Category: Regency England

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The Penny Post Weekly Review ~ All Things Jane Austen!

BookLady DebLeave a comment

The Penny Post Weekly Review

  October 8, 2011

 

News /Gossip 

An Amanda Vickery lecture at the Lewis Walpole Library: “Family Life Makes Tories of Us All: Love and Power at Home in Georgian 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/

Musical cabaret duo: The Jane Austen Argument:  why the name I wonder??
 http://thejaneaustenargument.net/about/

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

“The research by Lindeman’s wine found that Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is the book most people lie about having read. But far from being highbrow, 47 per cent of us secretly prefer trashy novels which they would never put on show.”  http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/276005/Take-a-leaf-out-of-my-book-and-look-smart-Jane-Austen-helps-to-keep-up-appearances [do you think the remaining 53% are all Janeites? – though wait, we like “trashy” novels also!]

For you die-hard Colin Firth fans [do we talk to anyone who is not?] – one of his earliest roles in the 1986 7-part (!) BBC production Lost Empires can now be viewed on the just-released DVD! – here’s the story: http://blogs.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2011/10/05/lose-yourself-with-colin-firth-in-lost-empires/ 

  Click here if you want to buy!

JASNA-New York has just published the fall issue of its newsletter Austen Chronicle: http://www.jasnany.org/newsletters/2011%20Fall.pdf

 
The Circulating Library

*You can view Jane Austen’s will at the National Archives, now on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/3507414978/ 

*This is an amazing gift from JSTOR: their early journals [i.e. before 1923] are now available online for free to anyone: read their announcement here: http://about.jstor.org/participate-jstor/individuals/early-journal-content

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!]

“Great-Grandmother’s Favorite Novel” by Warwick James Price. Sewanee Review 21.4 (1913): 480-89.

or this:

“The English Women-Humorists” by Alice Meynell. North American Review 181. 589 (1905):  857-72.

 [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]

  • Authors: 

Dickens’s Oliver Twist audio tour at The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2011/sep/23/dickens-audio-tours-oliver-twist-walk

I love this!  Podcasts on forgotten books: http://www.reallylikethisbook.com/  – check out the piece on Helene Hanff’s 84 Charing Cross Road.

  • Library Collections:

One can never get enough of searching the online collections of the Lewis Walpole Library http://www.library.yale.edu/walpole/index.html

or The Wellcome Library’s  Medical History collections: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/index.html

See the list of the collection of online 17th century recipe books [some are full text]: http://archives.wellcome.ac.uk/dserve/recipebooks/MS144.pdf

  • Books I am Looking Forward to 

*Joanna Trollope has signed on to re-write Sense & Sensibility in modern garb! [due out fall 2013]:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/13/joanna-trollope-rewrite-jane-austen

See her website here:  http://www.joannatrollope.com/

*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)]

*Facing Beauty: Painted Women & Cosmetic Art :  by Aileen Ribeiro http://yalebooks.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/author-article-by-aileen-ribeiro-on-beauty/

and for more information on this title: http://yalebooks.co.uk/display.asp?K=9780300124866

*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.

http://yalebooks.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/new-exhibition-vermeers-women-secrets-and-silence-opens-at-the-fitzwilliam/

You can order the book here:

US: http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300178999
UK: http://www.yalebooks.co.uk/display.asp?K=9780300178999

*Chatsworth House – there is a new exhibition space featuring the 6th Duke of Devonshire – through December 23, 2011:  http://www.chatsworth.org/attractions/house/the-new-gallery-exhibition-space

 You can also follow the Duke’s diaries on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/the6thdukeofdevonshire


Regency Life

Check this post on “The Gentle Art of Regurgitation During Travel” – at Booktryst [look closely!]

http://www.booktryst.com/2011/09/gentle-art-of-regurgitation-during.html

[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]

London Historians:  some very nice articles on Lord Nelson, etc. http://www.londonhistorians.org/?s=articles 

Fashion exhibit at Fairfax House, York: a video http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/video_autumn_fashions_as_worn_by_jane_austen_1_3702171

also see this video of inside this lovely Georgian Townhouse: http://www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk/?idno=807

In need of a gown of your own? – check out Reproduction Fabrics: http://www.reproductionfabrics.com/  – and the accompanying textile blog: http://www.cottonopia.net/

Staples III - Reproduction Fabrics

Shopping 

Head over to esty for a copy of this illustration of the Pride and Prejudice cast of characters: http://www.etsy.com/listing/80386089/pride-and-prejudice-jane-austen

P&P - BlueSkyLnking

there are others – from Emma, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Sense and Sensibility:

S&S - BlueSkyLnking

For Fun

I know this is a few years old, but one cannot watch it too often – a fine reminder of how often the men in Austen, etc. were dripping wet! 
It’s Raining Men!:  on youtube http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=it%27s+raining+men+jane+austen&aq=f

[image: bluechipmag.com]

Enjoy!

Copyright @2011 Deb Barnum, Jane Austen in Vermont
Jane Austen · JASNA · JASNA-Vermont events · Regency England · Social Life & Customs

JASNA-Vermont Sept. Meeting ~ “Houses in Jane Austen’s Life and Fiction”

BookLady Deb4 Comments

You are Cordially Invited to
JASNA-Vermont’s September Gathering 

with

JASNA President Iris Lutz

“‛…in proportion to their family and income’: Houses in
Jane Austen’s Life and Fiction” *

 *An illustrated lecture featuring the houses in Jane Austen’s real and imagined worlds ~ we will be visiting Chawton, Bath, Winchester, and Kent, pairing pictures of real houses with descriptions in the novels of Austen’s various cottages, manors, and estates ~  Barton Cottage, Longbourn, Mansfield Park, Sotherton, and of course Pemberley! 

**********

Sunday, September 25, 2011   2 ~ 4 pm

 An event of the Burlington Book Festival 
~ Sponsored by Bygone Books  ~

Hosted by: Champlain College,
Hauke Conference Center ~
 375 Maple St Burlington VT

 http://www.champlain.edu/Documents/about_champlain/Campus-Map.pdf 

Free & Open to the Public!

Light refreshments served

 For more information:   JASNAVermont@gmail.com   

Please visit our BLOG at: http://JaneAustenInVermont.wordpress.com

Burlington Book Festival:  http://www.burlingtonbookfestival.com

 ************************************ 

Please Join Us!

Book reviews · Books · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Jane Austen Sequels · Regency England · Social Life & Customs

Mini Book Review ~ Definitely Not Mr. Darcy, by Karen Doornebos

BookLady Deb3 Comments

Chloe Parker was born two centuries too late. A thirty-nine-year-old divorced mother, she runs her own antique letterpress business, is a lifelong member of the Jane Austen Society, and gushes over everything Regency. But her business is failing, threatening her daughter’s future. What’s a lady to do? Why, audition for a Jane Austen-inspired TV show set in England, of course.

What Chloe thinks is a documentary turns out to be a reality dating show set in 1812. Eight women are competing to snare Mr. Wrightman, the heir to a gorgeous estate—and a one-hundred-thousand-dollar prize. So Chloe tosses her bonnet into the ring, hoping to transform from stressed-out Midwestern mom to genteel American heiress and win the money.

With no cell phones, indoor plumbing, or deodorant to be found, she must tighten her corset and flash some ankle to beat out women younger, more cutthroat, and less clumsy than herself. But the witty and dashing Mr. Wrightman proves to be a prize worth winning, even if it means the gloves are off…

[from the author’s website and publisher’s release]

 I often have trouble with sequels, and there are so many lately that my head spins just looking at the booklist! – I do marvel at the originality of all these writers wanting to re-tell in some fashion all that Jane Austen left unsaid, but in all honesty I want Austen’s characters left alone, to be returned to in their original state with a good solid re-read when I choose [though I am also of the school that says ‘no criticizing if you haven’t read the book’…!].  I find more to my taste the Austen-inspired fiction the likes of “Lost in Austen”, where the plot offers new characters, fresh dialogue, and inspired plots, where you are taken into Jane Austen’s world, either as a 21st century soul trying to adapt to what we think we know of the Regency Period and on that endless search for a character like Mr. Darcy, or Henry Tilney or Captain Wentworth (sigh…) – or perhaps a Willoughby if you are so inclined! – or where we are taken into her world where we meet a fictional Jane herself, as in Stephanie Barron’s creative mysteries.  Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and Bridget Jones Diary, Austenland and The Man Who Loved Jane Austen  are all of this genre, and thankfully, all leave the original works quite at peace. 

The problem is that these too all start to look alike – the klutzy independent Heroine with “life issues” somehow transported into the early 1800s and found struggling against the social (and fashion!) restrictions of the times.  Definitely Not Mr. Darcy is the latest entrant in this genre:  I quote Publisher’s Weekly: 

Doornebos gives the historical romance a hilarious update in this delightful debut… The amusing secondary characters, sidesplitting faux pas, and fiery romance will make Doornebos an instant hit with readers.

 And from Romantic Times: 

Doornsbos brings readers a fresh take on Jane Austen’s world.  Mixing reality television with Regency-style romance, this tale combines a fun plot with witty dialogue, charming characters and a strong-willed heroine.  It will leave you laughing in delight and reluctant to put it down until the last page is read.

And “fresh take” though it is, one can’t help feeling “I’ve been here before.”  Ms. Doornebos states herself in the acknowledgments that she was mostly done with her writing before she even knew about the reality show “Regency House Party.”  And far too many of the characters do seem clichéd: the handsome Lord and Hero; his almost-but-not-quite dorky brother; the glamorous but really nasty American-bashing contestant; the side players with their own back stories that continually confuse the Heroine as to the truth vs. the play script; the borderline cruelty of the producer; and the Heroine, the all-American with a messy life who just needs to win the money (and a Lord on the side would be nice…), caught between this reality and her need for True Love.  Sound familiar??

Well, that’s ok – even Georgette Heyer rewrote her own formula fiction over and over again and alas! it is summer, and what better way to spend such a summer’s day than laying about with a quick read that has an engaging plot with a few twists, a Heroine you do root for as she falls into one mishap after another (she is often very wet and suffers various fainting fits!), and that irresistible Regency setting! And you will laugh out loud – the Cook, the Chaperone, the Maid, and a Footman or two who instruct and keep our Heroine in strict social compliance round out the story – you will learn the “language of the fan”, various fashion secrets, letter-writing etiquette (though this one glaring error: the constant reference to “envelopes” – yikes!) – the hated needlework assignments, side-saddle riding, a few archery lessons, the rules of dining and enough about Regency era food to turn any committed carnivore into a vegetarian, and several opportunities for dancing (the waltz!). 

Can’t tell more – would ruin your fun – just go and get yourself “lost in Austen” for a few hours and discover just how Doornebos fashions her Darcy for this latest Austen-obsessed Heroine. You won’t be disappointed! 

4 out of 5 Full Inkwells 

Definitely Not Mr. Darcy, by Karen Doornebos
New York: Berkley, 2011
Release date:  September 6, 2011
ISBN:  978-0-425-24382-4 

Website:    http://karendoornebos.com
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/KarenDoornebos

 Copyright @2011 Deb Barnum, of Jane Austen in Vermont 
Books · Fashion & Costume · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Jane Austen Sequels · JASNA · Literature · Museum Exhibitions · News · Regency England

The Penny Post Weekly Review ~ All Things Austen!

BookLady Deb1 Comment

The Penny Post Weekly Review

  22 August 2011 

News & Gossip: 

-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/

-The Jane Austen Fan Kit for your iphone: an absolute must-have!http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jane-austen-fan-kit/id455959904?mt=8 

-The BBC Four: Elegance and Decadence: Age of the Regency http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-29231 – how I hate we don’t get BBC Four; you can get more information to whet your appetite and /or get really depressed you don’t live in the UK at Lucy Worsley’s blog:  http://www.lucyworsley.com/blog/im-hanging-up-my-red-regency-dress/

-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

-More on the Pride and Prejudice,  The Musical – this time a lovely personal story with a military twist – a tale of Jane Austen bringing people together [as she does do well…]:  http://www.facebook.com/notes/jane-austens-pride-and-prejudice-a-musical/isnt-love-wonderful-a-soldiers-perspective-of-pp/253926927962318
[fromJASNA-NY] 

Frances Burney

-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. 

 See here for more details: http://burneycentre.mcgill.ca/burneysociety.html [scroll down for the information]


JASNA News: 

-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]

-Laurel Ann at Austenprose attended the 20th anniversary of the Puget Sound JASNA Region and tells the tale here:  http://austenprose.com/2011/08/19/jasna-puget-sound-celebrates-its-20th-anniversary/

 
The Circulating Library:

House of Lords - Pugin & Rowlandson - Ackermann print

–see the Rudolph Ackermann information at the Town and Country in Miniature online collection at Augustana College Special Collections: http://www.augustana.edu/SpecialCollections/colorplate/ackermann.html[see the other parts of this exhibit as well]
Websites  & Blogs:

-The Rice Portrait website:  http://www.janeaustenriceportrait.co.uk/#

-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/

-Jane Austen week of old fashioned dolls and Regency dresses:  http://oldfashiondolls.blogspot.com/2011/08/jane-austen-week-day-5.html

-Georgian Gentleman blog:  http://georgiangentleman.posterous.com/?page=1 You can find information on his “Journal of a Georgian Gentleman” here: http://mikerendell.com/book.html 


–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/


Regency Life & Fashion:

-Fashion:  Getting Dressed in the 18th Century:  love this!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCrn8YrVufU [[from the Jane Austen Centre Newsletter]

-Colonial Williamsburg’s online exhibition: just a lovely compilation!
Historic Threads: Three Centuries of Clothing
http://www.history.org/history/museums/clothingexhibit/museum_intro.cfm

 [Courtesy Colonial Williamsburg website]

-An exhibition at Fairfax House in York:
REVOLUTIONARY FASHION 1790 – 1820 [from August 29 through
December 31, 2011]: http://www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk/?idno=687&id=91

 


Book Thoughts:

-Hurray! Stephanie Barron’s latest Jane Austen mystery: http://www.stephaniebarron.com/canterbury-tale.php – this one featuring her brother Edward:


-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.

[From his website:  http://davidliss.com/ ]

But see this interview at The Big Thrill where he talks about Jane Austen [and why we are here after all…]  http://www.thebigthrill.org/2011/07/the-twelfth-enchantment-by-david-liss/ :

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.

-For a good read of something that Jane Austen read, try Patronage by Maria Edgeworth (1814) recently reviewed in The Guardian:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/14/patronage-maria-edgeworth-review-austen?INTCMP=SRCH

-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!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77493584/keep-calm-and-read-jane-austen-8×10?ref=sr_gallery_8&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=jane+austen&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

-and one of my all-time favorites:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/37290400/jane-austen-my-other-rides-a-barouche?ref=sc_4


For Fun: [what! SHOPPING isn’t fun?!]

-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?]

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2011/08/victorian-husbands-and-wives/

–Better Book Titles:  http://betterbooktitles.com/ – I already posted on this about Mansfield Park, newly titled: “I Couldn’t Even Finish the Spark Notes” – http://betterbooktitles.com/search/jane+austen – but add your comments for other Austen titles here:

https://janeausteninvermont.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/a-better-title-for-jane-austens-mansfield-park/

Signing off – stay tuned for the next edition…

Copyright @2011 Deb Barnum of Jane Austen in Vermont
Jane Austen · Regency England · Social Life & Customs

In Memory of Jane Austen ~ July 18, 1817

BookLady Deb7 Comments

[I append here the post I wrote last year on this day]

July 18, 1817.  Just a short commemoration on this sad day…

No one said it better than her sister Cassandra who wrote

I have lost a treasure, such a Sister, such a friend as never can have been surpassed,- She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every pleasure, the soother of every sorrow, I had not a thought concealed from her, & it is as if I had lost a part of myself…”

(Letters, ed. by Deidre Le Faye [3rd ed, 1997], From Cassandra to Fanny Knight, 20 July 1817, p. 343; full text of this letter is at the Republic of Pemberley)

There has been much written on Austen’s lingering illness and death; see the article by Sir Zachary Cope published in the British Medical Journal of July 18, 1964, in which he first proposes that Austen suffered from Addison’s disease.  And see also Claire Tomalin’s biography Jane Austen: A life, “Appendix I, “A Note on Jane Austen’s Last Illness” where she suggests that Austen’s symptoms align more with a lymphoma such as Hodgkin’s disease.

The Gravesite: 

Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral

….where no mention is made of her writing life on her grave: 

It was not until after 1870 that a brass memorial tablet was placed by her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh on the north wall of the nave, near her grave:

It tells the visitor that:

Jane Austen

[in part] Known to many by her writings,
endeared to her family
by the varied charms of her characters
and ennobled by her Christian faith and piety
was born at Steventon in the County of Hants.
December 16 1775
and buried in the Cathedral
July 18 1817.
“She openeth her mouth with wisdom
and in her tongue is the law of kindness.”

The Obituaries:

David Gilson writes in his article “Obituaries” that there are eleven known published newspaper and periodical obituary notices of Jane Austen: here are a few of them:

  1. Hampshire Chronicle and Courier (vol. 44, no. 2254, July 21, 1817, p.4):  “Winchester, Saturday, July 19th: Died yesterday, in College-street, Miss Jane Austen, youngest daughter of the late Rev. George Austen formerly Rector of Steventon, in this county.”
  2. Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle (vol. 18, no. 928, p. 4)…”On Friday last died, Miss Austen, late of Chawton, in this County.”
  3. Courier (July 22, 1817, no. 7744, p. 4), makes the first published admission of Jane Austen’s authorship of the four novels then published: “On the 18th inst. at Winchester, Miss Jane Austen, youngest daughter of the late Rev. George Austen, Rector of Steventon, in Hampshire, and the Authoress of Emma, Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility.  Her manners were most gentle; her affections ardent; her candor was not to be surpassed, and she lived and died as became a humble Christian.” [A manuscript copy of this notice in Cassandra Austen’s hand exists, as described by B.C. Southam]
  4. The Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle published a second notice in its next issue (July 28, 1817, p. 4) to include Austen’s writings.

There are seven other notices extant, stating the same as the above in varying degrees.  The last notice to appear, in the New Monthly Magazine (vol. 8, no. 44, September 1, 1817, p. 173) wrongly gives her father’s name as “Jas” (for James), but describes her as “the ingenious authoress” of the four novels…

[from Gilson’s article “Obituaries”, THE JANE AUSTEN COMPANION [Macmillan 1986], p. 320-1]  

Links to other articles and sources:

Copyright @2011 by Deb Barnum, of Jane Austen in Vermont
Regency England · Social Life & Customs

English Country Dancing in Vermont!

BookLady DebLeave a comment

Reminders!

English Country Dance Classes in Richmond
Learn about and enjoy Jane Austen’s favorite social pastime!
Richmond Free Library
201 Bridge Street, Richmond, VT
4 Wednesday Nights i n 2011:
July 6, 13, 20, 27
7pm to 9:30pm
please note that the library locks its door at 8pm
7pm to 8pm ~ basics/styling tips/review
8pm to 8:10pm ~ break
8:10pm to 9:30pm ~ dancing for all
Voluntary donation to defray cost of air conditioning
($3 per class suggested)
For adults & teens. Come with or without a partner; we’ll change
partners throughout the evening. Dress comfortably and bring
c l e a n , flat-heeled shoes with smooth soles (avoid sneakers & mules /
slides) .
~ No sign-up or registration required ~
Just show up and join us for some fun evenings!
INFORMATION ~  www. burlingtoncountrydancers.org

**********************

You can also enhance your ECD skills here:

This first one is through the UVM OLLI program  [ Osher Lifelong Learning Institute ]:

English Country Dancing in Jane Austen’s World 
 
Instructor: Judy Chaves
Date: Monday, July 11, 6-8pm
Location: Ira Allen Chapel at UVM
Price: Members – $20 / Non-Members – $30

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, 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! 

Copyright @2011 by Deb Barnum, of Jane Austen in Vermont
Austen Literary History & Criticism · Jane Austen · News · Regency England · Social Life & Customs

Hot off the Press! ~ Jane Austen’s Regency World Magazine No. 52

BookLady DebLeave a comment

News from the editor:  the July/August 2011 issue of Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine is now on sale and has been mailed to subscribers.

In the new issue: 

  • JANE AUSTEN FESTIVAL IN BATH ~ A preview of the exciting programme lined up for September
  • THEATRICAL PAINTINGS ~ The amazing set of costumed portraits collected by Somerset Maugham is now in safe hands
  • COAST DELIGHTS ~ How Jane Austen depicts the seaside in her novels
  • FORGOTTEN BROTHER ~ Maggie Lane traces the life of George Austen, Jane’s little-known brother
  • LUNAR RIOTS ~ The day a Georgian society in Birmingham was attacked by a mob
  • WHEN WE ARE GONE ~ How did Cassandra handle Jane’s legacy, and what about ours?
  • JANE’S MEN ~ Our favourite author was not only an expert on women, she had a strong insight into the minds of men

Plus: All the latest news from the world of Jane Austen, as well as letters, book reviews, quiz, competition and news from JAS and JASNA.

Jane Austen’s Regency World will be at the following events, and we look forward to meeting many subscribers, old and new:

  • July 9 &10: Jane Austen Festival, Louisville, Kentucky,USA 
  • Sept 17P:  Jane Austen Festival, Bath, UK (country fayre) 
  • Oct 13-15:  JASNA AGM, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

For further information, and to subscribe, visit: www.janeaustenmagazine.co.uk

Books · Fashion & Costume · Jane Austen · JASNA · Museum Exhibitions · News · Regency England

The Penny Post Weekly Review ~ All Things Austen

BookLady Deb1 Comment

The Penny Post Weekly Review

June 11, 2011

 Some goodies for this week – have you found anything of interest you would like to share? – please do!

 News and Gossip:

*Don’t miss this! – June 11 with Rick Steves: A Proper English Hour: Home, High Tea, and Jane Austen’s England — Bill Bryson examines private life during the Victorian age; London guide Britt Lonsdale explains how to enjoy a proper afternoon tea service; and screenwriter Andrew Davies [soon to be the JASNA AGM in Fort Worth!] shares his appreciation for the works of Jane Austen.

Click here to find where it airs in your area [alas! In Vermont, nowhere!] http://www.ricksteves.com/radio/whereitairs.htm

But, thankfully, beginning on June 12, the show will also be available to download any time from their website archives at this page: http://www.ricksteves.com/radio/archive.htm

*Masterpiece Theatre announces its fall lineup: watch for Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Ralph Fiennes and more! http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/fall_2011.html

*The Jane Austen Regency Week in the UK has several events worth either attending OR lamenting if you are on the wrong side of the pond: http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/leisure/general/9071636.Jane_Austen_s_Women_brought_to_life_by_Eastleigh_actress/

http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/leisure/general/9072738.Don_t_miss_Regency_Day_at_The_Vyne_on_Saturday/

*For those of us who are on the western shore of the Atlantic, there is the fabulous JASNA Louisville 4th annual Jane Austen Festival July 9 – 10, 2011: information and registration here: http://www.jasnalouisville.com/

*see  LimogesBoxCollector.com at https://www.limogesboxcollector.com/product_info.php?products_id=2183&osCsid=m86f91l6la8d4g1th82filhu66 for your very own Jane Austen bookshelf [$249.00]:

– the latest issue of Jane Austen’s Regency World mentions a Pride & Prejudice Limoges Box, which was announced by Limoges in March 2011 – only the above box appears on the Limoges website, so perhaps they are sold out? – here are the two boxes in the announcement – let me know if you bought one!:



Blogs, websites, and such:

Elizabeth Montague by Edward Haytley

*Elizabeth Montague and the Bluestocking Circle: http://elizabethmontaguletters.co.uk/home

Their project to put all her letters online: Our goal is to prepare a fully annotated electronic edition of Elizabeth Montagu’s correspondence. The author and bluestocking salonnière (1718-1800) was the leading woman of letters and artistic patron of her day. The 8,000 extant letters, ‘among the most important surviving collections from the eighteenth century’ (Schnorrenberg) is held in the British Library, the Bodleian and the Huntington Library, the latter of which holds 6,000 of them. Less than a quarter of these documents has been previously published and then in partial archaic print selections.

*Oxford Bookworms, where Pride and Prejudice is a bestseller in its Stage 6 series:  http://www.oup-bookworms.com/oxford-bookworms.cfm 

*World Digital Library, http://www.wdl.org/en/about/site.html – a joint venture of the Library of Congress and other world libraries – alas! no Austen, but this growing database is worth searching – in a quick look I find the Gutenberg Bible,  William Blake’s The Book of Urizen http://www.wdl.org/en/item/201/?ql=eng&s=william+blake&view_type=gallery

and an abundance of Robbie Burns!: http://www.wdl.org/en/search/gallery?ql=eng&s=robert+burns

*Angela Thirkell – For lovers of Trollope in need of more Barset stories, you should add Angela Thirkell to your book shelf – there is also yet another Society to join!  http://www.angelathirkell.org/

*Lit Lists: an interesting blog for lovers of lists – here, all literary ones:   http://litlists.blogspot.com/ – an example? – “Five Best New Ways of Portraying Lives” which includes Claire Harman’s Jane’s Fame http://litlists.blogspot.com/2011/06/five-best-new-ways-of-portraying-lives.html

* The recently established Fresno Area Regency England Fellowship http://fresnoarearegency.com/ has a nice website, where you can sign up for their monthly newsletter and facebook page.


Books – Reviews – Recommendations:

*A book review: Laura Miller at Salon.com on A Jane Austen Education:

http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/index.html?source=newsletter&utm_source=contactology&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Salon_Daily%20Newsletter%20%28Not%20Premium%29_7_30_110

*Miranda Seymour at the NYTimes on A Jane Austen Education and Rachel Brownstein’s Why Jane Austen?: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/books/review/book-review-a-jane-austen-education-and-why-jane-austen.html

*Reading lists:  I have found two perfect reading lists for what to read when you have read all of Jane Austen:


Other recommendations to add to your Austen Library:

 

Museums / Exhibitions:

The Musee McCord in Montreal – considered the leading collection of Canadian dress and the second most important collection of costume in Canada, this collection has grown since 1957 to contain some 18,845 items of dress and accessories – the Museum has the following 19th century fashion-related games online: [with thanks to JASNA-New Jersey http://cnjjasna.blogspot.com/ for this link]

Also in Musee des Beaux-Arts de Montreal: an exhibit of the Museum’s collection of Napoleon artifacts:  http://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/expositions/exposition_134.html

***************************

To close, I append a quote [and not even from Jane!] I found on a listserv – from Steven Wright [I love Steven Wright!]

“I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything.”
– Steven Wright, comedian (1955- )

He must have been reading Johnson’s Dictionary!

Copyright @2011 by Deb Barnum, of Jane Austen in Vermont
Books · Jane Austen · Literature · News · Regency England · Social Life & Customs

The Penny Post Weekly Review ~ All Things Austen

BookLady Deb6 Comments

The Penny Post Weekly Review* 

June 4, 2011

News and Gossip: 

1.   “Josiah Wedgwood Tradesman – Tycoon, firing up the modern Age” at The Culture Concept Circle:  http://www.thecultureconcept.com/circle/josiah-wedgwood-tradesman-tycoon-firing-up-the-modern-age

 2.  http://www.e-enlightenment.com/ – free access through the month of June:   user ID: ee2011 / PW:  enlightenment

3.  How timely is this, as I just started to re-read Evelina last week! You can follow the Group read of Frances Burney’s Evelina at The Duchess of Devonshire’s Gossip Guide: here is the first post: http://georgianaduchessofdevonshire.blogspot.com/2011/06/evelina-volume-1-letters-1-20-and.html

The full reading schedule is here: join in if you can!http://georgianaduchessofdevonshire.blogspot.com/2011/05/evelina-group-read-rundown.html

  • 2 June: Volume 1 Letters 1-20
  • 9 June: Volume 1 Letter 21- Volume 2 Letter 6 (21-37)
  • 16 June: Volume 2 Letter 7- 22 (38-53)
  • 23 June: Volume 2 Letter 23- Volume 3 Letter 9 (54-71)
  • 30 June: Volume 3 Letter 10-23 (72-84)

4.  In the UK: The Jane Austen Regency Week [ June 18 – June 26, 2011], celebrating the time Jane Austen spent in Alton and Chawton, is sponsored by the Alton Chamber of Commerce – website with event information here: http://www.janeaustenregencyweek.co.uk/index.html

5.  As part of the above Regency Week celebration, the Chawton House Library will be hosting tea, talk, and tours on June 21st and 23rd : http://www.chawton.org/news/

6.  Two posts on the British and their lovely habit, the drinking of tea: at Mary Ellen Foley’s Anglo-American Experience blog:

Part 1: http://mefoley.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/tea-part-1/
Part 2: http://mefoley.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/tea-part-2/
Part 3: http://mefoley.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/tea-part-3/
Part 4:  coming soon, so check back

Chinese Flowers, Old Foley pottery, from M.E. Foley's blog

7.  Dressing the Part: Dolley Madison’s Life Through Fashion, an exhibit at James Madison’s Montpelier, June 15, 2011 – March 29, 2012: http://www.montpelier.org/explore/collections/dressing_the_part.php

8.  The In Fashion: High Style 1620-2011 exhibit at The Shelburne Museum opens June 18, 2011: http://shelburnemuseum.org/exhibitions/in-fashion/

9.  An interview with Diana Birchall at Maria Grazia’s The Jane Austen Book Club: [includes a book giveaway] http://thesecretunderstandingofthehearts.blogspot.com/2011/06/talking-jane-austen-with-diana-birchall.html

10.  I don’t even know where to begin re: V. S. Naipaul’s trashing women writers and Jane Austen’s “sentimentality” [see this article at the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jun/02/vs-naipaul-jane-austen-women-writers ]

– but as one gentleman on one of the listservs I subscribe to so eloquently said: “Oh yeah Naipaul, how many movies have been made from YOUR books, huh?”

**************************** 

New Books just out / about to be: 

1.  Why Jane Austen? By Rachel Brownstein. ColumbiaUniversity Press, 2011:  http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15390-4/why-jane-austen  [publication date: June 16, 2011 or thereabouts – more on this book next week!]

2.  Vauxhall Gardens, by David Coke and Alan Borg:  http://www.vauxhallgardens.com/ – the book is to be published by Yale University Press on June 8, 2011

3.  Jane Austen: Two Centuries of Criticism, by Laurence Mazzeno. Camden Press, 2011:

http://www.camden-house.com/store/viewitem.asp?idproduct=13605

***************************** 

A few blogs / websites to check out:

1.  This one deserves repeating:  The Jane Austen Music Transcripts Collection at Flinders Academic Commons, transcribed by Gillian Dooley [this is a wonderful resource, most all from Austen’s music manuscript notebooks]: http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/dspace/handle/2328/15193

2.  William Godwin’s Diary: Reconstructing a Social and Political Culture, 1788-1836:  http://godwindiary.politics.ox.ac.uk/   [husband to Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley’s father, Austen’s time]

3.  The Beau Monde Blog:  http://thebeaumondeworld.wordpress.com/

Beau Monde Blog header

4.  The Carlyle Letters Online:  http://carlyleletters.dukejournals.org/ [i.e Thomas and Jane]

5.  The George Eliot blog:  [new!]http://desperatelyseekinggeorge.wordpress.com/

6.  The Yale Center for British Art – their fabulous new website:  http://britishart.yale.edu/

Mercier - 'The Sense of Hearing' - detail - YCBA

 *****************************

* I hope to return to doing a weekly update of various Austen-related discoveries – so much out there – so little time – one must set aside some time for BOOKS, don’t you think??

Copyright @2011 Deb Barnum, at Jane Austen in Vermont
Jane Austen · News · Regency England · Social Life & Customs

English Country Dance in Vermont ~ Put on Your Dancing Shoes!

BookLady Deb2 Comments

If you love English Country Dance, then Burlington Vermont is the place to be this summer!  

There are two English Country Dance classes that are being offered:

This first one is through the UVM OLLI program  [ Osher Lifelong Learning Institute ]:

English Country Dancing in Jane Austen’s World 
 
Instructor: Judy Chaves
Date: Monday, July 11, 6-8pm
Location: Ira Allen Chapel at UVM
Price: Members – $20 / Non-Members – $30

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, 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!

 ****************

Judy is also teaching a series of classes in Charlotte, VT… 

at the Charlotte Senior Center, Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6 pm, starting on July 22 and running for 5 weeks.  It will be geared for beginners.  Come with or without a partner.  Cost is $45 and registration is required.  Call 425-6345 to register. 

 *****************

And the fabulous Burlington Country Dancers will be hosting their annual event next weekend!

 Across the Lake

 English Country Dancing on the Vermont Side of Lake Champlain

June 10, 11, 12. 2011 

Elley-Long Music Center
223 Ethan Allen Ave.
Colchester,Vermont
(nearBurlington)

with

Joseph Pimentel
&
Bare Necessities

 plus Wendy Gilchrist, Linda Nelson,
Shepherd & Ewe, Symphony Reel 

~ ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED ~ 

Visit their website for registration and contact information.

Copyright @2011 Deb Barnum, of Jane Austen in Vermont