Could Talk by Lucy Worsley [image US and UK cover: note that it is not available in the US until 2/2012 and has a different cover] – Ms. Worsley recently aired her Elegance and Decadence, The Age of the Regency on BBC4, also not available here until when ?? [though it is available for streaming, on youtube, etc.] [makes one want to abandon the colonies for good and head to the mothership?]
“Britain leaves us awed by ancient castles, ruins and museums. History pours out a legacy of battles, a developing monarchy, a structured class system, court-inspired behaviors and fashions, artwork and writings that have created an international hoard of Anglophiles. From among them have come forth those who feel that they must fuel the fire. Welcome to the happy home of English Period Authors. We have come together to share, inspire and celebrate and to reach out to our cherished readers.”
“What links Jane Austen, John Nash, Humphry Repton and Blaise Hamlet?” at the Georgian Gentleman blog:
Thrifty Jane blog – interviews with various Austen characters, esp the “thrifty” sort! [i.e. Mrs. Norris, Lucy Steele, Lady C, etc…] http://thriftyjane.wordpress.com/
Any interest in English Handwriting?? – here is an amazing online course for free – makes me want to dig out my old calligraphy pens and settle in for a winter class!:
Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome: this exhibit was at the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth, but I was unfortunately unable to go – Laurel Ann at Austenprose did see it on the Sunday as she was leaving later than me – she said I must buy the book, so here you go, another lovely art book to peruse: http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300170726
DESCRIPTION: Have you ever read a mystery where the heroine sounds like
an oversexed gangster? Or a romance where the hero sounds more like a
girlfriend than a man? Chances are, the oversexed heroine was created by
a male author; the tender, emotional hero by a woman. Men and women
think, act, and talk differently – which causes problems for writers
who are trying to create characters of the opposite sex. Learn about the
most common gender differences, and use them to create believable
characters of the opposite sex. (And along the way, you may get some
great ideas about how to deal with your husband, boyfriend, boss, big
brother, or other assorted males — or for the first time, understand
what’s really going on inside the head of your wife, girlfriend, mom…)
Fee: $20 CRW Members; $25 Non-CRW Members. FMI about the workshops or
speakers, or to register: http://crw-rwa.ning.com
Sage and other variants were very fashionable during the Regency period as a green dye that did not fade or darken was invented. However, it was literaly the colour to die for – the pigment contained a poisonous copper arsenic compound!
Plum is a much nicer word than ‘Puce’, which was popular in the Regency period. The purplish pink shade was named after the French word for ‘Flea’ as it resembled the shade of the blood sucking insect after a meal. Yuck!
Teal and shades of blue were also in demand. In Jane Austen’s time dyes were expensive, pigments made of natural substances and the resulting hues rather muted compared to our modern artificial dyes, hence this lovely soft shade of teal would have been considered as being quite bright!
[from the Jane Austen Centre website]
[sage, plum and teal being my favorite colors – I knew I was born in the wrong century!]
For Fun
A joke on twitter – Victorian London:
“Why are a chimney sweep and a bugler good partners at cards?
One can follow soot, the other can trumpet.” joke, 1884
Watch your mailbox, or subscribe now to get this Sense and Sensibility filled issue!
•Andrew Davies reveals to the JASNA conference how he ‘sexed-up’ Pride & Prejudice
[I heard Davies at the Fort Worth AGM – a hoot of a talk with many pictures from the movies – will report on this in full when I post my AGM reports – so stay tuned!]
•A new series of Garrow’s Law, the Georgian courtroom drama, hits the TV screens
•The Night Before Christmas: seasonal writing from 1800s America
•Stunning pictures from the Jane Austen Festival in Bath
•Do the men in Sense & Sensibility disappoint, asks Maggie Lane
•Take a new look at the events that led to the start of the Regency
•The moving history of the Sunday school movement
•Plus all the latest news from the Jane Austen world as well as reports from JAS and JASNA, our popular quiz, competition and readers’ letters!
Subscribe today to Jane Austen’s Regency World, the full-colour, must-read, glossy magazine for fans of the world’s favourite author – delivered to your doorstep every two months direct from Bath, England.
Indie Jane blog – a pen-pal project – alas! missed the dealine – hopefully they will do it again! fabulous idea in this world of the lost art of the letter – http://indiejane.org/2011/08/dear-jane/
A Musicologist Abroad blog by Vassar Professor Kathryn L. Libin: a few posts on Chawton http://blogs.vassar.edu/musicologistabroad/ . Prof. Libin is writing a book about Jane Austen and music. [from JASNA News]
Masterpiece Mystery: Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories starring Jason Isaacs as her Jackson Brodie begins on October 16th – see the upcoming schedule for all shows here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html
A quick look through one of the finds by a C18 listserv member: from George Washington’s Household Account Book 1793-1797: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20085390
Pd to Chas. Kirkham for 18 pr. of gloves for Mrs. W. ……. 5.50
[18 pair of gloves!!]
Martha Washington
[Image: freerepublic.com]
But enough frivolity – back to JSTOR: go to the main search screen and type in “Jane Austen” – 329 items come up – here is one example, a spot-on early 20th century review of Austen’s writings [though the author does do that “Bennett” misspelling thing!]
[tip on using JSTOR: go to the search results citation page and choose the “view pdf” option – the whole document comes up vs. having to scroll through each page; you can also do this from the search page]
*PD James – I wondered when she was going to get around to combining her love of Austen with a sure-to-be-great Austen-inspired mystery! – watch for Death Comes to Pemberley, due this November [you can pre-order online]: http://www.faber.co.uk/article/2011/9/death-comes-pemberley-announcement/
[if you have never read James’s “Emma Considered as a Detective Story” – you must find a copy immediately (the text is included as an appendix in her autobiography Time to Be in Earnest)]
*Samuel Park’s debut novel This Burns My Heart is written from the point of view of women in post-war South Korea – he explains this writing of women’s lives:
“I’ve spent my entire life deeply embroiled in the fantasies, desires and frustrations of my mother and my two older sisters. Their lives were so fascinating — they would spend hours talking about a crush. Not by coincidence, after I left them to go to college, I spent all my time in the library reading Jane Austen.
Museum Musings ~ Exhibition Trekking
*At the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge [UK], a new exhibit on Vermeer’s Women: Secrets and Silence: the title just smacks of Sense and Sensibility, doesn’t it?! And for those of us who have heard former JASNA president Marsha Huff give her talk on Austen and Vermeer, this book looks like a must-have – too bad the exhibition is only to be at the Fitzwilliam – it is sure to have Vermeers we have never seen.
[image from the book: LePrince, Xavier. Inconvéniens d’un Voyage en Diligence. Douze Tableaux, Lithographiés par…Paris: Chez Gihaut Freres… et Sazerac et Duval, 1826]
Vermont as you know suffered unfathomable damage from the winds and rain of Irene. We were largely spared here in the Burlington area, but other parts of the state were hammered – you have seen the many pictures on the national news of flooding, senseless deaths, extensive property damage to homes and businesses and farms, covered bridges falling into the rivers – it has been a nightmare – but now the big concern is that the greater world thinks that Vermont is “boarded up” so to speak – not a place to visit this fall, that season that brings the annual leaf-peepers to our lovely state – so I take a minute here to give a shout-out for the State of Vermont – We Are Open for Business! – road crews have been working non-stop to get roads and towns back into shape – so if you want to help out in any way, hop in your car [or plane or train or bike] and come for a visit, go to the restaurants and eat local, shop in the stores (buy books from the local bookshops!), walk in the woods, hike the mountains – it is all here, just as before, and we are waiting with open arms!
You can visit this website for information on I am Vermont Strong: http://www.iamvermontstrong.com/ where you can buy a t-shirt to help the recovery! – and a fine example of social networking sites making a difference:
Our very own Burlington Country Dancers ~ their Fall schedule:
Elley-Long Music Center, 223 Ethan Allen Avenue, Colchester,VT
First and Third Fridays (Sept. thru May) w/ LIVE MUSIC
7pm – 7:30pm Session for more experienced dancers – $1
7:30pm – 9:30pm Dancing for all – $8 ($5 student/under 30)
2011 DATES (All Fridays):
Sept. 16 ~ Impropriety (Lar Duggan, McKinley James, Laura Markowitz, Ana Ruesink)
Oct. 7 ~ Old Stage Road (Carol Compton, Albert Joy, Margaret Smith)
Oct. 21 ~ Lar Duggan, Dominique Gagne, Peter MacFarlane
Nov. 4 ~ Aaron Marcus, McKinley James, Laura Markowitz, Ana Ruesink
Nov. 18 ~ DANCE PARTY with Guest Teacher Tom Amesse (from NYC) and with Frost & Fire (Hollis Easter, Viveka Fox, Aaron Marcus)
Dec. 2 ~ Old Stage Road (Carol Compton, Albert Joy, Margaret Smith)
Dec. 16 ~ Aaron Marcus, McKinley James, Laura Markowitz, Ana Ruesink
~ All dances taught & walked through by Wendy Gilchrist, Martha Kent, Val Medve ~ Casual dress ~ Please bring a sweet or savory ‘finger food’ snack ~ We change partners frequently throughout the evening, so there’s no need to bring your own partner (a Mr. Darcy might be lurking, or is that a Mr. Knightley without a partner?…)
And save the date for the next Across the Lake weekend event: June 8-10, 2012
************************************
UVM’s OLLI Program: English Country Dancing in Jane Austen’s World Instructor: Judy Chaves
Date: Mondays, October 24, 31, November 7 and 14
Time: 5:30-7pm
Location: Ira Allen Chapel (October 31 in Waterman Lounge) at UVM
Price: Members – $60 / Non-members – $85
Do you enjoy 19th-century British literature? If you’ve ever read any of Jane Austen’s novels or seen any of the recent film adaptations, you know that English country dance plays a prominent role in the culture of the time. The forerunner of American contra dance, English country dance is done in two facing lines (sometimes in squares, less often in circles) and requires no more than a knowledge of left from right and the ability and willingness to move to simply wonderful music. Through a combination of lecture (not much) and dance (as much as we can), you’ll learn the basics of the dance, gain an insider’s appreciation of the vital role it played in the lives of Austen’s characters, understand the etiquette and logistics underpinning Austen’s dance scenes–and have a great deal of fun in the process. You may come by yourself or as a couple!
A Jane Austen Lecture: Norwich Public Library, November 2, 2011, 7pm
In Want of a Wife: Romance and Realism in Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen is considered a realist of social relations – and yet, Pride and Prejudice incorporates an element of the fairy tale: it fulfills the wishes of its poor and not conspicuously beautiful heroine. Dartmouth Professor Emeritus James Heffernan examines how Jane Austen does it.
[Part of the Vermont Humanities Council 1st Wednesdays program] – visit here for more information on this and other events: http://www.vermonthumanities.org/
*********************************
News & Gossip ~ JASNA style:
The AGM in Fort Worth is only a week and half away! [and alas! I am without proper attire! – though my jeans and cowgirl boots are at the ready!] – check out the meeting link at JASNA website for the schedule and latest news: http://jasna.org/agms/fortworth/index.html
But even if your attire may not be quite proper, you can improve your mind by extensive reading: – here is the JASNA reading list for Sense and Sensibility [most available online]: http://jasna.org/agms/news-articles/about-ss-reading.html
This new fourth edition incorporates the findings of recent scholarship to further enrich our understanding of Austen and give us the fullest and most revealing view yet of her life and family. In addition, Le Faye has written a new preface, has amended and updated the biographical and topographical indexes, has introduced a new subject index, and had added the contents of the notes to the general index. [from the Oxford UP website]
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY by Jane Austen; with illustrations by Niroot Puttapipat (11 colour and 21 b&w silhouettes); Palazzo Editions: September 2011; £20
A one-stop book review search at Owl Canyon Press, where you can search various book review sources in one single search – brilliant! http://owlcanyonpress.com/reviewsources.htm
In 1998, inspired by close acquaintance with two antique gilded harps, I decided to compose a work in a style that would remind them of their younger days! To think myself into a thoroughly Regency frame of mind I played through antique music books until I was so immersed in the style of the period that I could close the books and continue playing in the same vein without any anachronistic intrusions. The books were a leather-bound volume of popular piano salon pieces by long-forgotten composers, written out in a neat copperplate ink script: “The Manuscript Books of Mary Heberden, Datchett Lodge, 1819 & 1826” and a similar collection of harp pieces compiled by one Eliza Euphrosina Saris at about the same time. By these means I hope to have produced music of the kind which Jane Austen might have imagined her fictional heroines playing, the sort of music that all well-bred young Regency ladies would have wanted to perform before an admiring audience, no doubt silhouetted with their harps before the French windows, making the most of the opportunity to display their slender fingers upon the strings and their delicate ankles as they moved the pedals. (Paul Lewis)
*********************************
Museum Trekking:
Bath Preservation Trust: the website links on No. 1 Royal Crescent: The Whole Story Project – some great images here:
and through October 30, there is a Jane Austen exhibition: Putting Pen to Paper:
This special temporary exhibition brought to you from the Bath Preservation Trust includes a rare set of Jane Austen’s first editions on loan from a private collection. Visitors to this inspirational exhibition can learn more about the life of Jane’s novels as the story reveals the craftsmanship of book production in the 18th century and the importance of reading in Jane Austen’s Bath.
This exhibition will be the first opportunity to see a complete collection of Jane Austen’s first editions in Bath. These treasures will be exhibited alongside tools used in the book binding process. Stamps and rollers will show the exquisite designs used by gilders to create the perfect library for their clients. Beautifully coloured illustrations from later editions will highlight Jane’s narrative, defining her characteristic hallmark of accuracy and attention to detail.
And here is a book I just discovered: My Brother and I, a Jane Austen Sequel from a Completely Different Viewpoint [i.e. Edward Benton the farrier’s apprentice, employed at Pemberley], by Cornelis de Jong – go here for more info http://sites.google.com/site/corneliswriter/ [this one I might send to my kindle…]
For fun:
With thanks to the always interesting Two Nerdy History Girls: take a few moments to watch both these very funny videos from the BBC– a spoof of Downton Abbey “Uptown Downstairs Abbey” and almost as good as the real thing! – these will just have to do until we here in the US “patiently” wait for the real season 2 next year : http://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-time-again-for-downton-abbey-silly.html
[and watch out for Kim Cattrall hiding behind her dark locks and the perpetually falling butler!]
Congratulations to Laurel Ann of Austenprose fame on today’s unveiling of her new website! Laurel Ann is the editor of a new Jane Austen anthology, Jane Austen Made Me Do It – follow her tale on the journey to publication! meet with the 22 authors included in the anthology! read the short story summaries! subscribe to the blog! enter to win a copy of the book! Click here to become part of the story yourself!
Best wishes to you Laurel Ann! – cannot wait for the official launch in Fort Worth at the JASNA-AGM! Offical release date is October 11, 2011 – but you can pre-order your copy now:
-The Austenesque Extravaganza continues on a daily basis at the Austenesque Reviews blog – stop by to participate in the fun and comment to win the various giveaways ! through August: http://janeaustenreviews.blogspot.com/
-But do not completely despair: we do have this on BBC America – The Hour -a six-week series – I loved the first one aired this past week [wednesday night at 10 here in Vermont] – it is peopled with Austen “graduates”: Juliet Stevenson [the perfect Austen narrator], Anna Chancelor[Miss Bingley in 1995, following her role as “Duckface” in Four Weddings and a Funeral [Hugh Grant], and Romola Garai, the latest “Emma’ … http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/444/index.jsp
-The Frances Burney Society invites submissions for the Hemlow Prize in Burney Studies,
… named in honour of the late Joyce Hemlow, whose biography of Frances Burney and edition of her journals and letters are among the foundational works of eighteenth-century literary scholarship. The Hemlow Prize will be awarded to the best essay written by a graduate student on any aspect of the life or writings of Frances Burney or members of the Burney Family. The essay, which can be up to 6,000 words, should make a substantial contribution to Burney scholarship. The Prize will be awarded in October 2011. Submissions must be received by September 1, 2011.
-The JASNA-Vermont September meeting, when we will be hosting JASNA president Iris Lutz, will be once again part of the Burlington Book Festival: http://burlingtonbookfestival.com/ Iris will be presenting her talk “ ‘in proportion to their family and income’: Houses in Jane Austen’s Life and Fiction.” Join us if you can [more information forthcoming]
-Prinny’s Tailor: a blog by Charles Bazalgette about his ‘many greats’ grandfather Louis Bazalgette who was tailor to the Prince Regent for 32 years. This blog follows his research – the book is due out next year: http://chasbaz.posterous.com/
–Robert Rodi of Bitch in a Bonnet:Reclaiming Jane Austen from the stiffs, the snobs, the simps and the saps seems to be back in full swing blogging about his take on Mansfield Park: visit if you can and see Fanny redeemed! – http://bitchinabonnet.blogspot.com/
-The Twelfth Enchantment, by David Liss: this one I could not resist ordering and it arrived today in my mailbox! – will let you know how it fares…
Lucy Derrick is a young woman of good breeding and poor finances. After the death of her beloved father, she is forced to maintain a shabby dignity as the unwanted boarder of her tyrannical uncle, fending off marriage to a local mill owner. But just as she is on the cusp of accepting a life of misery, events take a stunning turn when a handsome stranger—the poet and notorious rake Lord Byron—arrives at her house, stricken by what seems to be a curse, and with a cryptic message for Lucy. Suddenly her unfortunate circumstances are transformed in ways at once astonishing and seemingly impossible.
With the world undergoing an industrial transformation, and with Englandon the cusp of revolution, Lucy is drawn into a dangerous conspiracy in which her life, and her country’s future, are in the balance. Inexplicably finding herself at the center of cataclysmic events, Lucy is awakened to a world once unknown to her: where magic and mortals collide, and the forces of ancient nature and modern progress are at war for the soul of England. . . and the world. The key to victory may be connected to a cryptic volume whose powers of enchantment are unbounded.
Now, challenged by ruthless enemies with ancient powers at their command, Lucy must harness newfound mystical skills to prevent catastrophe and preserve humanity’s future. And enthralled by two exceptional men with designs on her heart, she must master her own desires to claim the destiny she deserves.
What is it about this time and place that compelled you to use it as the background for your story?
There are a number of factors that drew me here. For a long time I’ve wanted to write a novel that was in communication with Jane Austen, but which deal with the economic and political issues that are absent, or at least at the margins of, her novels — the war with France, a series of devastating harvests resulting in food shortages and grain riots, an on-going economic recession, and, most importantly, changes in the labor market brought on by the industrial revolution. This novel incorporates elements of the supernatural — specifically folk and scholarly magic as actually practiced by people who actually believed it worked — and there’s really no better time to write about such beliefs since the early industrial revolution was a period of profound change. I wanted to write about a world that was on the verge of a major alteration, and England, at the beginning of industrialization and before the end of the Napoleonic Wars, works perfectly.
[I’m adding this because I like this answer!] If you could meet just one historical figure, who would it be?
I have a great deal of affection for Henry Fielding, who helped pioneer the novel and the modern police force, was a brilliant legal mind, a wide-ranging intellectual, and a guy who could hang out and enjoy several bottles of wine (yes, several bottles!) while chatting with his friends. My kind of guy.
-A book review of Revolutionary Imaginings in the 1790s: Charlotte Smith, Mary Robinson, Elizabeth Inchbald, by Amy Garnai (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), about other writers that Jane Austen read and admired: http://www.nbol-19.org/view_doc.php?index=147
Articles of interest:
-This late edition news: from Tracy Kiely of Murder at Mansfield Park fame [and other Jane Austen mysteries], Battle of the Bonnets– get your fightin’ gloves on for Bronte v. Austen, legal style! [with thanks to Kerri S for the link]
Museums / Exhibits:
-National Portrait Gallery: Art for the Nation: Sir Charles Eastlake at the National Gallery – 27 July – 30 October 2011: “This exhibition illuminates the life and work of the Gallery’s first director, Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1793–1865), a man described by one contemporary as ‘the Alpha and Omega’ of the Victorian art world.” http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/eastlake
Shopping:
The “Keep Calm & Carry On” theme that has been splattered everywhere from cards to books to wall hangings and t-shirts – here is a new contender!
-These are past our time period but How to Be a Retronaut offers this great collection of Victorian photographs, sure to bring you a daily chuckle: don’t an awful lot of these husbands and wives LOOK ALIKE?! [not to mention a tad grim?]
Well, my traveling co-hort and lover-of-London buddy Suzanne, of the Governor’s House in Hyde Park, Vermont, will be hosting not just one but two Jane Austen weekends in a row:
Governor's House in Hyde Park, Vermont
This coming weekend [August 12-14] will be on Persuasion – come learn about the Royal Navy! discuss Anne Elliot’s dilemma! obsess over Captain Wentworth’s letter! [sigh…]
Then next weekend [August 19-21] the Governor’s House will be treading new ground – a weekend of guests who will each come in the guise of one of Jane Austen’s characters – here is your chance to dress up* [not required, but it helps…], speak, and act, well, act like anyone you want to be: Mr. Collins, or Mrs. Bennet, or Mr. Darcy; or how about Mrs. Elton, Mary Musgrove, Jane Fairfax or Miss Bates, or can you resist trying a hand at Lady Catherine? – the list an endless one of endearing and annoying characters! Maybe you will meet your very own Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightley or find a Henry Tilney to spar with[there shall be no encouragement of the Willoughbys or Wickhams of the world, but we do hope they shall attend for the sake of the interest of all participants…]
Alas!! I cannot go, but shall try to pop in for pictures to share… but if you could go, who would you most want to be?? – remember you must act the part for the entire weekend!
And here is the upcoming schedule for future Jane Austen weekends: call early to reserve – they fill up fast. [There are plans for another ‘in-character” weekend, so stay tuned for an announcement.]
Special Weekend in Character August 19 – 21, 2011
Series 4: Persuasion
Brock illus - Persuasion - Molland's
Friday evening talk: Captain Wentworth’s Royal Navy
January 28 – 30, 2011 August 12 – 14, 2011 September 9 – 11, 2011 January 6 – 8, 2012
Book Group Weekend: Pride and Prejudice February 25 – 27, 2011 (additional availability)
Series 5: Emma
January 27 – 29, 2012 and other dates to be announced
******************
Or come for just an evening and choose from these activities:
Informal Talk with Coffee and Dessert, Friday, 8:00 p.m., $14.00
Afternoon Tea, Saturday, 3:00 p.m., $20.00
Book Discussion and Dinner, Saturday, 7:00 p.m., $35.00
Jane Austen Quiz and Sunday Brunch, Sunday, 11:30 a.m., $15.00
All four activities: $75.00
**********************
100 Main Street•Hyde Park,VT05655
phone: 802-888-6888 • toll free: 866-800-6888
email: info [at] onehundredmain [dot] com
*************************
*If your wardrobe is sadly lacking in proper Regency attire, here are a few links to assist you:
So, who would you want to be?? if you had this chance, would you want to play the part of one of Austen’s annoying characters or one of her endearing ones?? – and of course that leads to – what outfit would you choose?? Please comment – inquiring minds want to know!
Copyright @2011 Deb Barnum of Jane Austen in Vermont.
It’s been way too long since the “weekly” Penny Post has arrived in your mailbox – I am afraid to change the name to “monthly” (though more accurate today!) because then I shall not be diligent enough to get it out at all! – so some of this may be old news, but I am including it if it is worthy of a mention in case you missed it on the first go-round on the blog-sphere …
News & Gossip:
Book Giveaway! – Don’t forget to comment on the Rachel Brownstein interview post to be included in the drawing for a copy of Why Jane Austen? – deadline is Wednesday August 17.
The Austenesque Extravagana is in full-swing at the Austenesque Reviews blog – join the fun – it lasts all month! : http://janeaustenreviews.blogspot.com/
The Circulating Library:
The John Murray archive at the National Library of Scotland [Murray was Jane Austen’s publisher]: http://digital.nls.uk/jma/
At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837-1901 offers a biographical and bibliography database of nineteenth-century British fiction. Currently, the database contains 7335 titles by 2494 authors (more statistics). The database is hosted by the Victorian Research Web, a major and free research resource for Victorian scholars: http://www.victorianresearch.org/atcl/
Taking its cue from Matthew 19:6, “What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asunder,” this book describes humankind’s actions in doing just that.
A readable selected history of family law, To Put Asunder traverses more than two thousand years of continuing attempts by various societies to inhibit the desires of men and women, kings and commoners, to terminate their unsatisfactory marriages. The stories revealed are surprisingly engaging when the reader is introduced to the lives and personalities of some who were directly affected by family law.
Jane Austen in Vermont 