If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad….
[Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey]
You are cordially invited to JASNA-Vermont’sAnnual Jane Austen Birthday Tea !!
Sunday,6 December 2009: 2-5 pm
featuring
Prof. Philip Baruth * (University of Vermont) “Badly Done Indeed: In Which Austen’s Mr. Knightley is Revealed to be a Whimsical and Emotional Teen Basket-Case”
~ English Afternoon Tea ~ ~ Gift Emporium with Local Artisan Crafts & Austen related Books ~
Place: Champlain College, Hauke Family Campus Center (375 Maple St.), Burlington $15./ person / $5. / student Please register by sending in the JASNA December 2009 dec tea reserve form or leave a comment below
* Philip Baruth is a Professor of English at the University of Vermont specializing in eighteenth-century British literature. He is also a novelist and an award-winning commentator for Vermont Public Radio. His most recent novel, The Brothers Boswell (Soho, 2009), is a literary thriller set in eighteenth-century London. It follows James Boswell and Samuel Johnson as they are stalked about the city by Boswell’s jealous and mad younger brother, John. And just recently, Philip stopped writing commentary in order to run for the State Senate from Chittenden County. His campaign website is Baruth2010.com; his blog is Vermont Daily Briefing.
**We are honored to have Rebecca Kauffman join us for this year’s Tea! She is currently principal harpist for the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Harrisburg, PA, a position she has held for 29 years. She is also the second harpist with the Reading Symphony Orchestra, Reading, PA, and the former principal harpist with the Lancaster and York Symphony Orchestras, both in Pennsylvania. Rebecca has appeared as the featured soloist on numerous occasions with the Harrisburg and York Symphonies, the Millersville University-Community Orchestra, the Hershey Symphony, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra in Ithaca, NY, and the Lancaster Chamber Ensemble. She has also performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Kennett Square Orchestra, Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Binghamton NY Philharmonic. She has appeared in concert with a wide variety of concert artists. For more information, please visit her website at RebeccaKauffman.com
If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad….
[Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey]
The holidays and Jane Austen’s birthday! – lots going on – so I offer you a sampling of what’s happening in the New England area [to include New York and New Jersey!], starting with JASNA-Vermont’s very own Annual Birthday Tea next Sunday:
6 December 2009: 2-5 pm
Annual Jane Austen Birthday Tea!
Prof. Philip Baruth * (University of Vermont) “Badly Done Indeed: In Which Austen’s Mr. Knightley is Revealed to be a Whimsical and Emotional Teen Basket-Case”
Featuring ~
~ English Afternoon Tea ~ ~ Classical Harpist Rebecca Kauffman **~ ~ Gift Emporium with Local Artisan Crafts & Austen related Books ~
Place: Champlain College, Hauke Family Campus Center (375 Maple St.), Burlington $15./ person / $5. / student Please register by sending in the JASNA December 2009 dec tea reserve form or leave a comment below
JASNA December 2009 flyer– please let your friends know / post this in your place of work or anywhere else to encourage attendance!
Philip Baruth
* Philip Baruth is a Professor of English at the University of Vermont specializing in eighteenth-century British literature. He is also a novelist and an award-winning commentator for Vermont Public Radio. His most recent novel, The Brothers Boswell (Soho, 2009), is a literary thriller set in eighteenth-century London. It follows James Boswell and Samuel Johnson as they are stalked about the city by Boswell’s jealous and mad younger brother, John. And just recently, Philip stopped writing commentary in order to run for the State Senate from Chittenden County. His campaign website is Baruth2010.com; his blog is Vermont Daily Briefing.
**We are honored to have Rebecca Kauffman join us for this year’s Tea! She is currently principal harpist for the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Harrisburg, PA, a position she has held for 29 years. She is also the second harpist with the Reading Symphony Orchestra, Reading, PA, and the former principal harpist with the Lancaster and York Symphony Orchestras, both in Pennsylvania. Rebecca has appeared as the featured soloist on numerous occasions with the Harrisburg and York Symphonies, the Millersville University-Community Orchestra, the Hershey Symphony, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra in Ithaca, NY, and the Lancaster Chamber Ensemble. She has also performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Kennett Square Orchestra, Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Binghamton NY Philharmonic. She has appeared in concert with a wide variety of concert artists. For more information, please visit her website at RebeccaKauffman.com
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Coming in January to Hyde Park, Vermont:
Jane Austen Weekends The Governor’s House in Hyde Park
100 Main Street
Hyde Park, Vermont
Friday – Sunday, January 8 – 10, 2010 Pride and Prejudice Friday evening talk: The Naive Art of Georgiana Darcy
with Kelly McDonald
Friday – Sunday, January 29 – 31, 2010 Sense and Sensibility Friday evening talk: Making Sense of the Regency World
with Suzanne Boden & Deb Barnum
Jane Austen Society of North America- Massachusetts Region Sunday, Dec. 13th, 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. Wheelock College, Brookline Campus 43 Hawes Street, Brookline, Mass.
Celebrating Jane Austen’s Birthday Join us as we celebrate the birthday of “our Jane”! We will enjoy light refreshments, including a birthday toast, and entertainment by the JASNA Massachusetts Players.
Cost is $20 per person ($15 for JASNA Massachusetts members*). Please R.S.V.P. by Tuesday, December 8th
Wheelock College’s Brookline campus is easily accessible. By subway, take the Green “C” line to Hawes Street or Green “D” line to Longwood. See reverse for driving directions. Additional driving and subway info: http://www.wheelock.edu/about/abodirections_brookline.asp
Gore Place, in Waltham, MA, announces its Annual Holiday Tea and Tour with a special theme The Art of Romance in the Austen Era on Dec. 4, 5, 11, 12 and 19. Seatings are at 1 and 3pm. Admission is $40/pp tour included. For details, please visit their website at: GorePlace.org
December 4, 5, 11, 12 & 19Seatings at 1 & 3pm$40 per person, $35 Gore Place members.
Advanced tickets required, call: (781) 894-2798includes special themed tour The Art of Romance in the Austen Era Join us for our annual Holiday Tea a wonderful way to ring in the season! Enjoy a traditional English tea of scones, savory tea sandwiches and assorted sweets all served in the Great Hall and Withdrawing Room of the beautiful 1806 Governor Gore Mansion. After your tea, enjoy a special tour entitled: The Art of Romance in the Austen EraLed by a guide in period dress, you will view sumptuous rooms and hear tales of romance in Austen’s time. The tour is included in your Holiday Tea & Tour admission.Tickets must be purchased at least one week in advance.
To purchase tickets, please call (781) 894-2798. Group rates available.
GORE PLACE
52 Gore Street
Waltham Massachusetts 02453-6866
voice: (781) 894-2798 • fax: (781) 894-5745 • E-mail: goreplace@goreplace.org
copyright 1999-2009 Gore Place Society
Gore Place is an historic house of the Federal period.
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NEW YORK: JASNA-New York Metropolitan Region
[Please note that this event is sold out – to be put on a waiting list, please go to their website at JASNANY.org for information]
Birthday Regional Meeting Saturday December 5, 2009 2:00 p.m. At the Midtown Executive Club 40 West 45th Street, NYC
Dr. Cheryl Kinney will explore the treatment of women’s illnesses in Regency England, including childbirth, infectious disease, and venereal disease. We will learn who provided health care in the early 1800s in England and the treatmentsavailable. Dr. Kinney will also discuss sickness and health in Austen’s novels.
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JASNA-NY is fortunate to have The Morgan Library & Museum right in their midst!
The JASNA-NY Metro Region has a number of special events coming up in conjunction with the Jane Austen exhibit at the Morgan. The Region has been working with the Morgan education department to develop some of these programs (see below for details). [In case you have been living in a bubble for the past few months, visit the Morgan Library & Museum website for information on this exhibit!]
In addition, JASNA-NY is co-sponsoring two events: A preview of the new Masterpiece Classic’s Emma and a panel discussion “From Gothic to Graphic” [see below]
All programs will be held at The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, NYC
At the Morgan: A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life & Legacy November 6, 2009 – March 14, 2010
Public Programs:you must register with The Morgan directly
Gallery Talks:
Friday, February 26, 7 pm
A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy
Clara Drummond, Assistant Curator, Literary and Historical Manuscripts, The Morgan Library & Museum
Lectures and Discussions:
1. A preview of MASTERPIECE Classic’s Emma with Rebecca Eaton
January 20, 2010 [Wednesday] 6:30 PM*
Join MASTERPIECE executive producer Rebecca Eaton for a sneak preview of scenes from the new four-hour adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, starring Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller, and Michael Gambon. Emma will be broadcast on three Sundays beginning January 24, 2010 on PBS/Thirteen (www.pbs.org/masterpiece). This event is cosponsored by the Jane Austen Society of North America, New York (JASNA-NY).
Tickets: Tickets are free. For advance reservations call 212.685.0008, ext. 560, or email tickets@themorgan.org.
2. From Gothic to Graphic: Adapting Jane Austen Novels
January 26, 2010 [Tuesday] 6:30 PM*
Jane Austen’s works continue to inspire new generations of writers working in popular literary genres. In a lively presentation, authors of recently published books discuss their unique twist on Austen with Juliette Wells, Manhattanville College. Participants include Ben Winters and Jason Rekulak (Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters), Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway (Lady Vernon and Her Daughter), and Nancy Butler (Pride and Prejudice graphic novel). This program is cosponsored by the Jane Austen Society of North America, New York ( JASNA-NY).
Tickets: $15 for Non-Members; $10 for Morgan and JASNA-NY Members
*The exhibition A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy will be open at 5:30 pm especially for program attendees.
3. Reading Jane Austen, with Patrice Hannon
Wednesday, January 27, 3-4:30 pm: Pride and Prejudice
Wednesday, February 10, 3-4:30 pm: Emma
Wednesday, February 24, 3-4:30 pm: Persuasion
Patrice Hannon, author of Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine’s Guide to Life and Love and 101 Things You Didn’t Know About Jane Austen, leads a reading group on three of Austen’s most beloved novels. The group will closely examine the texts of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Persuasion, paying particular attention to matters of style. Sessions will take place in the historic family rooms of the nineteenth-century Morgan House. The group will be reading from the Penguin Classics edition of the novels. Light refreshments will be provided. Advance tickets are recommended as space is limited. Patrice is also a JASNA-NY member.
Tickets (3 sessions): $45 for Non-Members; $35 for Members
Films:
1. Jane Austen on Screen:
To coincide with the exhibition A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy, the Morgan is screening two acclaimed cinematic adaptations of Austen’s literary masterpieces.
Sunday, January 24, 2 pm Pride and Prejudice (1940, 118 minutes)
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
All the wit and wisdom of Jane Austen’s popular comedy of manners is vibrantly brought to life in this classic film adaptation starring Greer Garson as the spirited Elizabeth Bennet and Laurence Olivier as the arrogant and dashing Mr. Darcy.
Friday, February 12, 7 pm Sense and Sensibility (1995, 135 minutes)
Director: Ang Lee
Emma Thompson received an Academy Award for the screenplay of Ang Lee’s feature adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel about two sisters-pragmatic, ironic, Elinor (Thompson) and passionate, willful Marianne (Kate Winslet)-and their struggle to find romantic happiness in a society obsessed with financial and social stature. Hugh Grant (Edward Ferrars), Alan Rickman (Col. Christopher Brandon), and Greg Wise (John Willoughby) round out the superb cast.
Films are free with museum admission. Tickets are available at the Admission Desk on the day of the screening. Advance reservations for Morgan Members only: 212.685.0008, ext. 560, or tickets@themorgan.org.
Music and Dance:
Friday, March 12, 7-8:30 pm Dancing with Darcy
To celebrate the final weekend of A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy travel back to Regency England for an evening of period music and dancing in the Morgan’s elegant Gilbert Court. Join Beverly Francis and Country Dance * New York for an English country dance demonstration, audience participation, and live music. Free.
Family Programs:
1. Sunday, December 6, 2-5 pm Winter Family Day Celebration Join us for our annual family day celebrating the exhibitions A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacyand Charles Dickens’s Christmas Carol. Travel back to the days of the English Regency with art workshops that will bring Jane Austen’s fashion sense to life. Then move on to Victorian London to meet Charles Dickens and his famous characters through the original play Goblins, Ghosts, and Geezers: The Making of Scrooge*, improvisational skits, and other activities. Marianna Loosemore will be reading “My Beautiful Cassandra” while Nili and Jerry will be talking to children about life in J.A.’s time.
For a complete schedule, visit http://www.themorgan.org. All events are included with admission to the Morgan.
*There will be two performances of Goblins, Ghosts, and Geezers: The Making of Scrooge at 2:30 pm and 4 pm. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the program.
2. Saturday, February 6, 2-4 pm Paper Dolls at the Ball: Jane’s Fashion for Kids
To coincide with A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy educator Deborah Lutz leads a workshop that begins with a short tour of the exhibition that features a series of humoristic prints illustrating the extravagances of fashionable ladies and gentlemen of Austen’s time. Children will design evening costumes for women or men using paper doll templates, a wide variety of quality decorative papers, and colorful trimmings. Appropriate for ages 6-12.
Tickets: Adults: $6 for Non-Members; $4 for Members; children: $2
And finally, also note that the Morgan currently has the following noteworthy exhibits that will be closing in early January:
1.William Blake’s World: “A New Heaven Is Begun” September 11, 2009, through January 3, 2010
Drawn from the Morgan’s extensive holdings of works by William Blake (1757–1827), this exhibition is the museum’s first more than twenty years devoted to the breadth of his literary accomplishments and artistic influence. See online exhibition
2. Rococo and Revolution: Eighteenth-Century French Drawings October 2, 2009, through January 3, 2010
Rococo and Revolution: Eighteenth-Century French Drawings features more than eighty exceptional drawings almost exclusively from the Morgan’s renowned holdings. Artists represented in the exhibition include Antoine Watteau, Jacques-Louis David, François Boucher, and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, among others. See selected images from the exhibition
3. Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol November 20, 2009, through January 10, 2010
Dickens’s original manuscript of A Christmas Carol, on view in Mr. Morgan’s Library, serves as the centerpiece of the Morgan’s holiday programs.
CONNECTICUT: there are a few interesting exhibits at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven of interest to fans of Jane Austen: [see the Center’s website for more information]
Mrs. Delany and her Circle 24 SEPTEMBER, 2009 — 3 JANUARY, 2010
This exhibition will explore the life, world and work of Mary Delany, née Mary Granville (1700 – 1788). Though best known for her almost one thousand botanical “paper mosaics” now housed in the British Museum, which she began at the age of 72, Mrs. Delany used her craft activities to cement bonds of friendship and negotiate complex, interlinked social networks throughout a long life passed in artistic, aristocratic, and court circles in Georgian England and Ireland.
Through landscape drawings, paper cuts and collages, textiles, and manuscript materials, the exhibition will show the range and variety of Mrs. Delany’s art. Among her most extraordinary efforts was a court dress embroidered with a cascade of naturalistic flowers, which united her interests in floriculture and fashion. Parts of this dress have recently been rediscovered and will form the center of a reconstruction of Mrs. Delany’s world. Her art work will be shown in the context of natural history, which informed and underpinned her productions. Shells, corals, botanical drawings, and publications related to the collections of the 2nd Duchess of Portland, with whom Mrs. Delany lived and worked alongside, will also form part of the exhibition, allowing viewers to reattach the vital threads connecting female accomplishment and the pursuit of science in the eighteenth century.
Mrs. Delany and Her Circle has been co-organized by the Yale Center for British Art and Sir John Soane’s Museum. It will be accompanied by a major publication that will serve as an exhibition catalogue, and will contain essays addressing many aspects of Mrs. Delany’s life, craftwork, and letters in the wider context of eighteenth-century culture. [The Center is the only U.S. venue for this exhibition.]
Horace Walpole (1717 – 1797) was the youngest son of Robert Walpole, first earl of Orford and prime minister under both George I and George II. Horace’s birthright placed him at the center of society and politics, and of literary, aesthetic, and intellectual circles. His brilliant letters and other writings have made him the best-known commentator on social, political, and cultural life in eighteenth-century England. In his own day, he was most famous for his personal collections, which were displayed at Strawberry Hill, his pioneering Gothic-revival house on the banks of the Thames at Twickenham, outside London, and through which he constructed narratives of English art and history.
This groundbreaking exhibition seeks to evoke the breadth and importance of Walpole’s collections at Strawberry Hill by reassembling an astonishing variety of his objects, including rare books and manuscripts, antiquities, paintings, prints and drawings, furniture, ceramics, arms and armor, and curiosities. These will be drawn from international public and private collections as well as those of the Center and Yale’s Lewis Walpole Library in Farmington, Connecticut.
Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill has been organized by the Center, The Lewis Walpole Library, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with contributions by an array of distinguished international scholars. [The Center is the only U.S. venue. The exhibition has been generously supported by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. ]
Please join JASNA Central New Jersey for a birthday toast to Jane Austen at the Cranbury Inn, 21 South Main Street, Cranbury, New Jersey on Saturday, December 5, 2009 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Celebrate Austen’s 234th birthday, plan and discuss the year’s upcoming programs, and share our love of all things Austen. Should you be so inclined, please feel free to bring a short reading selection of your choice to get us all in the spirit. [ See their website for more information.]
[For events in your area, visit the JASNA.org website for other regional news]
A reminder to all who happen to be in lovely autumnal Vermont on Sunday September 27, to join us for our celebration of Jane Austen’s move to Chawton! We are hosting former JASNA President and current President of the North American Friends of Chawton House Library Joan Klingel Ray.
Author of Jane Austen for Dummies, Prof. Ray, as “Doctor of Austenology” will regale us with her humorous Austenesque insights in her presentation “Jane Austen for Smarties” ~ to be followed by a mini-concert with Lar Duggan and Dominique Gagne of “Impropriety” and dancing demonstrations by a few couples from the Burlington Country Dancers[with our own JASNA member Val Medve and husband Tom!] Light refreshments will be served, plenty of time for questions and answers with Joan, and copies of JA for Dummies will be available for sale – all graciously autographed by the author!
Dr. Ray is a Professor of English and President’s Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She has published scholarly articles on Charles Dickens, George Herbert, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Samuel Johnson [the subject of her dissertation], and thankfully for all of us, Jane Austen. A number of these articles on Austen are available at the JASNA website, and I append several of the links here for your reading enjoyment.
We are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Austen’s July 1809 move to Chawton Cottage. After five years of living in Bath [1801-1806] and three years in Southampton [1806-1809], Mrs. Austen and Cassandra and Jane finally were coming home to their beloved Hampshire. Her brother Edward Knight [nee Austen] had inherited the estate at Chawton House, now home to the Chawton House Library for Early Women Writers, and offered the nearby Cottage to his mother and two sisters. It was here that Austen was finally able to persue her writing – she revised the three novels she had penned at Steventon [Northanger Abbey, Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice] and wrote three more [Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion]. We can be forever grateful to Edward for this gift of a such a home!
Hope you can join us for the celebration! The event runs from 2-5 pm and is free and open to the public. The Hauke Family Campus Center is at 375 Maple Street, Champlain College, Burlington, Vermont.
“Victorians versus Victorians – Understanding Dear ‘Aunt Jane’,”Persuasions30 (2008), p. 53-66. [not yet online; this is also the paper of her “Smarties” talk, so don’t read it if you are joining us on Sunday!]
And finally, see the post at AustenBlog for August 18, 2006, where Mags and Joan have a lively conversation on reading Austen, writing about Austen, JASNA, the AGMs, the writing of Dummies, and the dangling “equipment” of pigs in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice.
And now, after all that reading homework, please join us on Sunday!
Professor Joan Klingel Ray, past President of JASNA
Author of Jane Austen for Dummies
Talk and Book- signing to be followed by
A Mini-Concert with Impropriety and The Burlington Country Dancers
Place: Hauke Center, Champlain College
Sunday, December 6, 2009 2-5pm
Annual Jane Austen Birthday Tea w/ UVM Professor Philip Baruth [topic TBA]
Place: Champlain College
$15./ person
Sunday, March 21, 2010, 2-4pm
“Learning to Love a Hyacinth: Emotional Growth in Northanger Abbey” Ingrid Graff, Independent Scholar
Place: Champlain College
Sunday, June 6, 2010, 2-4pm
Box Hill Picnic “Austen / Adams ~ Journeys with Jane & Abigail” JASNA-Vermont’s Kelly McDonald!
in Deb Barnum’s Garden
[ Bring-Your-Own-Picnic to celebrate Emma ]
Please join us for any and all events!
[please contact us directly through the blog if you would like more information]
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I am also posting here the 2009-2010 schedule of the JASNA-Massachusetts Chapter, as many of us like to attend their events; for more information, please contact Nancy Yee at jasna [dot] yee at gmail [dot]com
JASNA Massachusetts 2009-2010 Program
Sunday, September 13, 2009 ~
Henderson House: Mini-Conference: “The Power of Place in Austen’s Life and Work.”
Plenary Sessions:
Alistair Duckworth
Elaine Bander
Breakout Sessions:
Marcia Folsom
Ann Morrissey
Isa Schaff
Sunday, September 13, 2009
12 noon – 5 p.m.
Henderson House Conference Center
Weston, Massachusetts
Please see Kelly’s post below this for Part I – we have both been swamped these past two weeks and FINALLY getting to our respective posts on Hope Greenberg’s fabulous talk on fashion at our June 7th JASNA-Vermont gathering … with the beautiful backdrop of the Chapel at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a capacity crowd …
First I append a guest post from our own Janeite Marcia:
Fashionable Sunday in Montpelier
Hope Greenberg’s presentation on Sunday June 7, 2009 provided much, much more than I imagined. Who knew fashion was so complex?
For me, the most fascinating part was learning about how Austen used references to clothing and fashion to develop her characters. While reading Sense and Sensibility, it was clear that Lucy Steele’s manners were lacking, her behavior even tacky. Hope used the scene where Lucy inquires of Marianne regarding her clothing, and even her clothing allowance, to illustrate how Lucy is revealed as crass and ill-mannered.
As Hope Greenberg described, in addition to Lucy’s inquires of Marianne, from Wickham’s (Pride and Prejudice) only needing regimentals, to Mrs. Allen (Northanger Abbey) talking of little but clothing, we are treated to exquisite development of many of the Austen characters by these brief, but powerful, references to wardrobe, clothing, and fashion. We all accept that Lucy is uncultured, Wickham is without depth of character, and Mrs. Allen is a mere silly airhead. These are the perfect, subtle, understated Jane Austen descriptions which leave the reader with no doubt of the author’s meaning, while wondering where the impression came from.
While there are few enough references in the Austen novels regarding fashion and clothing, each of those mentioned by Hope Greenberg is amazingly revealing and powerful. Thanks to Hope, those of us who attended on Sunday will be more aware of such references and techniques as we reread Austen and will certainly be able to better appreciate the genius of Jane Austen.
It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Thank you to JASNA-Vermont!
Thank you Marcia for your thoughts! We were most fortunate to have Hope spend a few hours with us – as a Humanities Computing Specialist at the University of Vermont, Hope has combined her love of history and 19th-century material and literary culture with her love of historic clothing and English Country Dance – she offered us a visual feast [with a new Macintosh program that presented all the fashion illustrations in the mode of flipping the pages of a book!] taking us through the process of dressing a lady of fashion from her linen shifts, corsets, petticoats, dresses, pelisses /spencers, to her shawls, hats and muffs, reticules, and other accessories; and dressing the man of fashion with his shirts, breaches / trousers, weskits, cravats, jackets and the glorious greatcoat – all this shown in the various fabrics and textiles of the time, with Hope’s actual dresses, fashion illustrations, and photographs from the trove of 18th and 19th century clothing in the UVM Fleming Museum. Hope ended her talk with a quick run through the various changes in fashion over the short period from the late 1780s to the 1820s – the French influence; the military influence; the return to the classical Egyptian and Grecian styles; the waist going up; the waist going down; the petticoat as an undergarment to the petticoat as part of the main dress; Beau Brummel’s affect on male fashion; the central role of the fashion magazines – all this in a short 2-hour whirlwind of muslin, linen and silk! [alas! we did go over a bit!]
And as Marcia mentions above – I too learned much from Hope’s references to Austen’s use of clothing details [or lack thereof] to delineate character – Willoughby’s shooting jacket; Nancy Steele’s obsession with her appearance; the lack of description of Bingley and Darcy, yet the emphasis on Wickham’s “regimentals”; Mrs. Bennet’s ridiculous concerns with wedding clothes and carriages; Lydia’s silliness about her bonnet; Mrs. Elton in Emma [no more need be said!]; Mrs. Allen in Northanger Abbey – and only Henry Tilney [dear Henry!] being “forgiven” for his extensive clothing musings!
So we heartily thank Hope for sharing her expertise with us – we are all alot wiser about Regency fashion and more attuned to Austen’s brilliant commentary.
Ditto Kelly’s thanks for a gracious afternoon in Montreal, a la Donwell Abbey and strawberry picking; hearing a fascinating preview of Jan Fergus’s upcoming AGM talk on “Tensions between Brothers and Sisters in Austen’s Novels”; and sharing a delicious tea with other JASNA-Montreal members [my daughter joined me for this trek to Montreal – and she loved all the Austen chatter – it is my daughter after all who got me re-reading Austen when she was studying Emma in college nearly 20 years ago – she called me up to say she seemed to be the only one in the class who thought Emma was FUNNY – I knew then and there we had raised her right!] Anyway, I digress – a huge thank you to Elaine Bander for a wonderful afternoon!
And a little counterpoint to my blogging partner and cohort in JASNA-Vermont – who ever said that Knightley was a “namby-pamby”?? – I always viewed him as a very strong character – so we need to have a lively discussion about this! And of course lots to discuss about Mr. Collins – I agree that the 1995 makes him out to be SUCH a dolt [and the Lost in Austen character is just too CREEPY!] – the Elizabeth Garvie P&P rendition is much truer to the book [the music alone captures his essence] – but think we need to go back to the novel to see what Austen really says about him – and she makes no bones about making him out to be quite ridiculous. Kelly, we should have a session JUST on Mr. Collins – I think we could get a rousing discussion going! [there is also a book just on him by the way, titled “Mr. Collins Considered” – a great place to start, as well as the Irene Collins [no relation!] book on Austen and the clergy…]
A year today – on 22 January 2008 – our Vermont Region received its official ‘welcome’ to the North American Jane Austen realm! So… Happy Birthday JASNA-Vermont!
It’s been a great year – and some thoughts on our activities can be found written down here, on this blog. We had an appreciative (large!) crowd for our first meeting, which featured Prof. Robyn Warhol-Down, whose talk centered on Pride and Prejudice; she has since joined JASNA. Then came a look at ‘Beginnings’ – JASNA’s own (with thoughts on the founding of JASNA by life members Lorraine Hanaway and Mildred Darrow) as well as Jane’s (with a look into her “first” novel, Northanger Abbey). The fall was ushered in with a thrilling and amusing look at “Austen’s England” by Montpelier resident, John Turner. Then came our big celebration: our Annual Austen Tea, featuring the Burlington Country Dancers (who led most of our audience onto the dance floor!), with music provided by the provocatively-named Impropriety.
For the first time, we share pictures and comments about our December celebration…
Barb F. wrote: “I had a great time, and brought a friend with me who had not attended a JASNA event as yet. I hardly spoke with my friend… so many opportunities to share with those we didn’t know. The gathering brings such friendly people together. I finally had a chance to try English Country Dancing and it was very enjoyable!… My spirits are lightened and energized as I reflect on a wonderful afternoon.”
Jeanne V.: “Just wanted to say that the event on Sunday was…a lot of fun. I brought someone who swore she would only watch the dancing and she was scooped up and danced every one! Now, we need to do more dancing…”
George: “I had a great time and am making everyone go to the Montpelier [event] in June.”
Val M.: “Thanks so much for having us. [Everyone] did a wonderful job with the Tea Party. Enjoyed the readings!”
And the food was … scrumptious! Thanks to the caterers connected to our host site, Champlain College (Burlington, VT), and JASNA-Vermont members who pulled out recipes that made everyone’s mouth water:
If you can ‘smell’ the aroma of scones, truffles, cookies and tea, then maybe you will be able to hear the band strike up a long-familiar tune. Members of Impropriety…
…and The Burlington Country Dancers:
Thanks to Mary Ellen Bertolini for sharing her photos!
Please join us for our next event – which features Prof. Bertolini and Persuasion – on March 1st. And send us your birthday wishes and wants!
We append a guest post from Janeite Marcia who so graciously comments on our Sunday gathering on “Austen’s England”. With over sixty people in attendance at the Vermont College of Fine Arts Chapel (and with many thanks to the College for the use of this lovely space!), it was a fine way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and we heartily thank John Turner for his delightful and insightful talk.
Even though it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon after many dreary ones, the College Hall Chapel at Vermont College in Montpelier was filled with Janeites eager to learn more about our favorite author at the fall quarterly meeting of the Vermont Chapter of JASNA.We were a group of men and women of all ages, clearly enjoying the companionship of those who shared our interest in Jane Austen.The Chapel Room is exquisitely decorated and I kept looking for Jane herself to walk into the almost 19th century setting.
The afternoon opened with Deb welcoming the attendees, outlining the afternoon’s activities, and providing updates on future Chapter activities as well as other related and interesting news.See this website for the upcoming events.So much to do, see and read; so little time.Alas, I suspect we all feel that way.
After Kelly reminded us that the Vermont Chapter had its origin in the very city we were in, nearly one year ago (November 2007 at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library), she introduced John Turner to speak about “Austen’s England.”John began by stating that we were not to have a travelogue.I guess I didn’t expect one, but I did rather expect details on English life of the time.Indeed, those details were what John talked about, but it was English life as Jane Austen lived it, an entirely different focus than I expected.And, it was wonderful.
John’s early statement that Jane Austen’s writings revealed England more truly than many scholarly sources was accurate indeed.With quotes from Jane Austen’s books and letters, and his skillful interpretations of their meanings, we were transported to her time and how she must have lived.John Turner’s presentation was filled with fascinating information and interpretations, and delivered with his ready wit and humor.For those of us who were able to be there, we were fortunate indeed.If you couldn’t attend, John Turner has posted his presentation on his website:http://wordandimageofvermont.com/.Whether for the first time or to refresh your memory of the afternoon, it is wonderful reading.I, for one, will always remember the joy of fully understanding the line from Emma that begins “A mind lively and at ease…”
When his formal talk was finished, John graciously answered questions to the pleasure of all. Thank you, John Turner!
A refreshment break included a delicious variety of cookies and cakes, donated by many of the Chapter’s members.From the crumbs, and only crumbs, left on the platters, I think everyone enjoyed them.
The second part of the day was a delightful presentation of pictures of Jane Austen related sites taken by Deb during trips to England.For some it was a refresher of places they had already seen; for others, it was a glimpse of places to see in the future.But as I looked around the room during Deb’s commentary on the pictures, everyone’s eyes were focused on the screen and smiling as they “traveled” in Jane’s footsteps, as I was.
While I’m sure I should close with an appropriate quote from Jane Austen, I can only say the afternoon was delightful and fascinating, not the least of which was being with so many others who felt similarly.
A year today – on 22 January 2008 – our Vermont Region received its official ‘welcome’ to the North American Jane Austen realm! So… Happy Birthday JASNA-Vermont!
Jeanne V.: “Just wanted to say that the event on Sunday was…a lot of fun. I brought someone who swore she would only watch the dancing and she was scooped up and danced every one! Now, we need to do more dancing…”
Jane Austen in Vermont 