Image: Image: The Gaming House, A Rake’s Progress by William Hogarth. An early depiction of White’s which was at this time a notorious gambling den [Londonist]
A terrific book at Open Access on Victorian newspapers and periodicals: A Fleet Street in Every Town: The Provincial Press in England, 1855-1900, by Andrew Hobbs – https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/835 [the pdf is a free download, all 470 pages!] – Hobbs has also set up a twitter account where he will post diary excerpts daily: https://twitter.com/HewitsonDiaries
A collection of the wacky and weird, long before P. T. Barnum – Kirby’s Eccentric Museum, with thanks to The Gentle Author at “Spitalfields Life” (excellent images – one weirder than the next…): http://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/01/12/kirbys-eccentric-museum/
When I first started this blog on March 31, 2008, I would post a weekly round-up of Jane Austen findings on the web. After a few years, Life got in the way of working on that weekly list, though I have continued to find things every day that I sometimes post on facebook or twitter, but now rarely even do that – there’s just SO MUCH information out there, and you all likely see and know more than I do on any given day. But I’ve decided to try my hand at sharing some weekly links – some about Jane Austen, others about books and reading, and a little bit of history thrown in – a mishmash really of things that interest me – and in hopes they interest you too. I am calling this round-up “The Pemberley Post,” the name of our no-longer-published JASNA-Vermont newsletter – just because I like the name (and “Highbury Gossips,” the best possible name ever is the title of JASNA-Montreal’s newsletter…)
I cannot promise I’ll do this every week, but shall make an effort, though some might be very short! – here is the first, for the week of January 1-7, 2019 – and as you can see, I am all over the map with information!
Your last chance to see the “Gainsborough Family Album” exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery (London) which closes February 3, 2019 (or buy the catalogue for £29.95): https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/gainsborough/exhibition/
JASA’s incomparable president Susannah Fullerton has the perfect gift for you or any of your best reading buddies. You can follow her along each month for the twelve months of 2019 with a new book to read, learn about, and discuss via email or in your own book groups. Called her “Literary Reader Guides,” you can sign up for the full year or just buy those Guides individually that interest you. This year Susannah will be doing Jane Austen’s Emma (in February) – Austen is surrounded in great company as you can see:
Jan – Evelyn Waugh and Brideshead Revisited
Feb – Jane Austen and Emma
Mar – Jerome K. Jerome and Three Men in a Boat
Apr – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and The Hound of the Baskervilles
May – Theodor Fontane and Effi Briest
Jun – Guy de Maupassant and “The Necklace”
Jul – L. P. Hartley and The Go-Between
Aug – Samuel Butler and The Way of All Flesh
Sep – W. Somerset Maugham and Cakes and Ale
Oct – Henry James and Washington Square
Nov – Jean Rhys and Wide Sargasso Sea
Dec – Wilkie Collins and The Moonstone
What a reading list! Your book group would be most content following this for the year ahead! Each guide features background information about the author, a publishing history of the title, many illustrations, and thoughtful discussion questions.
I signed on for the Guides last year, and found them most interesting and helpful in facilitating in the several book groups I belong to – I haven’t done all the featured books yet, but each of the monographs is downloadable and you can keep them for future use. The cost for 2019 for all 12 Guides is 40$AU (which is about 30$US, paypal accepted). You can also purchase previous Guides here: https://susannahfullerton.com.au/store/
And visit Susannah’s blog where you shall find all sorts of literary gems: Notes from a Book Addict
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*****************
I append this letter direct from Susannah (where she is celebrating a very hot Christmas Down Under…!):
Dear JASNA Member,
I think Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ is the greatest novel ever written. Would you like to find out why I think that, and also learn more about its characters, themes and setting? I’d love to share with you my views on that most gorgeous of heroes, Mr Knightley, and my opinion of Emma herself. Is she really “faultless in spite of all her faults”?
Next year I am offering you not just my thoughts on ‘Emma’, but on 11 other fascinating literary works as well. Please consider joining this exciting literary journey via email. Let me share with you my insights about an author and what drove him or her to create the book. Let me guide you through the novel’s themes and inspirations, tell you about the memorable characters, and provide you with discussion questions to really make you think (or share with your book group).
My 2019 literary series contains an extraordinary short story (you can decide if it is the world’s best?), a book to make you laugh and one to make you cry, some mystery and detection, and some madness and adultery. I have chosen an intriguing mix of works from various parts of the world and from two different centuries. I hope you’ll get the feeling that I’m at your side, sharing my love for a thought-provoking work and discussing it with you and your friends. You can even talk it over directly with me via my website, I always love to hear from JASNA members.
2019 is JASA’s 30th birthday. I hope you will want to celebrate that special anniversary by joining me to discuss ‘Emma’ and other great books. The whole course is done via email, so you do not need to live in Sydney to be a part of it all. Please watch my short film to see just what I’m offering. Find out all about it here: https://susannahfullerton.com.au/come-with-me-on-a-literary-journey/
I hope that Christmas will bring you happy occasions with your family and time to re-read Jane Austen. Don’t forget that if you are planning a visit to Australia next year, JASA would love to welcome you.
Merry Christmas to you all, Susannah Fullerton President of JASA
Susannah Fullerton, OAM, FRSN
Literary Lecturer, Author and Literary Tour Leader
President, Jane Austen Society of Australia
Patron, Rudyard Kipling Society of Australia
Works:
Brief Encounters: Literary Travellers in Australia Jane Austen & Crime [one of my all-time favorite books on Austen!] Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ A Dance with Jane Austen Jane & I: A Tale of Austen Addiction
Today is Jane Austen’s birthday, 243 years ago! To quote her father in his letter to his sister Mrs. Walter on Dec 17, 1775:
You have doubtless been for some time in expectation of hearing from Hampshire, and perhaps wondered a little we were in our old age grown such bad reckoners but so it was, for Cassey certainly expected to have been brought to bed a month ago: however last night the time came, and without a great deal of warning, everything was soon happily over. We have now another girl, a present plaything for her sister Cassy and a future companion. She is to be Jenny, and seems to me as if she would be as like Henry, as Cassy is to Neddy. Your sister thank God is pure well after it, and sends her love to you and my brother… (Austen Papers, 32-3)
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In celebration of Austen’s birthday, we at the North American Friends of Chawton House Library announce the launching of the new website at https://www.nafch.org/. Please visit, read about our endeavors on the behalf of Chawton House, and by all means Donate – what better way to honor Jane Austen on her birthday than to give a little something in support of the “Great House” she visited often:
Dear Readers: Today I welcome Margaret Harrington, one of our JASNA-Vermont members, with her review of Madison McTavish and Grandma’s Missing Ring, a children’s mystery novel by Heather Brothers, also one of our JASNA-Vermont members. Heather had published a delightful Regency era novel in 2013 titled The Introduction of a Gentleman (you can read my interview with Heather here.)
Margaret posted this review of her latest book (published in June 2017) on Goodreads – but thought we should give Heather some press here as well. So thank you Margaret for sharing this review and to Heather, we wish you great success with this latest book! Heather will have copies for sale at our Jane Austen Birthday Tea on December 2, 2018.
As Margaret mentions, we hope that Madison McTavish will be returning for another adventure!
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Madison McTavish and Grandma’s Missing Ring
by
Heather Brothers
Madison McTavish and Grandma’s Missing Ring by Heather Brothers is an engaging novel about a ten year old girl named Madison who lives in rural Vermont. Not only do readers get to see things through Madison’s eyes but we also get involved with her multi-generational extended family’s entanglements.
The relationship between Madison and her solid grandmother is central to the story and author Heather Brothers draws them with realistic description and believable dialogue. Readers are relieved of cliché in this finely crafted book and can be surprised just like in life when you do not know what is going to happen next but you look forward to whatever it may be.
Besides family relationships there are neighbors, friends and even suitors to Madison’s preferred aunt who populate and drive the story. The setting in rural Vermont is exquisitely visual and pungent with smells of baking, maple syrup, cow dung and roasted pumpkin seeds which bring you right into the rustic atmosphere. Most of all there is the convincing dialogue with people of all ages talking with each other.
There is a mystery to be solved and several sub-plots to the story that are written about with an incisive gentleness. This is a story well told.
I hope that Heather Brothers will continue to write about Madison McTavish because her debut story is refreshing and enjoyable to read.
Review by Margaret Harrington – Goodreads
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Synopsis: Madison McTavish has never really stolen anything. She’s never searched an old barn, investigated a mysterious Frenchman or had to be a real detective. Madison’s life has revolved around her grandparent’s farmhouse, baseball with her best friend, Santiago, and spending time with her quirky aunts, uncles and neighbor. She’s a regular, 10-year old Vermonter.
But all this is about to change when Madison’s grandma starts wearing an old ring; a ring Madison ends up stealing and losing. This begins Madison’s search to not only find a thief, help a neighbor and uncover family secrets, but to get herself out of trouble…if she can. [from back cover]
About the author: Heather Brothers lives with her husband and two young daughters in Vermont. She works in the student loan industry. She enjoys playing the piano, writing and imaginative play with her daughters. She also is on the Board of JASNA-Vermont and assists with Hospitality and the Austen Boutique. (And her daughter Claire is our official Janeite mascot!)
UPDATE: the winner of the book giveaway is “artsresearchnyc” – please email me with your contact info and I will send the book to you right away. Congratulations! Thank you all for participating!
Good Morning all! – I am re-blogging this post by Rachel Dodge today as part of the Blog Tour for her book Praying with Jane – and now to include a book giveaway (there is also a book giveaway from Jane Austen’s World – Vic is hosting the blog tour – but I am also offering a giveaway, courtesy of the publisher Bethany House). Please comment or ask Rachel a question by next Monday, November 12 and you will be entered into the random drawing for a copy (domestic mailing only, sorry to say…) – I will announce the winner on November 14th. It’s a beautiful book and one that should certainly be added to your Jane Austen collection. You can follow along with the blog tour by clicking on the links at the end of this post.
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Gentle Readers: I welcome today Rachel Dodge, who has just published (October 2nd!) her book Praying with Jane: 31 Days through the Prayers of Jane Austen (Bethany House, 2018). I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel at the JASNA AGM last week in Kansas City, MO, where we connected at her Emporium table, and where I purchased her book. In it, Dodge takes us through the three prayers that Jane Austen wrote, offers ten devotions per prayer, and weaves into each chapter pieces from Austen’s life and works. It is lovely and inspirational and edifying all at once, taking us into a very private Jane Austen.
As Dodge herself suggests in her introduction, “take time to settle yourself into a quiet spot with a cup of tea or coffee and your journal. This is your invitation to know Jane better…and the God she loved…”
Exploring Jane Austen’s Prayers in Praying with Jane
When an author friend asked me a few years ago if I’d ever thought of writing a book about Jane Austen, it made me smile. After writing and speaking about Austen for almost two decades, the thought of writing a book intrigued me. My friend suggested I write something about Austen’s faith. As soon as she said the words, my heart started beating a little faster. I leaned forward and said, “I’ve always wanted to write a book about her prayers.”
That was the start of an incredible journey to the writing and publication of my upcoming book, Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen (Bethany House, October 2018). As I studied Austen’s prayers, read and reread every article and biography I could find on her faith and prayers, studied the original manuscripts at Mills College, and traveled back to her homes and churches in Steventon and Chawton, a picture of a faith biography formed in my mind. I wanted to honor Austen’s prayers and highlight the spiritual side of her life in a unique way.
As I read Austen’s prayers again and again, turning them over in my mind, listening to the cadence of her words, and reflecting on the meaning behind each line, I realized that simply reading Austen’s prayers in one sitting isn’t enough. Like her novels, Austen’s prayers are full of deep insights; they require a close, thoughtful reading. I began to look at the prayers in smaller chunks, reading them line-by-line. With that format in mind, I divided them into a month’s worth of entries and began work on a 31-day devotional book.
As I examined Austen’s prayers, I looked carefully at the meaning in each line and what writing them might have meant to her. Passages from her novels, her letters, and the Austen family memoirs came alive, and I wove them into each daily entry as illustrations of what the prayers can teach us.
Finally, the last step was to make Austen’s prayers practical and personal. As readers, students, and worshippers, we can either be passive or active. For me, the book couldn’t just be about her writing skill, the form the prayers take, or her use of language. It couldn’t even just be about her faith. It needed to also be about what her prayers can teach us. Thus, toward the end of each day’s entry, I include an area for personal reflection, a key Scripture verse, and a sample prayer. Praying with Jane is written as an exploration of Austen’s prayers and an invitation to join her in praying our own prayers.
Jane Austen’s Prayers
Besides her novels, juvenilia, and minor works, Jane Austen wrote three prayers. Cassandra folded them together and inscribed the words “Prayers Composed by my ever dear Sister Jane” on the outside. They were passed down by her family and kept safe for future generations. The three prayers echo the cadence and language of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the liturgy of the Church of England. Each prayer includes thanksgiving, confession, petition, and intercession. In them, she uses the pronoun “we,” indicating that her prayers were most likely meant to be read aloud in a group setting. They are believed to have been written for evening devotions because they include reflections on the past day.
George Austen
Austen’s father, Reverend George Austen, was a devoted Anglican clergyman, husband, and father. He taught his children to take time for private prayer in the morning and evening, to read devotional literature, and to read (and even memorize) famous sermons. In Jane Austen: The Parson’s Daughter, Irene Collins writes that Jane Austen “cherished” William Vickers’ Companion to the Altar and “made constant use of the prayers and meditations included in it” (72). The Austen family’s religious life extended far beyond the morning and evening church services they attended on Sundays. They shared in corporate family prayers in the morning and evening, they said their own private prayers when they woke up and went to bed each day, and they prayed as a family before meals and gave thanks afterward.
In the evening, the Austen family enjoyed reading out loud from novels, poetry, sermons, and the Bible. On one Sunday evening when the family was unable to attend church, Jane wrote in a letter, “In the evening we had the Psalms and Lessons, and a sermon at home” (Letters). It’s likely that Jane shared her prayers during her family’s evening devotions.
Austen is thorough in her prayers, as in her life, and covers every part of the human plight with great care. I’ve included a few lines from each of her prayers to illustrate the range of topics she covers. (All of my quotes are from the original manuscripts that I carefully transcribed as faithfully as possible.) Her prayers show deep concern for her family and friends and for others who may need comfort or protection:
Be Gracious to our Necessities, and guard us, and all we love, from Evil this night. May the sick and afflicted, by now, & ever thy care; and heartily do we pray for the safety of all that travel by Land or by Sea, for the comfort & protection of the Orphan & Widow, & that thy pity may be shewn, upon all Captives & Prisoners. (Prayer One)
Her prayers also reveal a spirit of thankfulness. It appears that Austen understood the importance of practicing gratitude in even the minor details of life:
We bless thee for every comfort of our past and present existence, for our health of Body & of Mind & for every other source of happiness which Thou hast bountifully bestowed on us & with which we close this day, imploring their continuance from Thy Fatherly goodness, with a more grateful sense of them, than they have hitherto excited. (Prayer Two)
Furthermore, her prayers point to her desire for a humble spirit and a kind attitude toward others. As her letters and novels attest, she had a fine sense of humor and did not take herself too seriously. She was quick-witted and opinionated, yet she was also quick to admit her own faults:
Incline us Oh God! to think humbly of ourselves, to be severe only in the examination of our own conduct, to consider our fellow-creatures with kindness, & to judge of all they say & do with that Charity which we would desire from Men ourselves. (Prayer Three)
Austen’s prayers also reveal a tender reverence in regard to her faith and her family’s spiritual life. Writing Praying with Jane has been an immense privilege. Exploring Jane Austen’s prayer life has enhanced my own spiritual life and brought me great joy. I hope it will do the same for many others.
About Praying with Jane:
In Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen, readers can explore Austen’s prayers in an intimate devotional format as they learn about her personal faith, her Anglican upbringing, and the spiritual truths found in her novels. Each daily entry includes examples from Austen’s own life and novels, as well as key Scripture verses, ideas for personal application, and a sample prayer.
To order your copy of Praying with Jane, visit Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite bookseller. For a limited time, when you order a copy of Praying with Jane, you can visit RachelDodge.com to claim a free digital download of six printable Praying with Jane Prayer Cards. Each prayer card has a quote from Austen’s prayers and space to write your own prayers and praises.
About the author:
Rachel Dodge teaches college English and Jane Austen classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and Jane Austen groups, and is a regular contributor to Jane Austen’s World blog. A true “Janeite” at heart, Rachel enjoys books, bonnets, and ball gowns. She makes her home in Northern California with her husband and two children.
Works Cited
-Austen, Jane. Prayers. “Prayers Composed by my ever dear sister.” Manuscripts (two quarto sheets). The Elinor Raas Heller Rare Book Room, Mills College, Oakland, California.
-_____. Jane Austen’s Letters, ed. Deirdre Le Faye, 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2011.
-Collins, Irene. Jane Austen: The Parson’s Daughter. London: Bloomsbury, 1998.
You are Cordially Invited to JASNA-Vermont’s December 2018 Meeting
~ The Annual Jane Austen Birthday Tea! ~
In celebration of the Bicentenary of Persuasion (1818)
Anna Battigelli*
“Landscapes and Soundscapes in Jane Austen’s Narratives”
How does Jane Austen convince us that we are sharing the experience of an individual immersed in society? In part, she does so by showing us what that individual overhears and sees. This talk examines Austen’s narrative technique for its construction of rich and compelling representations of inner life through soundscapes and landscapes.
*****
Sunday, December 2, 2018, 1 – 4:00 p.m.
Champlain College Morgan Room, Aiken Hall
83 Summit St. Burlington VT**
$35 / person ~ $30 / JASNA Members ~ $10 / student
Registration & advance payment required! ~ Register by 21 Nov 2018!
****************** *Anna Battigelli is a Professor of English at SUNY Plattsburgh and the author of Margaret Cavendish and the Exiles of the Mind. She co-edited with Laura M. Stevens a double issue of Tulsa Studies in Literature on “Eighteenth-Century English Women and Catholicism.” Her edited collection of essays, Art and Artifact in Jane Austen’s Novels and Early Writing, based on the “Jane Austen and the Arts” conference she hosted at SUNY Plattsburgh in 2017, will be published in 2019.
Gentle Readers: I welcome today Rachel Dodge, who has just published (October 2nd!) her book Praying with Jane: 31 Days through the Prayers of Jane Austen (Bethany House, 2018). I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel at the JASNA AGM last week in Kansas City, MO, where we connected at her Emporium table, and where I purchased her book. In it, Dodge takes us through the three prayers that Jane Austen wrote, offers ten devotions per prayer, and weaves into each chapter pieces from Austen’s life and works. It is lovely and inspirational and edifying all at once, taking us into a very private Jane Austen.
As Dodge herself suggests in her introduction, “take time to settle yourself into a quiet spot with a cup of tea or coffee and your journal. This is your invitation to know Jane better…and the God she loved…”
Exploring Jane Austen’s Prayers in Praying with Jane
When an author friend asked me a few years ago if I’d ever thought of writing a book about Jane Austen, it made me smile. After writing and speaking about Austen for almost two decades, the thought of writing a book intrigued me. My friend suggested I write something about Austen’s faith. As soon as she said the words, my heart started beating a little faster. I leaned forward and said, “I’ve always wanted to write a book about her prayers.”
That was the start of an incredible journey to the writing and publication of my upcoming book, Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen (Bethany House, October 2018). As I studied Austen’s prayers, read and reread every article and biography I could find on her faith and prayers, studied the original manuscripts at Mills College, and traveled back to her homes and churches in Steventon and Chawton, a picture of a faith biography formed in my mind. I wanted to honor Austen’s prayers and highlight the spiritual side of her life in a unique way.
As I read Austen’s prayers again and again, turning them over in my mind, listening to the cadence of her words, and reflecting on the meaning behind each line, I realized that simply reading Austen’s prayers in one sitting isn’t enough. Like her novels, Austen’s prayers are full of deep insights; they require a close, thoughtful reading. I began to look at the prayers in smaller chunks, reading them line-by-line. With that format in mind, I divided them into a month’s worth of entries and began work on a 31-day devotional book.
As I examined Austen’s prayers, I looked carefully at the meaning in each line and what writing them might have meant to her. Passages from her novels, her letters, and the Austen family memoirs came alive, and I wove them into each daily entry as illustrations of what the prayers can teach us.
Finally, the last step was to make Austen’s prayers practical and personal. As readers, students, and worshippers, we can either be passive or active. For me, the book couldn’t just be about her writing skill, the form the prayers take, or her use of language. It couldn’t even just be about her faith. It needed to also be about what her prayers can teach us. Thus, toward the end of each day’s entry, I include an area for personal reflection, a key Scripture verse, and a sample prayer. Praying with Jane is written as an exploration of Austen’s prayers and an invitation to join her in praying our own prayers.
Jane Austen’s Prayers
Besides her novels, juvenilia, and minor works, Jane Austen wrote three prayers. Cassandra folded them together and inscribed the words “Prayers Composed by my ever dear Sister Jane” on the outside. They were passed down by her family and kept safe for future generations. The three prayers echo the cadence and language of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the liturgy of the Church of England. Each prayer includes thanksgiving, confession, petition, and intercession. In them, she uses the pronoun “we,” indicating that her prayers were most likely meant to be read aloud in a group setting. They are believed to have been written for evening devotions because they include reflections on the past day.
George Austen
Austen’s father, Reverend George Austen, was a devoted Anglican clergyman, husband, and father. He taught his children to take time for private prayer in the morning and evening, to read devotional literature, and to read (and even memorize) famous sermons. In Jane Austen: The Parson’s Daughter, Irene Collins writes that Jane Austen “cherished” William Vickers’ Companion to the Altar and “made constant use of the prayers and meditations included in it” (72). The Austen family’s religious life extended far beyond the morning and evening church services they attended on Sundays. They shared in corporate family prayers in the morning and evening, they said their own private prayers when they woke up and went to bed each day, and they prayed as a family before meals and gave thanks afterward.
In the evening, the Austen family enjoyed reading out loud from novels, poetry, sermons, and the Bible. On one Sunday evening when the family was unable to attend church, Jane wrote in a letter, “In the evening we had the Psalms and Lessons, and a sermon at home” (Letters). It’s likely that Jane shared her prayers during her family’s evening devotions.
Austen is thorough in her prayers, as in her life, and covers every part of the human plight with great care. I’ve included a few lines from each of her prayers to illustrate the range of topics she covers. (All of my quotes are from the original manuscripts that I carefully transcribed as faithfully as possible.) Her prayers show deep concern for her family and friends and for others who may need comfort or protection:
Be Gracious to our Necessities, and guard us, and all we love, from Evil this night. May the sick and afflicted, by now, & ever thy care; and heartily do we pray for the safety of all that travel by Land or by Sea, for the comfort & protection of the Orphan & Widow, & that thy pity may be shewn, upon all Captives & Prisoners. (Prayer One)
Her prayers also reveal a spirit of thankfulness. It appears that Austen understood the importance of practicing gratitude in even the minor details of life:
We bless thee for every comfort of our past and present existence, for our health of Body & of Mind & for every other source of happiness which Thou hast bountifully bestowed on us & with which we close this day, imploring their continuance from Thy Fatherly goodness, with a more grateful sense of them, than they have hitherto excited. (Prayer Two)
Furthermore, her prayers point to her desire for a humble spirit and a kind attitude toward others. As her letters and novels attest, she had a fine sense of humor and did not take herself too seriously. She was quick-witted and opinionated, yet she was also quick to admit her own faults:
Incline us Oh God! to think humbly of ourselves, to be severe only in the examination of our own conduct, to consider our fellow-creatures with kindness, & to judge of all they say & do with that Charity which we would desire from Men ourselves. (Prayer Three)
Austen’s prayers also reveal a tender reverence in regard to her faith and her family’s spiritual life. Writing Praying with Jane has been an immense privilege. Exploring Jane Austen’s prayer life has enhanced my own spiritual life and brought me great joy. I hope it will do the same for many others.
About Praying with Jane:
In Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen, readers can explore Austen’s prayers in an intimate devotional format as they learn about her personal faith, her Anglican upbringing, and the spiritual truths found in her novels. Each daily entry includes examples from Austen’s own life and novels, as well as key Scripture verses, ideas for personal application, and a sample prayer.
To order your copy of Praying with Jane, visit Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite bookseller. For a limited time, when you order a copy of Praying with Jane, you can visit RachelDodge.com to claim a free digital download of six printable Praying with Jane Prayer Cards. Each prayer card has a quote from Austen’s prayers and space to write your own prayers and praises.
About the author:
Rachel Dodge teaches college English and Jane Austen classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and Jane Austen groups, and is a regular contributor to Jane Austen’s World blog. A true “Janeite” at heart, Rachel enjoys books, bonnets, and ball gowns. She makes her home in Northern California with her husband and two children.
Works Cited
-Austen, Jane. Prayers. “Prayers Composed by my ever dear sister.” Manuscripts (two quarto sheets). The Elinor Raas Heller Rare Book Room, Mills College, Oakland, California.
-_____. Jane Austen’s Letters, ed. Deirdre Le Faye, 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2011.
-Collins, Irene. Jane Austen: The Parson’s Daughter. London: Bloomsbury, 1998.
JASNA offers an annual tour of Jane Austen’s England, this past summer one that focused on Persuasion, with trips to Portsmouth, Lyme Regis, and Bath (you can see the itinerary here: http://www.jasna.org/conferences-events/tour/itinerary/] and pine over the fact you missed it! (I still am!) Next year’s tour will again be in July, details not yet announced, but expecting it will have some sort of Gothic theme to celebrate Northanger Abbey. I highly recommend these tours, as they bring JASNA members from all over together, as well as help to support JASNA.
But sometimes you cannot go when these JASNA tours are offered, or it sells out before you register, or your best friend can’t go when you can … We know there are all manner of tours evoking Jane Austen – I have created my own tours on a few occasions to try to see the salient spots; and I’ve developed friendships in England with people happy to tour me around (thank you Tony Grant and Ron Dunning!!); and I’ve recommended to friends where they should go if they are touring on their own. The only drawback of such a plan is that there are places to see, people to meet, that only an organized tour can arrange for you – this is why every year I say “this is the year I will do the JASNA tour” – and every year something gets in the way. So I look to see what other tours are available, and right now I find that friends of mine who run a tour company out of Saratoga Springs, are offering an “English Heritage Tour with Jane Austen” next year, September 3-12, 2019.
I recently traveled with them this past summer to Switzerland – it was a terrific adventure (or “edventure” as they call their company), with a great group of fellow travelers; so I can highly recommend them! This Jane Austen tour was offered a few years ago with a different itinerary – I could not go then and I cannot go on this one either, much to my dismay and disappointment. But I did want to share the details with you in hopes YOU can go… the joy of this trip being not only the sites of Jane Austen’s England, but also that it is being led by David Shapard, the knowledgable and engaging author of the annotated editions of all six of Austen’s novels – David knows his Jane Austen!
Here are the details:
“English Heritage Tour with Jane Austen”
This tour uses the lens of one of England’s greatest writers to explore some of the finest examples of English heritage. These include the gorgeous eighteenth century city of Bath as well as other historic towns and villages, the cathedrals and churches of traditional England, the Royal navy, and the grand houses and gardens of the gentry and aristocracy. She knew all these places and institutions well and made them the principal settings for her novels and we will follow in her footsteps to get to know them ourselves.
Tour highlights:
—Begin with a two-night stay in Bath, the leading spa in England in the 18th century, known for its natural hot springs and Georgian architecture.
—Explore the city of Lacock, a 15th century village that retains its design and look of many centuries ago and served as the setting for a small town in the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice.
—Travel to Winchester for a five-night stay. On the way, visit Stourhead, whose grounds are perhaps the finest examples of the new style of irregular landscaping that emerged in England in the18th century. A renowned temple on the ground was used for the proposal scene in the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice. —In Winchester we will visit its cathedral, and from there explore the Austen family cottages and estates in Chawton and Steventon. In what is now the Jane Austen House Museum, Austen composed Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion.
—Explore the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for harbor tours and a close look at the celebrated warships and seamen of Britain’s naval history.
—Visit Salisbury with its stunning cathedral and Mompesson House, a Queen Anne house used for the film Sense and Sensibility.
Meals: Daily Breakfast, 3 lunches, 2 dinners
Tour Leader: In keeping with Edventure’s mission of “Adventure Travel That Educates,” the trip will be led by Dr. Shapard, a historian and scholar. David is the author of The Annotated Pride and Prejudice as well as annotated versions of Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Emma. He has given numerous talks about Jane Austen to Austen societies and other groups and has undertaken several trips to England to study gardens, estates, and other sites on the tour. Travelers will benefit from his vast knowledge of the areas we will visit as well as his enthusiasm and his expertise in English history.
Price: $3260 land only double occupancy Single supplement: $799
For a complete itinerary contact: goedventures [at] gmail.com
Another First Lady – Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming is the highest selling print book of 2018, and it was just released in mid-November! https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/78941-becoming-is-top-selling-title-in-2018.html
Birds of America – one of the world’s rarest books by the 19thc American artist and ornithologist John James Audubon has gone on display at Liverpool Central Library, with a “Mission Impossible”-like scenario to get it there! https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-merseyside-46820378/rare-audubon-bird-book-displayed-at-liverpool-library
A collection of the wacky and weird, long before P. T. Barnum – Kirby’s Eccentric Museum, with thanks to The Gentle Author at “Spitalfields Life” (excellent images – one weirder than the next…): http://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/01/12/kirbys-eccentric-museum/
Jane Austen in Vermont 