Tag: Jane Austen

Book reviews · Jane Austen · Movies · News · Regency England · Social Life & Customs

In My Mailbox ~

BookLady Deb1 Comment

I love my mailman ~ it seems he brings me a surprise almost daily!  Today, I find the latest issue of Jane Austen’s Regency World  [Jan/Feb 2009, Issue 37], and here give you some thoughts on the contents:

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“End of the Regency” about the soon to be released film on young Queen Victoria [March 2009 in Britain], starring Emily Blunt (on the cover above) as Victoria and Rupert Friend as Prince Albert (he starred in the 2005 P&P as Wickham and was fabulous in Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont) 

“Write-on” about the importance of correspondence and the ways of letter-writing in Jane Austen’s time

“Why I Dig Jane” a talk with Alan Titchmarsh, popular British TV personality, gardener, and novelist [his latest book, Folly, is set in Bath and currently on the British best-selling fiction list] ~ He confesses that his favorite character is Emma.

“Illustrating Jane Austen” an article on the incomparable Hugh Thomson

“Playing Mary Bennet” on the actress Ruby Bentall, who acted the role of Mary Bennet in the Lost in Austen series (“with spindly glasses and horrible hair”…)

“Pottery and Poetry” which traces the life of Thomasina Dennis, 1770-1809, a comtemporary of Austen’s who worked for the Wedgwood Pottery family.  The article includes some history of Josiah Wedgwood and his business [ironically, this week the Waterford / Wedgwood company announced it is filing for bankruptcy]

“Petticoat Politics” looks at the complex nature of Regency undergarments, never mentioned, but a large part of “dressing Jane” and her contemporaries

“Madame de Stael” and the story of why perhaps Jane Austen refused to attend a London literary salon at which Madame de Stael was to be present (could it have been her tempestuous love-life??)

“My Jane Austen” the column this month by Virginia Claire Tharrington on her months as an intern at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath (she also posted several weekly articles on Austenprose while she was there)

“A Goodly Heritage” by Marsha Huff, President of JASNA, on this past year’s Annual JASNA AGM in Chicago

“Portrait of a Lady” on the Jane Austen Society of the U.K. and the event presented in the fall by History Wardrobe on the fashion of Austen’s time

And Joceline Bury offers three book Reviews:  An Aristocratic Affair by Janet Gleeson, a biography of Henriette Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough and sister of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire [The American title is: Privilege and Scandal: The Remarkable Life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of Georgiana];  The Immortal Jane Austen by Maggie Lane, a no-frills biography of a mere 50 pages, but laced with many illustrations and highly recommended by the reviewer; and Jane Austen Visits London by Vera Quinn, the charming little book that concentrates only on Austen’s travels to and writings about London [see my comments on this book here.]

So all in all a fine issue, and a perfect way to spend the upcoming weekend, immersed in all things Regency!

Jane Austen · Movies · News

On the Block ~ Mr. Darcy…

BookLady Deb1 Comment

The portrait of Mr. Darcy (a.k.a. Colin Firth) that was used in the pivotal scene (Elizabeth gazing at Darcy’s portrait hanging in the portrait hall at Pemberley) in the 1995 A&E production of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice will be sold at auction on January 21, 2009 at Bonham’s Gentlemans Library Sale;  the sale also includes a letter from Firth.  The painting is expected to fetch £7,000 and the proceeds will go to charity ~ Oxfam and the Southampton and Winchester Vistors Group [see the Telegraph.co.uk and BBC News online for more information, including a downloadable copy of Firth’s letter at the BBC site ( and note the misspelling of “Pemberly” in the BBC article!)]

darcy-firth-portrait

Now, wouldn’t we all like this hanging in our very own Great Hall, or anywhere in the house for that matter!

[If , however, this is a little out of your league, you can always buy the Mr. Darcy keyring at the Jane Austen Centre for £2.99 … ]

darcykeyringlg

Book reviews · Books · Collecting Jane Austen · Jane Austen · Social Life & Customs

Another “Companion” to Jane Austen

BookLady Deb1 Comment

companion-to-jane-austen-coverNew book soon to be published:  A Companion to Jane Austen (Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture), edited by Claudia L. Johnson and Clara Tuite [Blackwell, 2009], described as follows at Blackwell.com:  a comprehensive survey of contemporary Austen studies while covering the full breadth of the novelist’s work and career. Focusing on changing contexts and cultures of reception, this work provides groundbreaking interpretations in more than forty essays by a distinguished team of influential literary critics and Austen scholars. Sections include: The Life and the Texts; Reading the Texts; Literary Genres and Genealogies; Political, Social and Cultural Worlds; and Reception and Reinvention. As a scholarly reference and comprehensive survey of the most innovative speculative developments in the field, A Companion to Jane Austen illuminates the power of Austen’s novels to enchant readers.”  Priced at a hefty $199.95… you can pre-order before its official publication at the end of January.

And not to be confused with the four other “companion” titles, also all “essential Austen”:

  • The Jane Austen Companion, edited by J. David Grey, A. Walton Litz, and Brian Southam [Macmillan, 1986]
  • The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, edited by Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster [Cambridge, 1997]
  • Jane Austen: a Companion, by Josephine Ross [John Murray, 2002]
  • The Jane Austen Companion. a 1996 DVD of popular music from Austen’s times by Haydn, Fasch, J.C. Bach, Boyce, Schubert and others.
News

Happy New Year!!

BookLady Deb1 Comment
new-years-postcard
Vintage Postcard

[Not quite Regency, but lovely all the same!]

  Kelly & I wish you all a very Happy New Year!!

Cheers, from Janeite Kelly & Janeite Deb

Books · Jane Austen · News

Round-up ~ All Things Austen

BookLady Deb1 Comment

I have a mix of tidbits I have been gathering over the past week or so, awaiting a moment to post them…so apologies for late news or repeated items!

*Visit the Joanna Waugh blog: Ms. Waugh, author of regency historicals [the latest is Blind Fortune] has several posts on the Christrmas traditions during the Regency period

*A lovely post on Idolising Jane about Unacceptable Proposals, ending with a fine analysis of the Knightley – Emma proposal scene

*Persuasions On-line [Winter 2008, Vol.29, No. 1] has published one of the talks from the Chicago AGM that I had attended that was quite interesting:  “From Cover to Cover: Packaging Jane Austen from Egerton to Kindle” by Deirdre Gilbert, a discussion of the various covers and cover art that have housed Austen through the years.

*A new blog lately discovered: the Nature Diary of Colonel Brandon . Visit and enjoy!… written by “Colonel Brandon:”  “Perhaps, it is true, I am the kind of man whom everybody speaks well of & nobody cares about; whom all are delighted to see & nobody remembers”…. but he has wonderful posts on nature and writing and is an ardent lover of Jane Austen!

*Ellen Moody’s article on Jane Austen’s Heroes has been posted on the Jane Austen Centre’s Online Magazine site [and check out the site for other articles of note…]

*A Regency needlework map of England and Wales, circa 1820 is for sale at auction at Christies London January 20-21 [to bid online click here]

needleowrk-image-christies

*JASNA has announced that “The Beautiful Cassandra: the pictures, the music, the dance by Juliet McMaster et al from the Chicago AGM is now available on the JASNA.org site.

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The Father, by Juliet McMaster

 

*A new edition of a book on London:  Ben Weinreb, Christopher Hibbert, Julia Keay and John Keay, editors  THE LONDON ENCYCLOPAEDIA
Completely revised third edition, 1,101pp. Pan Macmillan. £50 (US $99.50) [978 1 4050 4924 5]  [see this article in the Times online “Surveying London” by Rosemary Ashton]

enchanted-lives-enchanted-objectsSee Visual Arts Book Reviews   for a review of Enchanted Lives, Enchanted Objects: American Women Collectors and the Making of American Culture, 1800-1940. By Dianne Sachko Macleod. Berkeley: University of California Press, September 2008. Cloth: ISBN 978-0-520-23729-2, $45.00

 

 

 

*My JAIV co-hort Janeite Kelly has just posted on a book “A Lady of Fashion: Barbara Johnson’s Album of Style and Fabrics” [1987] on her other blog Two Teens in the Time of Austen ~ a great find Kelly!

And of course, you must visit the “usual suspects” for the always entertaining and informative Austen-related blog posts ~ so many this week about the holidays, etc…

Books · Jane Austen · News

Jane Austen’s Letters~ Breaking news!

BookLady Deb2 Comments

JASNA has posted the Winter edition of Persuasions On-Line [Vol. 29, No.1], and a most important article is included:  “List of Annotations in the Bellas Copy of  Lord Brabourne’s  Letters of Jane Austen.”

Edith Lank has compiled all the annotations in her copy of Lord Brabourne’s Letters, the notes largely written by the daughter of Austen’s niece Anna Austen Lefroy, Fanny Caroline Lefroy, and some by Fanny’s sister, Louisa Lefroy Bellas [who has until now been mistakenly considered the author of all the notes.]  Just the story of the provenance of this book is a fascinating read!   

Ms. Lank spoke on this at the Chicago 2008 JASNA Annual Meeting, and now has most graciously made all these notes in the book available to all.  A most hearty thank you to Ms. Lank!

lank-letters

 

And do look at the Table of Contents for this latest online edition for all the other terrific articles… a lovely Austen birthday gift to us!  Happy reading!

Jane Austen · News

Happy Birthday Jane!

BookLady Deb2 Comments

Today is Jane Austen’s birthday, 233 years ago!  To quote her father in his letter to 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)

 

I have found “A Limerick for Jane Austen’s Birthday” by Lois White Wilcox,  published in Persuasions, No. 14, 1992 ~ this says it all!

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For the 233rd birthday of Jane,   

Let us make it perfectly plain,

T’would be most sagacious

And not AUSTENtatious

To praise her achievements again.

 

You who see through the fake and the twit,

At your feet (by your fire), we will sit.

As Janeites we’ll boast

It’s our privilege to toast

Our mistress of wisdom and wit!

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

 

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We had our Annual Jane Austen Birthday celebration last Sunday [and will write about this shortly] ~ Afternoon Tea and English Country Dancing ~ a fabulous time had by all! 

Jane Austen · News

Jane Austen this Weekend ~ Persuasion

BookLady DebLeave a comment

governors-inn1 

 

You MUST make a reservation:  please call the number below 

 

Jane Austen Weekends

The Governor’s House in Hyde Park

100 Main Street

Hyde Park, Vermont

series 1: Persuasion

Friday – Sunday, August 15 – 17, 2008

Friday – Sunday, September 5 – 7, 2008

Friday – Sunday, December 12 – 14, 2008

Friday – Sunday, January 9 – 11, 2009

series 2: Pride and Prejudice

Friday – Sunday, January 30 – February 1, 2009

other dates to be announced

call or E-mail for reservations

http://www.OneHundredMain.com

802 888-6888 info@OneHundredMain.com

 

A leisurely weekend of literary-inspired diversions has something for every Jane Austen devoteé. Imagine a literary retreat that will slip you quietly back into Regency England in a beautiful old mansion where Jane herself would feel at home. Take afternoon tea. Listen to Mozart. Bring your needlework. Share your thoughts at a book discussion of Persuasion or Pride and Prejudice and how the movies stand up to the books. Attend the talk entitled “The Time of Jane Austen”. Test your knowledge of Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice and the Regency period and possibly take home a prize. Take a carriage ride. For the gentleman there are riding and fly fishing as well as lots of more modern diversions if a whole weekend of Jane is not his cup of tea. Join every activity or simply indulge yourself quietly all weekend watching the movies. Dress in whichever century suits you. And imagine the interesting conversation with a whole houseful of Jane’s readers under one roof. Weekend guests have commented that they wish there had been a tape recorder under the dinner table so they could replay the evening again and again. It won’t be good company; it will be the best! It’s not Bath, but it is Hyde Park and you’ll love Vermont circa 1800.

Jane Austen Weekend rates start at $295 for singles, $260 per person for doubles, $235 per person for triples, and include two nights’ lodging, Friday evening’s talk over dessert and coffee, full breakfast on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon tea, Saturday dinner and book discussion, early Sunday Continental breakfast, and the Jane Austen quiz with Sunday brunch. Add Thursday night or Sunday night or both and get the room for half the regular rate. 9% Vermont tax is additional. The usual cancellation policy applies.

Please inquire about the special rate for book groups which can also reserve a Jane Austen weekend on dates other than those regularly scheduled as availability permits.

Or come for just an evening and choose from these activities:

 

  Informal Talk with Coffee and Dessert, Friday, 8:00 p.m., $14.00

  Afternoon Tea, Saturday, 3:00 p.m., $20.00

  Book Discussion and Dinner, Saturday, 7:00 p.m., $35.00

  Jane Austen Quiz and Sunday Brunch, Sunday, 11:30 a.m., $15.00

  All four activities: $75.00

 

Please call or write for more information and book directly with the inn at 866-800-6888 or info@OneHundredMain.com.  


100 Main Street • Hyde Park, VT 05655
phone: 802-888-6888 • toll free: 866-800-6888
email: info@onehundredmain.com

Books · Jane Austen

Austen on the block ~

BookLady Deb2 Comments

A copy of Austen’s Persuasion, a first American edition, sold at a Bloomsbury auction on December 10 for $3000.  Here are the details:

88. AUSTEN, Jane (1775-1817). Persuasion. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832. 2 volumes. 8vo (193 x 116 mm). Publisher’s linen-weave cloth-backed boards, paper spine labels, uncut. Condition: rear endpaper lacking in second volume, loss to lower corner of same in first volume, some very light scattered spotting in first volume; labels chipped to remnants, light shelfwear with some minor exposure to board edges. Provenance: J. Kellog and Co., Mobile, Alabama (contemporary bookseller’s label to front pastedown); V. Russell (contemporary owners signature in top margin of titles).   a wholly unsophisticated copy of the first american edition, unut and in original boards. Austen’s last completed novel, originally published with Northanger Abbey in 1818, here making it’s first appearance in United States. A scarce edition, of which only 1250 copies were printed. “Relatively few copies of the 1832-33 Philadelphia editions are known to survive” (See Gilson p.98). This copy without the publisher’s catalogue, but Gilson states that not all copies had them. Gilson: B3

 Sold for $3000
Sale NY022, 10th December 2008

persuasion-auction

Jane Austen · News

A note on Pride & Prejudice

BookLady Deb1 Comment

Just found this blog-surfing…  food for thought; weigh in and comment if you will; I just couldn’t let this slip by:

From David Ottewell’s blog, quoting David McNulty’s blog:

[McNulty] I finally got round to reading Pride and Prejudice. It’s brilliant in all the ways people say it is, but there were points about three quarters of the way through when I was thinking – get on with it. Am I just a philistine or could she have done with a good editor?

[Ottewell] Great stuff. Actually, when it comes to Pride and Prejudice I am sympathetic to the fictional diarist Adrian Mole, who (from memory) was sacked from a library for moving the collected works of Jane Austen from the ‘classics’ section to ‘light romantic fiction’…

[Comments]

I think P&P is a bit of a girl thing!!

Posted by: Kate | December 11, 2008 11:46 AM

Kate,
Yeah, maybe. But I honestly think – and stop me if I am going to far – that Jane Austen is nothing more than an witty, perceptive chronicler of the dull and pointless mores of dull and pointless people, at a dull and pointless time. With a couple of Neighbours-style will-they-won’t-they sagas thrown in to keep people reading.   Posted by: David Ottewell | December 11, 2008 12:01 PM

I guess Austen’s tales contained some of the original love/hate will/they/won’t they plotlines (A Lizzie Bennett and Darcy-style relationship is a chick flick staple) so I think dismissing them as ‘Neighbours style’ is a bit harsh!! Sense and Sensibility is a gorgeous story of sisterly love and romantic redemption and has for P&P, well, without it we would never have had that Colin Firth wet shirt moment would we?

Posted by: Kate | December 11, 2008 01:50 PM

Taming of the Shrew? Pamela? (Both of which are rubbish, anyway.)

Posted by: David Ottewell | December 11, 2008 02:12 PM

Actually, thinking about it, I think Beatrice and Benedict from Much Ado About Nothing are the best will they/won’t they pair (and early than Lizzie/Darcy). Especially as they are old foes, and get tricked into falling in love.

Posted by: Kate | December 11, 2008 02:38 PM

I’ve often felt that the YES campaign’s stream of statements saying that they are outraged and demanding that people apologise to them had the whiff of an Austen character.

Anyway David, 24 hours from the biggest political event in Manchester’s recent history and you’re offering lit crit on a one-on-one basis to your readers. Impressive multi-tasking.

Posted by: Nigel | December 11, 2008 04:01 PM

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Hurray for Kate, whoever you are! 

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