See this Publishers Weekly blog and their list of their “Top 10 Favorite Book Covers for 2011” – A Jane Austen Education comes in at number 8:
8. A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz (Penguin Press)
“The formality of Austen’s novels is contrasted by the cartoonish style and informality of an outfit (and personality) being simply applied adhesively.”
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The photograph of the month at the National Portrait Gallery [UK] is Colin Firth – and on exhibit through December:
Colin Firth by Jillian Edelstein from the NPG Website.
Eight internationally acclaimed authors have invented imaginary biographies and character sketches based on fourteen unidentified portraits. Who are these men and women, why were they painted, and why do they now find themselves in the Collection of the National Portrait Gallery? With fictional letters, diaries, mini-biographies and memoirs, Imagined Lives creates vivid stories about these unknown sitters from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
For your iphone, ipad and such: Ebook Treasures: We already know that Austen’s History of England is available from the British Library, but look at this, a 14th Century Cookbook:
“The Forme of Cury is the oldest surviving cookbook in the world, dating from the late 14th century. Originally made by the cooks of the court of Richard II, very few copies survive, and this one, from the John Rylands Library in Manchester, is probably the best and earliest. Written in Middle English, the script can be hard to interpret, and some of the recipes unfamiliar. The book gives an incredible insight into medieval kitchens, as well as medieval life itself. The book contains one hundred and ninety-four recipes which reveal the amazing variety and elaboration of the dishes available to the elite, including stews, roast dishes, jellies, tarts and custards. Among the recipes are ‘Chyckens in gravey’, ‘Blank manger’ (a white savory stew, from which the word ‘blancmange’ derives),‘Furmente with porpays’ (porpoise in wheat porridge), and ‘Crypses’ (fried pastries).
The manuscript is still in a very worn, and possibly original, binding and it may well have been used as a practical cookery book in an aristocratic or royal kitchen. However, unlike modern recipe books, the Forme of Cury doesn’t give exact quantities or cooking times, so a lot is left to the skill and imagination of the cook.
This iBook contains the complete manuscript along with transcriptions from the Middle English. iTunes £3.99 ” [from the website]___________________________________
Michael Dirda of the Washington Post reviews Death Comes to Pemberley – this is on the top of my TBR pile…
For those non-vegetarians out there with an interest in the Meat of London, here is a tasty read [and perhaps an unsettling one?]:
Meat, Commerce and the City: The London Food Market, 1800–1855 by Robyn Metcalfe – all you ever wanted to know about the Smithfield Meat Market, due out in March 2012 from Pickering & Chatto.
[image from Victorian London.org]
Tides of War, by Stella Tillyard
An epic novel about love and war, set in Regency England and Spain during the Peninsular War (1812-15), by the acclaimed historian and bestselling author of “Aristocrats.” Tides of War opens in England with the recently married, charmingly unconventional Harriet preparing to say goodbye to her husband, James, as he leaves to join the Duke of Wellington’s troops in Spain….
A book about the plague, Ralph Tailor’s Summer by Keith Wrightson – visit the publisher Yale Books where you can read a fascinating extract from the preface.
Charles Dickens is getting a good number of exhibitions all over in celebration of his 200th birthday: you can check the various happenings at the Dickens 2012 website.
*There is also the Dickens Exhibition at The Morgan Library. Here is the online component you can visit without leaving home: you can view 20 pages of A Christmas Carol and read a letter penned by Dickens…
Organized to complement the Center’s major exhibition on Johan Zoffany, who spent six productive years in India, Adapting the Eye explores the complex and multifaceted networks of British and Indian professional and amateur artists, patrons, and scholars in British India in the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and their drive to create and organize knowledge for both aesthetic and political purposes. Selected from the Center’s rich holdings, the exhibition includes a diverse range of objects from both high art and popular culture, including albums, scrapbooks, prints, paintings, miniatures, and sculpture, demonstrating how collecting practices and artistic patronage in India during that period constituted a complex intersection of culture and power.
Auction News
At auction this coming week: Bonham’s Fine Books and manuscripts, December 15, 2011:
Lot No: 5159WALKER, MRS. ALEXANDER.Female Beauty, as Preserved and Improved by Regimen, Cleanliness and Dress. London: Thomas Hurst, 1837.
8vo (183 x 107mm). With 11 lithographed illustrations, 10 hand-colored, each with hand-colored overlay, showing how physical characteristics (thick waist, broad jaws, short limbs, etc.) can be camouflaged in order to enhance one’s appearance. Later morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, spine gilt, a.e.g. Custom slipcase. Some staining to spine, minor foxing throughout, offset from plates. Estimate: US$500 – 700.
And more of Mr. Dickens! Lot No: 5177: DICKENS, CHARLES. 1812-1870.
A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. London: Chapman & Hall, 1843.
8vo. [viii], 166, [2] ad pp. Hand-colored engraved frontispiece and 3 hand-colored plates. Original cloth blindstamped and gilt, a.e.g. Custom morocco pull-off case by Scroll Club Bindery. Pp 64-70 lightly foxed, binding slightly cocked and faded.
Provenance: Jerome Kern (morocco book label); Frank Brewer Bemis [1861-1935],Bostoncollector, whose collection was dispersed by Rosenbach and Goodspeed (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION, THE KERN-BEMIS COPY. Second issue of the text, with “Stave One” on page [1], title page in red and blue dated 1843, and yellow endpapers, but first state of the binding (the closest interval between blindstamped border and gilt holly wreath being 14-15 mm not 12 mm, and the upper left serif of D intact). Todd calls this binding point a “desideratum … encompassing all the others,” and of greater importance in priority than the textual points (The Book Collector, 1961, pp 449-454). Eckel, p 116; Sadleir 684. Estimate: US$4,000 – 6,000.
Lot No: 5284 : GEORGE III. 1738-1820.
Document Signed (“George R.”), 1 p (with conjoined docketed blank), folio, St. James’s, May 25, 1781, being a pay warrant for General Henry Seymour Conway for the Royal Horse Guards for the year 1779, additionally signed by CHARLES JENKINSON, Earl of Liverpool, toned, tape stains at upper and lower right corners, small chips at edges, matted and framed.
Provenance: with Thomas F. Madigan,New Yorkautograph dealer (signed letter of authenticity, October 26, 1935). Estimate: US$800 – 1,200.
Prices Realized at Auction:
Mr. Dickens yet again!: A complete set in fine bindings of the first editions of Charles Dickens’s Christmas Books. Five volumes, uniformly bound, London, 1843-1848. Includes A Christmas Carol. Sold for $6,480. [Swann]
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Dance Card for the Union Ball in Honor of the Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, $3,840 at Swann Galleries of New York on December 1.
A dance card issued to the guests atLincoln’s inaugural ball in 1861. Courtesy of Swann Galleries.These cards, with die-cut decorative border and a ribbon through one corner, were issued to guests at the inauguration ball inWashington,D.C.on March 4, 1861. On the second of the four pages are listed the twenty-three planned dances that will take place to the music provided by L. F. Weber’s band, while on the third is space to write in one’s partner for each dance. On the rear panel are printed the names of Lincoln and his vice president, Hannibal Hamlin, around an illustration of a bald eagle, captioned “The Constitution.” [Invitations to the ball appear from time to time and sell for upwards of $8,000, but Swann could find no previous record of a dance card at auction.]
If you are into hair collecting [a little late for our Regency tastes, but what good Victorianist is not into hair…], here is a short essay on the topic at Paul Fraser Collectibles.
And then you might like to add this to your collection: Lord Nelson’s hair for £49.95, or Napoleon, and the Duke of Wellingon, all the same price – also Dickens and Steinbeck and Paul McCartney, etc – but alas! – no Jane Austen!
And this is way too much fun to look at – The Love Diagrams of Jane Austenat Diana Peterfreund’s website: [visit her site for diagrams of the other novels]
And finally, this is all over the airwaves, and we will have to wait until December 16th for it all to be unveiled, but visit the website of The Austen Games.com to whet your appetite and ponder.…
Please join me and THIRTY other bloggers as we all celebrate Jane Austen’s 236th Birthday during the December 16th Soiree.
Sponsored by Katherine Cox atNovember’s Autumnand Maria Grazia atMy Jane Austen Book Club , each of the following Austen-related bloggers will post a birthday message to Austen – a card, a letter, a gift – and each blog will be offering a gift to the random winner from those who post comments!
Stay tuned ~ and Please join us for the celebration on Friday December 16th!
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE JANE AUSTEN’S BIRTHDAY SOIREE :
1. Sharon Lathan – Blog: Sharon Lathan
Giveaway : Miss Darcy Falls in Love
14. Deb Barnum – Blog: Jane Austen in Vermont
Giveaway [open worldwide]: JASNA 2012 calendar from the Wisconsin JASNA Region
15. Laura Hile, Susan Kaye, Pamela Aidan, and Barbara Cornthwaite – Blog: Jane Started it! Giveaway: One copy of Young Master Darcy: A Lesson in Honour by Pamela Aidan;
One set of Frederick Wentworth, Captain (Books 1 and 2) by Susan Kaye;
Two copies of Mercy’s Embrace: So Rough a Course (Book 1) by Laura Hile;
George Kinghtley, Gentleman (Books 1 and 2) by Barbara Cornthwaite.
16. Juliet Archer – Blog: Choc Lit Authors’ Corner
Giveaway: a copy of “Persuade Me” and one of “The Importance of Being Emma”
18. Jenny Allworthy – Blog : The Jane Austen Film Club
Giveaway: a copy of Northanger Abbey DVD starring Felicity Jones and JJ Feild (The winner will choose region 1 or 2 DVD)
19. Sitio Jane Austen – Blog: El Salón de Té de Jane
Giveaway: – Spanish edition of Sense and Sensibility for the 200th Anniversary + A DVD package with adaptations of Jane Austen
(It’s only zone 2, but it’s in Spanish and English ) + blu-ray of the BBC’s Emma with Romola Garai
20. Kaitlin Saunders – Blog : Kaitlin Saunders
Giveaway: “A Modern Day Persuasion”
21. Becky Rhodehouse – Blog: One Literature Nut
Giveaway: selection of Austenesque Reads
22. Patrice Sarath – Blog: Patrice Sarath
Giveaway: A copy of The Unexpected Miss Bennet
24. Jane Odiwe – Blog: Jane Austen Sequels
Giveaway: a mug with one of Jane Odiwe’s illustrations and a copy of her “Mr Darcy’s Secret”
25. Courtney Webb – Stiletto Storytime
Giveaway: Noble Satyr by Lucinda Brant (Regency Romance)
26. Jennifer Becton – Blog: Jennifer W. Becton
Giveaway: An ebook of the Personages of Pride and Prejudice Collection, which contains all of my Austenesque works: Charlotte Collins, “Maria Lucas,” and Caroline Bingley. The giveaway will be open internationally.
JASNA-Vermont celebrated in style this past Sunday at our annual Jane Austen Birthday Tea. As always, a delicious repast of afternoon tea goodies catered by Champlain Collegewith additional tasty holiday cookies by various JASNA members, made for a lovely afternoon of food and Austen conversation.
This year in celebration of the Bicentenary of Sense & Sensibility, we welcomed Rebecca McLaughlin, lecturer at the University of Vermont, as she shared her insights on “A Second Chance for Sense and Sensibility ~ Marianne as Heroine.”
Marianne Dashwood 1995 - Kate Winslet
As part of the course offered at UVM Austen: Page and Film**, McLaughlin presented an interesting and insightful look at Sense and Sensibility from the standpoint of Marianne as the Heroine [which then of course makes Colonel Brandon the true Romantic Hero!, with which I heartily concur!], backing up all her views with text examples, scholarly interpretation, and film clips from the various adaptations. This year we had the advantage of sitting at eight tables of eight with all engaged in lively discussion and much laughter as McLaughlin, in true college style, prompted us with questions and a quiz! *
those who dressed for the occasion!
I think all there would agree that it was one of our best teas to date, the table arrangement being a great hit and Rebecca’s presentation one to remember – I do know that she has certainly prompted many to re-read their S&S with renewed vigor and plan into the night movie marathons of all six film adaptations! *** and perhaps even sign up for her next class, sure proof that Jane Austen is alive and well in Vermont!
The CAKE!
A thank you to all who so generously helped with baking and at the event – I could not do it without you, and mostly to Janeite Marcia for her work as Hospitality Maven, Treasurer and Keeper of the Mailing List! – and a hearty THANK YOU to Champlain College for their generosity in providing the room for us, and their superb catering team. And finally, many thanks to Rebecca McLaughlin for sharing her love of Austen with us and making all feel like we were back in that ole’ college classroom, wondering whether to become English majors or not!
Alas! only a few pictures – with thanks to Janeite Margaret for adding to my very few taken – I need to remember to TAKE PICTURES at these things, especially of the Tea Table….
JASNA Members Hope and Marcia
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* Sense and Sensibility Quiz: [scroll to the end for answers, but no cheating!]
1. What was the original title of the story that would become Sense and Sensibility?
a. Reason and Emotion
b. First Impressions
c. Second Attachments
d. Elinor and Marianne
2. How old is the story that we now know of as Sense and Sensibility?
a. 200 years
b. 195 years
c. 216 years
d. 225 years
3. Originally, the story was written in letters; this style of novel is known as which of the following?
a. realist novel
b. epistolary novel
c. sensation novel
d. epic novel
4. Although revised from its original form, how many complete letters may be found within Sense and Sensibility?
a. none
b. three
c. six
d. ten
5. Which of the following is the narration style Austen uses in Sense and Sensibility?
a. first-person narration
b. third-person omniscient narration
c. stream-of-consciousness narration
d. all of the above
6. Which of the following characters notices that Edward is wearing a ring with a lock of hair in it when he visits Barton?
a. Mrs. Dashwood
b. Mrs. Jennings
c. Marianne
d. Elinor
7. How much is Colonel Brandon’s estate, Delaford, worth (in pounds)?
a. 2000
b. 1000
c. 600
d. 5000
8. Which of the following represents Marianne’s favorite maxim, or saying, within Sense and Sensibility?
a. always think of oneself first
b. you can only love once
c. money is everything
d. nature is man’s place of worship
[S&S Quiz, @2011 Rebecca McLaughlin and printed with permission]
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**The course at UVM: Austen: Page and Film will be offered online in the Summer 2012 semester. Course description:
Women’s & Gender Studies: Austen: Page and Film [WGST 095 OL1 : 3 Credit Hours ]
After nearly two centuries in print, Jane Austen’s works continue to enthrall us, whether in their original form or in the numerous television and film adaptations created since 1938. This course examines the role Austen played during her own time as well as the role she continues to play within our contemporary cultural imagination by analyzing four of Austen’s novels (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, MansfieldPark, and Emma) and by viewing faithful adaptations, reinterpretations and modernizations of each novel. We begin by placing each novel within its social and historical context, by defining themes that may help explain Austen’s modern appeal, and by creating our own vision of the action and characters. We then turn to the adaptations and investigate the historical moment of production, analyze changes to script and character, and think about how prose fiction differs from film in an attempt to understand the screenwriter’s choices and our current love of anything Austen. Course requirements include lively participation via blogs, reading quizzes, and a final written assignment.
Instructor: Rebecca McLaughlin, Lecturer, UVM Dept of English.
May 21, 2012 to June 29, 2012. Location: Online Course
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
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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 …
Update! –two items of interest regarding Mr. Collins:
Here is the picture of Vince Lannie and his wife Joanne at his talk [my camera is finally speaking to my computer!]
[Vince and Joanne Lannie – notice Vince’s shirt – a great find at the Fort Worth AGM! – and this might be the only such shirt in existence!]
– and two, I alert you to visit the Austen Authors site to read Diana Birchall’s latest, this time on Mr. Collins, as he writes to Lady Catherine after his proposal to Elizabeth, a proposal he still thinks is to be accepted…
Jane Austen in Vermont has been spending some time in South Carolina! – so what a treat to visit the South Carolina JASNA Regionlast week and hear Vince Lannie (husband of Regional Coordinator Joanne Lannie) give a rousing talk on of all people, Mr. Collins! In his “The Two Mr. Collins: ‘Underbred’ Social Misfit or Opportunistic Regency Clergyman?” Lannie presents a Mr. Collins who in his words “never stands a chance” – he is ridiculed in print by all the characters and Austen herself, and certainly in all the films.
David Bamber - P&P 1995
Lannie begins his talk defining Austen’s take on “the Proper English Gentleman” – Mr. Bingley the perfect personification, Mr. Darcy a close second – handsome, wealthy enough to not have to work, and approved by all [and I guess why Mr. Darcy is second-best – it takes a while to realize that he is after all the epitome of the English Gentleman, is he not?] – but Mr. Collins? – he is presented to us as outside the realm of the Gentleman before we even meet him! His letter to Mr. Bennet suggests his best efforts to bridge the gap, to mend the family feud – but he is rendered ridiculous by his creator and in the reaction to him by her Bennet family characters.
Ingres – Portrait-Dupaty c1805
“The Proper English Gentleman” – Regency Period
The Proper English Gentleman - 21st century style
Collins is initially described in lowly terms – unattractive, deficient in intelligence and social status, one who only rises in this overly socially-conscious world due to the “fortunate chance” of Lady Catherine as patroness. The facts of this chance act are never revealed in the text – why indeed does Lady Catherine choose to bestow her gifts on Collins?? Lannie calls Lady C a “Sugar Mamma”! – she and Collins forming a “Regency coalition,” a partnership that attempts to wield power and control over all the family and the neighborhood.
Brock's Mr. Collins - Mollands
There is much analysis of Charlotte Lucas and her role as a “marital prostitute” as some have called her, with her very clear practical views on marriage where woman acquiesces vs. the hope for independent choice based on love. Elizabeth’s rejection is such a shock for Collins; it is so against the tradition of little choice in marriage for the woman, he is quite stupified. Lannie emphasizes that the “discordant dialogue” between Elizabeth and Charlotte on marriage and romantic love is one of the major themes of the novel.
Malcolm Rennie - P&P 1980
In the end Lannie places Collins with other opportunistic men of the age who need to align themselves with patrons and helpmates who will raise them to the gentleman status that they are in reality far below. The irony perhaps is that while Mr. Collins is not Jane Austen’s version of the perfect Regency Gentleman, Mr. Collins certainly thinks he is!
Tom Hollander - P&P 2005
I offer only a quick skim of Mr. Lannie’s talk – I cannot give it all away, as all in the audience thought it was such a great defense of Mr. Collins that it is more than worthy of a breakout session slot for the Pride and Prejudice AGM meeting in Minneapolis in 2013! Certainly Lannie’s fear that a roomful of Janeites might be compelled to throw tomatoes (Joanne supplied plastic ones to toss in the event!] or engage in “hissing” behaviors as he staunchly defended Mr. Collins against his fellow characters and his own creator did indeed not come to pass! – on the contrary, we all behaved exceedingly well as proper Jane Austen fans should, and heartily encouraged him to send it in to JASNA…!
Nitin Ganatra - Bride & Prejudice
But I can ask, as we did get into some discussion about Mr. Collins [Should he perhaps have ended up with Mary and solved the entail dilemma for the Bennets? – Could he and Charlotte be truly happy together? Etc…] –
What are your thoughts on Mr. Collins?
If you think on all the films you will agree that Mr. Collins is made to be quite ridiculous in all of them! – who is your favorite of the lot?
Guy Henry - Lost in Austen
So, all in all a delightful day meeting a whole new group of Janeite friends, in the lovely setting of the Charleston Library Society. Up next from this visit: The Charleston Library Society’s copy of Emma.
[p.s. my pictures of the event will have to wait until my camera and my computer can agree to talk to each other… in the meantime enjoy the various above shots of the Proper English Gentleman and the various players of Mr. Collins!]
Melville Cooper - 1940 P&P
And there are others – is your favorite Lockwood West from the 1952 adaptation, or Julian Curry from 1967, or any of the other versions?
Lockwood West - 1952 P&PJulian Curry - 1967 P&P
Let’s hear your thoughts on Mr. Collins!
Brock - P&P - RofP
Copyright @2011 Deb Barnum of Jane Austen in Vermont.
*Lindsay Ashford on her new book The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen – and how Austen perhaps died from arsenic poisoning, whether intentional or not – has created quite the kerfuffle on the airwaves. Miss Ashford has written a fictional account of what might have happened [and it certainly reveals a good number of Austen family secrets! – all fiction of course…or is it?]
[I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Ashford at the Fort Worth AGM – I’ve also read the book! – more on this in a future post I hope… has anyone else read it? – it deserves some conversation!]
*Those who have been following Downton Abbey [and who in their right costume-drama mind is not] will be pleased to know that the series has been granted a third season! – meanwhile we on this side of the pond “patiently” wait until January for Series 2, now finished in the UK – watch your PBS station for details on the re-running of Season 1 prior to the new shows – [do I dare admit that at our WWW (Wild Women Weekend) we watched the entire first season straight through [well, parts 5 and 6 on the Sunday morning – is there anything better than sharing this show with your very own group of fabulous wild women?!]
The JASNA website has added its annual link to Austen-related gifts from various JASNA Regions here: http://jasna.org/merchandise/index.html – a great place to start your holiday shopping, even for those not so Austen-crazed – what a better time than this to convert a few friends…
Humor is the key ingredient in this slick debut by television comedy writer Levine. Freelancer Jaine Austen (her mother loved the classics but couldn’t spell) makes a living writing love letters, personal ads and industrial brochures, but she never expected her work to involve her in murder.
FB&C asks: Have any FB&C readers attempted to collect all known editions and translations of Austen’s debut title? Does anyone know of any individual or institution that may have made such an attempt…?
* A new book with a great title: Freud’s Couch, Scott’s Buttocks, Bronte’s Grave by Simon Goldhill. There are chapters on traveling to the homes and haunts of Shakespeare, Bronte, Wordsworth, Scott, and Freud, but alas! no Austen – what was Mr. Goldhill thinking?!: http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo10997683.html
And while we are on Mr. Holmes, visit the website for the Sherlock Holmes Society of London: http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/ – where you can order your Christmas cards for 2011 complete with Holmes and Watson in the “Blue Carbuncle”…
This all in preparation for the second installment in the Holmes / Watson – Downey / Law due out it is said on of all days, December 16th! Would Jane Austen like Sherlock Holmes?? what do you think??
Harvard recently published the annotated editions of Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion – Emma, NA, MP, and S&S are forthcoming. Note that our esteemed Austenblog and Jane Austen’s World blog are both included in the resource list! Congratulations to Mags and Vic!
*One can never have enough of London, as Samuel Johnson so wisely opined – so here is yet another site to visit to satisfy your London wanderlust: the online exhibition Glimpses of London’s Past at the University of Otago: http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/exhibitions/london/index.html
*An oldie but worth a listen: Claire Tomalin on Jane Austen at TTBOOK.org: http://ttbook.org/book/claire-tomalin-jane-austen
[TTBOOOK = To the Best of Our Knowledge – check out the various interview podcasts…]
*Old Print Giclees – reproducing prints of all sorts – here is a Gibson print – you can own your own [and very affordable], either on paper or canvas in any size – check out the website for other print selections on various subjects: http://old-print-giclees.com/?wpsc_product_category=gibsonbook
The First Ladies explores the unofficial but important position of first lady and the ways that different women have shaped the role to make their own contributions to the presidential administrations and the nation. The exhibition features more than two dozen gowns from the Smithsonian’s almost 100-year old First Ladies Collection, including those worn by Frances Cleveland, Lou Hoover, Jacqueline Kennedy, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. A section titled “Changing Times, Changing First Ladies” highlights the roles played by Dolley Madison, Mary Lincoln, Edith Roosevelt, and Lady Bird Johnson and their contributions to their husband’s administrations. The First Ladies encourages visitors to consider the changing role played by the first lady and American women over the past 200 years.
*Begin your holiday gift giving by sending all your friends this Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar – London again! http://www.jacquielawson.com/advent/london [click this link not the picture for the demo]
Gentle Readers! ~ I welcome today Janeite Lynne, a JASNA-Vermont member and occasional contributor to this site, as she writes on Jane Austen and knitting!
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Jane Knits
They were entering the hall. Mr. Knightley’s eyes had preceded Miss Bates’s in a glance at Jane. From Frank Churchill’s face, where he thought he saw confusion suppressed or laughed away, he had involuntarily turned to hers; but she was indeed behind, and too busy with her shawl. [Emma]
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Have you ever wanted to create the kind of shawl that Jane Fairfax might have hid behind or slippers that would have kept Elizabeth Bennet’s feet warm? If your answer to this question is yes!, then, like me, you may be both a Janeite and a knitter. I imagined that people with these two interests would be a very small subset of the larger groups, but this month Interweave Knits made me think I was wrong. They have released a special edition of their magazine: Jane Austen Knits.
The patterns in the edition are organized around places: country, manor, garden, and town. There are over thirty patterns including: shawls, shrugs, scarves, handwarmers, slippers, reticules, Mr. Knightley’s Vest, and, of course, a tea cozy. If you are a lace knitter, you will be in heaven. Lace abounds!
Lydia Military Spencer
Jane Austen Knits goes beyond the patterns, though. There are articles about knitting during Austen’s time; both Mrs. Austen and Cassandra knit. People speculate that Austen herself probably knit, but there is no concrete evidence for this. We know that she did needlework. But knitting may have been one of the household chores that the family sheltered her from so that she could write. There are other articles in the special edition on regency fashion, muslin, a timeline of her life and the historical events that happened during her lifetime, and even suggestions for Austen-inspired movies and auidobooks to watch or listen to while you are knitting.
Knitting during the Regency Period was a utilitarian activity, and therefore was a job for those without money. Mrs. Bates in Emma, Mrs. Smith in Persuasion, and Mrs. Jennings in Sense and Sensibility all mention projects or engage in knitting. Of course, Mrs. Jennings would be undaunted by fashionable society’s prejudices and continue to knit even when she was wealthy. Still, I like to imagine that knitting not only served a necessary household function for the other characters but also gave them solace and satisfaction. As Mrs. Smith says about Nurse Rooke: “As soon as I could use my hands, she taught me to knit, which has been a great amusement.” I couldn’t agree with her more.
You are Cordially Invited to JASNA-Vermont’s December Meeting
~ The Annual Jane Austen Birthday Tea! ~
In celebration of the Bicentenary of Sense & Sensibility (1811)
Rebecca McLaughlin*
A Second Chance for ‘Sense & Sensibility’: Marianne as Heroine
Is S & S not your favorite Austen novel? ~
Using the composition history of Sense & Sensibility, Austen’s biography, S&S film adaptations, and the novel text, McLaughlin argues that Marianne is the true Heroine of Austen’s first novel!
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~ Traditional English Afternoon Tea ~
Sunday, 4 December 2011, 2 – 5 p.m.
Champlain College, Hauke Conference Center,
375 Maple St Burlington VT
$20. / person ~ $5. / student RSVPs required! ~ Register by 25 Nov 2011
~ Regency Period or Afternoon Tea finery encouraged! ~
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*We are honored to welcome Rebecca McLaughlin, a life member of JASNA [she wrote her MA thesis on Jane Austen in 2000], and now a Lecturer in the Department of English at UVM, where she frequently teaches an online ‘Austen: Page & Film’ course.
~ Upcoming in 2012 ~ March 25: UVM Professor Eric Lindstrom on “How to Love Sanditon” June 3: Brooklyn College Professor Rachel Brownstein on her new book Why Jane Austen?
Hope to see some of you there!
Copyright @2011 Deb Barnum of Jane Austen in Vermont
Enquiring readers: Today I welcome our own JASNA-Vermont member Michelle Singer with her guest post on our very interesting adventure in the world of Pride and Prejudice trivia…!
Pride & Prejudice Trivia Quiz Throwdown
Guest blog by Michelle A.L. Singer
November 3, 2011
Somewhere in Vermont, we knew, a men’s Jane Austen book group was meeting. You can imagine our regard. Were they based in Montpelier, we wondered, where we were? Or in Burlington, where JASNA Vermont held its quarterly meetings? With delicacy, we inquired after the gentlemen and found that they had been in our own village the whole time! We approached a known member of the group at the next JASNA meeting at Champlain College in Burlington, and what fortune! Two of the group’s members were there and had such pleasing manners! Dropping all pretense of modesty, we immediately challenged them to a Pride & Prejudice trivia quiz throwdown, battle of the sexes style. (I had been exercising great strength of will by not opening the Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Trivia Game by Marina Games that I had bought months before.) They accepted.
And that’s how we found ourselves at the home of Thierry Guerlain on an October Sunday afternoon, laden with hors d’oeurves, mini apple pies, and a recycled team bowling trophy fitted out for the occasion with “Jane Austen Champions” lettering and little gold P & P books for the bowlers, I mean Janeites, to hold in their front hands. [editor’s note: a brilliant concoction! – see below]
After the necessary introductions, we sat across a table covered with food in Mr. Guerlain’s side parlor, four women and four men. Deb Barnum, JASNA Vermont Regional Coordinator, Erica who had read the entire text in preparation, Sarah Madru who made the sweet potato and goat cheese bruschetta, and I, Michelle Singer who brought the game and the trophy.
Sarah, Michelle, Erica, sans Deb
Across from us, four members of the famous [editors’ note: ‘infamous’] men’s Jane Austen book group, our host Thierry Guerlain, George Shumar, John Bollard and Ed Good, gentlemen all.
John, George, Thierry, and Ed
The game instructed us to roll the die and, if we answered the Pride and Prejudice trivia question correctly, to collect the amount of points on the die. Answering correctly allowed the team to roll again and answer another question, until they missed. The turn then passed to the other team. The first team to earn 25 points could then claim victory. Rejecting the handicap of “Ladies first” we rolled to see who would start, and the women won the right to begin the game.
We immediately found ourselves in a good position to answer the very text-specific question, “How far was Lucas Lodge from Meryton?” It was possible to guess since it was obviously not above five miles, but we didn’t need to guess. It was the kind of answer (“About a mile”) that you could only know if you had JUST read it, which some of us (ahem) had.
We were half way to 25 points before the men even had a chance to answer a question (and get it wrong) before we regained control of the game and answered question after question, overcoming the 25 points in just two turns. And so it was that the women won the first game of the night and the men suggested we change the structure of the game. [editor’s emphasis]
In an effort to be lovely and amiable, we agreed. We decided to take turns asking questions. The first team to 11 (ping pong) correct answers would win. The men answered first, creating confusion from there on out about who was “winning” since they were always one point ahead…until we answered and evened the score (every time). We soon both reached 11 without a misstep and then continued without missing a question until we just stopped counting. It was now sudden death; the first team to answer incorrectly would lose.
Warm up counts for a lot. Questions that seemed confusing at first like, “Who warned Elizabeth of Mr. Wickham’s mistreatment of Mr. Darcy?” (Miss. Caroline Bingley) became obvious once our heads were fully focused on P & P for an hour. Soon it felt like they were all as easy as, “Who sometimes arranges such little elegant compliments as may be adapted to ordinary occasions?” (Mr. Collins, of course.)
Finally, after at least 30 questions back and forth, the fateful moment came, or rather, the fateful question: “What did Mrs. Bennet think was Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s reason for visiting Longbourn?” Uhhhhhhh. We tried to recreate the scene. I said something about the middle of the night. We were immediately docked one point for giving an answer from a movie version rather than the text (Lady Catherine de Bourgh bangs on the Bennet door in the middle of the night only in the Kiera Knightly version of P & P. As we all know, when Lady Catherine visits and they take the walk in the “prettyish kind of a little wilderness” on one side of the lawn in full daylight). Even after getting our scene straight, we could not account for what Mrs. Bennet thought of the visit. And so, we were sunk. (The answer is very obscure. She expects news from Mr. & Mrs. Collins.)
And so it was that the second game of the evening came to an end with the men’s team as victors. I will say that it seemed like the vast majority of easy multiple choice questions seemed to go to them. Questions like, “What town did Georgiana Darcy go to when Mr. Wickham tried to elope with her?” were good trivia questions until you got to the multiple choices of “Hunsford, Bath, or Ramsgate.” The question, “Which Bennet girl did Mr. Collins pursue for a wife? Lydia, Mary, or Elizabeth” inspired a collective groan. We ended the evening with no team able to claim the trophy, so it was relegated to the office…to await next time.
Jane Austen Champion
The best part of the evening, aside from the good food, good company, and good conversation was that a new co-ed quiz and reading group was formed out of our absolute delight in finding each other and enjoying the same diversions. And so, the quest of the female JASNA members in Montpelier to track down and pit ourselves against our male counterparts, who we had only heard rumor of, was happily answered with the perfect union of a new book group—not unlike an Austen novel itself.
Quick, what was the name of Mr. Darcy’s mother? [scroll down below for answer]
Copyright @2011, Michelle Singer at Jane Austen in Vermont
Our next read? ~ E. M. Forster, A Room with a View
Jane Austen in Vermont 