Mr. Darcy’s Feelings; Or, What Jane Austen Really Tells Us About Her Hero…

November 25, 2013 BookLady Deb22 Comments

Much has been made of the film adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and the need to make the feelings of the hero more apparent to the viewer, the complaint being that Jane Austen really doesn’t give us much to go on regarding her Heroes and their inner life. Andrew Davies famously says he had to “sex her up” to make the films work for a modern audience, and while I like to see Colin Firth in a wet shirt and Matthew Macfadyen bare-chested at dawn as much as the next swooning female, I do take issue with the need to edit the text to the point of it seeming more like a modern romance than an early nineteenth-century novel. One of Jane Austen’s greatest strengths and why we still read her year after year over the past 200 years, is her creation of believable characters who live and breathe on and off the page – and the need for our imaginations to bring whatever we will to the reading…

P&P 2005 – Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy

This year has brought with it any number of celebrations of Pride and Prejudice from plays and festivals to conferences and all sorts of fan fiction and games and “stuff” one cannot live without, but the best way to celebrate the book in my mind is to just find a quiet corner somewhere and re-read it, perhaps for the umpteenth time, but read it again nonetheless. We know from her letters that Jane Austen read the book aloud to her family any number of times – whether she read it during and after the many alterations she made to the text is not so clear … but her family began what has become for many of us an annual reading, and we enjoy it as much as they did, our only loss in not having Austen to answer our questions –

I began this year of celebrating the bicentenary of P&P with a close reading in January, my intention to make note of every time Austen comments as the narrator or has Darcy express or state anything regarding his feelings for Elizabeth Bennet, as well as her feelings in return – and I find so much more than I ever thought was there, and seeing them out of context is quite enlightening – I don’t think that Andrew Davies had to add anything at all to the text – it is already there, as you shall see.

P&P 1995 – Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy – “The Look”

John Wiltshire recently wrote an essay on “Mr. Darcy’s Smile” ** – and one might have asked ‘did Mr. Darcy EVER smile?’, our first impression no different than Elizabeth’s in assigning him to the Snob pile. Professor Wiltshire rescues him from that place of the aloof, observing, not present fellow, by telling us how often in the text Jane Austen has her Mr. Darcy actually Smile. So let’s see what we find, see what Austen tells us directly about Darcy’s feelings – for some reason we gloss over it all too easily and have come to depend upon Andrew Davies to visually remind us …

The other vexing question is of course when does Elizabeth fall for Mr. Darcy? This is a controversial point – some believe her tongue-in-cheek statement to Jane,

“It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley.”

-this one sentence dividing Janeites, scholars and fans alike as to Elizabeth’s perhaps overly mercenary view of the world and her need to “land” a wealthy partner, that “to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!” Some don’t see Elizabeth at all attracted to Darcy with any sort of passion like the films are overwrought with – that she comes to admire and then Love Darcy because of all his good qualities once his Asperger / shy/ snob demeanor crashes around him… But again, reading the text closely, both the actions, dialogue, and the narrator’s commentary, we are shown an Elizabeth both humiliated by Darcy’s apparent disdain of her [and her eager willingness to accept the neighborhood gossip that disses him at his first appearance], and her awareness in every moment they are in the same room together, of everything he is doing – she sees him watching her mother, reacting to her mother and other family members, sees him change color upon meeting Wickham, watches closely his relationship with Caroline Bingley, and most importantly sees him watching her, always passing it off as some strange behavior on his part, protesting too much because she knows he cannot tolerate her – in short she is always in a state of heightened awareness whenever Darcy is in her space. What changes for her at Pemberley is not its grandeur and its grounds, but his portrait, where she for the first time can look at him directly, his eyes upon her as in life, “with such a smile over [his] face, as she remembered to have sometimes seen, when he looked at her” (p. 189), but here she does not have to turn away in a confused embarrassed state…

“In earnest contemplation” – H. M. Brock. P&P. Dent, 1898.
Image: Adelaide ebook

I had wanted to post on this as this celebratory year began, but here I am nearly the end of the year and ready to launch into celebrating Mansfield Park !– but shall post these quotes now, just under the wire… starting today with Volume I. *

From Volume I:

p. 7. [where it all begins! – Darcy’s insult, Elizabeth’s humiliation and wounded pride]

“Which do you mean?” and turning round, [Darcy] looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.”

Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him. She told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in any thing ridiculous.

C. E. Brock. P&P. Macmillan 1895

p. 13. [but Elizabeth later says:]

“That is very true,” replied Elizabeth, “and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”

p. 16. [How quickly Darcy changes his mind about Elizabeth!]:

Occupied in observing Mr. Bingley’s attentions to her sister, Elizabeth was far from suspecting that she was herself becoming an object of some interest in the eyes of his friend. Mr. Darcy had at first scarcely allowed her to be pretty; he had looked at her without admiration at the ball; and when they next met, he looked at her only to criticise. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness. Of this she was perfectly unaware; — to her he was only the man who made himself agreeable nowhere, and who had not thought her handsome enough to dance with.

He began to wish to know more of her, and as a step towards conversing with her himself, attended to her conversation with others. His doing so drew her notice. It was at Sir William Lucas’s, where a large party were assembled.

“What does Mr. Darcy mean,” said she to Charlotte, “by listening to my conversation with Colonel Forster?”

[and the teasing begins!]

p. 18. Sir William Lucas:

C. E. Brock. P&P. Dent, 1898. [Mollands]

“My dear Miss Eliza, why are not you dancing? — Mr. Darcy, you must allow me to present this young lady to you as a very desirable partner. You cannot refuse to dance, I am sure, when so much beauty is before you.” And, taking her hand, he would have given it to Mr. Darcy, who, though extremely surprised, was not unwilling to receive it, when she instantly drew back, and said with some discomposure to Sir William —

   “Indeed, sir, I have not the least intention of dancing. I entreat you not to suppose that I moved this way in order to beg for a partner.”

   Mr. Darcy, with grave propriety, requested to be allowed the honour of her hand, but in vain. Elizabeth was determined; nor did Sir William at all shake her purpose by his attempt at persuasion.

   “You excel so much in the dance, Miss Eliza, that it is cruel to deny me the happiness of seeing you; and though this gentleman dislikes the amusement in general, he can have no objection, I am sure, to oblige us for one half-hour.”

   “Mr. Darcy is all politeness,” said Elizabeth, smiling.

   “He is indeed; but considering the inducement, my dear Miss Eliza, we cannot wonder at his complaisance — for who would object to such a partner?”

   Elizabeth looked archly, and turned away. Her resistance had not injured her with the gentleman, and he was thinking of her with some complacency…

p. 19.   [Darcy to Miss Bingley who is ever in pursuit…]:

“Your conjecture is totally wrong, I assure you. My mind was more agreeably engaged. I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.”

   Miss Bingley immediately fixed her eyes on his face, and desired he would tell her what lady had the credit of inspiring such reflections. Mr. Darcy replied with great intrepidity —

   “Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”

   “Miss Elizabeth Bennet!” repeated Miss Bingley. “I am all astonishment. How long has she been such a favourite? — and pray, when am I to wish you joy?” …

p. 24. [Elizabeth arriving at Netherfield to offer comfort Jane]:

Mr. Darcy said very little, and Mr. Hurst nothing at all. The former was divided between admiration of the brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion, and doubt as to the occasion’s justifying her coming so far alone. The latter was thinking only of his breakfast.

Kiera Knightley as Elizabeth – image: jasna.org

p. 26.

“I am afraid, Mr. Darcy,” observed Miss Bingley, in a half-whisper, “that this adventure has rather affected your admiration of her fine eyes.”

“Not at all,” he replied; “they were brightened by the exercise.”

p. 28. [this is an interesting: Elizabeth has been reading a book while the others plays cards – but when the talk turns to Mr. Darcy’s library at Pemberley, she takes such an interest in what is being said, that she puts her book aside and moves close to the card table…and what follows is the discussion of the “accomplished woman.”]:

Elizabeth was so much caught by what passed as to leave her very little attention for her book; and soon laying it wholly aside, she drew near the card-table, and stationed herself between Mr. Bingley and his eldest sister, to observe the game.

The Library at Chatsworth a.k.a. Pemberley
[Britain Magazine]

p. 33. [Elizabeth says; notice how she “trembles”:]

I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!”

“I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love,” said Darcy.

“Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away.”

Darcy only smiled; and the general pause which ensued made Elizabeth tremble lest her mother should be exposing herself again. She longed to speak, but could think of nothing to say…

p. 38.

…Elizabeth could not help observing, as she turned over some music books that lay on the instrument, how frequently Mr. Darcy’s eyes were fixed on her. She hardly knew how to suppose that she could be an object of admiration to so great a man; …

p. 38.

… and Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her. He really believed that, were it not for the inferiority of her connexions, he should be in some danger.

p. 39.

C. E. Brock. P&P. Macmillan 1895 [Mollands]

Mr. Darcy felt their rudeness …
[i. e Caroline and Mrs. Hurst leaving Elizabeth to walk by herself…]

p. 44.

…and Darcy, after a few moments recollection, was not sorry for it. He began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.

p. 44.

To Mr. Darcy it was welcome intelligence: Elizabeth had been at Netherfield long enough. She attracted him more than he liked — and Miss Bingley was uncivil to her, and more teasing than usual to himself. He wisely resolved to be particularly careful that no sign of admiration should now escape him, nothing that could elevate her with the hope of influencing his felicity; sensible that if such an idea had been suggested, his behaviour during the last day must have material weight in confirming or crushing it. Steady to his purpose, he scarcely spoke ten words to her through the whole of Saturday, and though they were at one time left by themselves for half an hour, he adhered most conscientiously to his book, and would not even look at her.

p. 55.

Mr. Darcy corroborated it with a bow, and was beginning to determine not to fix his eyes on Elizabeth…

p. 72. [during their dance]…

…on each side dissatisfied, though not to an equal degree, for in Darcy’s breast there was a tolerable powerful feeling towards her, which soon procured her pardon, and directed all his anger against another.

[And here Elizabeth always watching Darcy and his reactions to her and her family]:

p. 68.

…when she found herself suddenly addressed by Mr. Darcy, who took her so much by surprise in his application for her hand, that, without knowing what she did, she accepted him. He walked away again immediately, and she was left to fret over her own want of presence of mind…

Helen Sewell. P&P. Limited Editions Club, 1940

p. 69.

…took her place in the set, amazed at the dignity to which she was arrived in being allowed to stand opposite to Mr. Darcy, and reading in her neighbours’ looks their equal amazement in beholding it.

p. 76.

Elizabeth blushed and blushed again with shame and vexation. She could not help frequently glancing her eye at Mr. Darcy, though every glance convinced her of what she dreaded; for though he was not always looking at her mother, she was convinced that his attention was invariably fixed by her. The expression of his face changed gradually from indignant contempt to a composed and steady gravity.

p. 78.

She was at least free from the offence of Mr. Darcy’s farther notice; though often standing within a very short distance of her, quite disengaged, he never came near enough to speak.

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Mr. Darcy – P&P – Marvel Comics

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Stay tuned for quotes from Volume II. Do you find any that I have missed that somehow allude to this connection between Darcy and Elizabeth from nearly the first moment they set eyes upon each other?

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*Page citations from: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. James Kinsley. Introd. Fiona Stafford. New York: Oxford UP, 2008.

** See John Wiltshire, “Mr. Darcy’s Smile.” The Cinematic Jane Austen: Essays on the Filmic Sensibility of the Novels. Ed. David Monaghan, Ariane Hudelet, and John Wiltshire. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009. 94-110.

c2013 Jane Austen in Vermont

Austen Literary History & Criticism · Books · Collecting Jane Austen · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Illustrators · Museum Exhibitions · Publishing History

The Folio Society’s Latest Pride and Prejudice

November 7, 2013 BookLady Deb3 Comments

If you are into your holiday shopping early, or compiling your own wish-list, here is a fine start: a must-have for your Jane Austen collection: the Folio Society’s latest edition of Pride and Prejudice, 2013.

“I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”

One of the world’s favourite books, Pride and Prejudice has long been regarded as a classic romance. In Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, Jane Austen created the greatest pair of sparring lovers since Shakespeare’s Beatrice and Benedick. This sparkling comedy of manners features an inimitable cast of characters including the obsequious Mr Collins, the autocratic Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and Mrs Bennet, the most embarrassing mother in literature.

The award-winning Balbusso twins have contributed eight exquisite illustrations to this edition, as well as a striking cover design. The novel’s celebrated first line is blocked in gold on the slipcase. In a new introduction, the author Sebastian Faulks praises ‘a novel of almost boundless wit and charm that has withstood film and television adaptations and attempts to define it as a “fairy tale” or a “rom-com”.’

[Pride and Prejudice (Folio, 2013): image from the Balbusso website]

Details:

Introduced by Sebastian Faulks.
Illustrated by Anna and Elena Balbusso.
Bound in metallic cloth, blocked with a design by Anna and Elena Balbusso.
352 pages.
Frontispiece and 7 colour illustrations.
Book size: 9½” x 6¼”
$62.50

[Text from the Folio Society Website]

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The Anna + Elena Balbusso website: http://www.balbusso.com/
Pride and Prejudice on the Balbusso website where you can see all 7 illustrations: http://www.balbusso.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=192:new-book-pride-and-prejudice-by-j-austen&catid=1:news&Itemid=98
And see the exhibit of their award-winning illustrations for Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (The Folio Society 2012), on view at the at the V&A until December 1, 2013: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/v/v-and-a-illustration-awards-2013/

c2013, Jane Austen in Vermont

Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Jane Austen Societies · JASNA

An Adventure Befitting a Heroine ~ the Jane Austen Society’s AGM in Minneapolis!

September 24, 2013 BookLady Deb4 Comments

“If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village,
she must seek them abroad…”
-Jane Austen in Northanger Abbey

Alas! without a Mrs. Allen to squire me about or offer much-needed fashion advice, nor a Henry Tilney awaiting me in the wings, I head off for another adventure at the JASNA Annual Meeting – this year in Minneapolis, in celebration of the bicentenary of Pride & Prejudice.

I promise reporting and pictures upon my return – there is never time to post during the conference, what with lectures, and field trips, and Tea, and Balls and Emporiums, one has not a moment to reflect until on the plane returning home – so I will offer various musings on the event next week … I will try to facebook and/or Twitter if I can [but no promises!] so check both for updates:

Jane Austen in Vermont – Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/50565859210/
AusteninVermont Twitter page: https://twitter.com/austeninvermont

[ Pride and Prejudice ~ Limited Editions Club (1940) ~ illus. Helen Sewell ]

c2013, Jane Austen in Vermont

Austen Literary History & Criticism · Author Interviews · Books · Collecting Jane Austen · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Illustrators · Jane Austen Popular Culture

On My Bookshelf ~ My Mr. Darcys: An Appreciation by Laura Davidson

September 5, 2013September 5, 2013 BookLady Deb1 Comment

I most fortunately stumbled upon this book My Mr. Darcys when searching for another Austen title and found the bookseller had this title as well – but alas! no available copies. So I went straight to the source and found not only this but other delightful books from the Boston-based book artist Laura Davidson – we got into a conversation about what inspired her to create this miniature book [4 ¼” x 3”] about the various Mr. Darcys in film:

LD: My Mr. Darcys: An Appreciation (2009) is a tribute to the many actors who have played the role of Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice adaptations. It includes portrait miniatures of six actors along with text from each film. It is especially made for the true Austenite.

There are 500 copies, each signed and numbered. $28.00

When I was doing research for this book, I had to re-watch all of the films, taking notes about which line would work with each painted miniature of the actors. This was easier than one might think, and also really fun. When it came to the text on the back of my book, I knew which line from P&P I wanted to use, but had no idea where to find it quickly. I phoned my older sister Paula, a devoted Austenite and the one who introduced me to Jane originally. She was driving, pulled off the road, and reached into the side pocket of the passenger door to pull out her emergency copy of P&P and found the passage for me right away. At the time – I was amused by this. But now, of course, I carry an emergency copy of P&P on my phone (along with Persuasion). [Ed. I am not going to tell you which passage Laura chose for the back of the book – you will just have to buy your own copy to find out! – but what passage do you think she might have chosen?]

JAIV: Why did you feel compelled to do this book – you refer to your sister being an “Austenite” – are you as well?

LD: At the time, my sister and I were talking quite often about the various adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and it occurred to me that there must be women everywhere having the same conversations and comparing Darcys. I’m a book artist, and much of my work is making visual lists, drawing everyday items, familiar yet very personal things. My work often reflects my passion for art history, maps and architecture. My Mr. Darcys was a bit out of the blue. I don’t really know how it came into my mind to do the book exactly, but once the seed was planted there was no turning back. I like that a book a woman wrote 200 years ago still resonates today and inspires artists, writers, and filmmakers to keep the characters alive. So, I would say that yes, I am an Austenite.

JAIV: Which of the novels do you like the best?

LD: Persuasion. I adore Anne Elliot, because she always knew her own heart even though she was afraid to follow it.

JAIV: Which adaptation do you like the best?

LD: I love the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. I think it was perfectly cast. Of all the Austen adaptations I’ve seen though, the Persuasion from 1995 is my favorite. Watching it is like comfort food to me.

JAIV: And which Mr. Darcy is your favorite, and why?

LD: Laurence Olivier was in the first “Hollywoodized” version which was terribly cast, except for him. He played Darcy’s imperiousness beautifully, but the compromised ending let him down.

Colin Firth was absolutely perfect in the role, getting the arrogance right, but showing the vulnerability beneath. Plus, all the Darcys that came after were a direct result of his performance, and that of the rest of the cast. If he hadn’t had the charm and charisma to pull off the Darcy character, I doubt any of the other adaptations would have been made.

So, Colin Firth, to me, is the definitive Mr. Darcy. And we can’t forget the lake scene…!

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So fellow Darcy fans, this is must have book – know that some of you like David Rintoul the best from the 1980 BBC production – he is, sorry to say not in this book – but everyone else is, each with an appropriate quote that sums up his character best… it is small, doesn’t take up much shelf space, but I think you will choose to display it in a prominent place somewhere as a centerpiece to your Austen collection.

What else I had to buy: for an obsessed Red-Sox Fan! [and a best friend, even though I am, dare I say it, a Yankee Fan…]

Fenway Park Tunnel Book: This tunnel book shows a view of Fenway Park and the skyline of Boston. The images were painted, then offset printed, laser cut and pieced together by hand. Each copy is signed.

2007, 2008; 2nd edition (with 2007 world championship flag); 6.5 x 8 and 3/16 inches, 6 two-sided pages; $38.

I bought another book but as it is a gift for a friend that I have not yet given it to, I must wait – but will say it has something to do with Birds!

And what book-loving person would not require this:

Block Prints: Read Art

2012, 10 x 14” hand printed on Kitakata rice paper, two colors. One small print on a book page is attached, printed in an edition of 12. Unframed $125.

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Here is Laura’s website and contact information: http://www.lauradavidson.com/ – take some time to look at her various creations – time well-spent I assure you! If you have a question or a comment for Laura, please do so here and I will pass them on to her for a response…

[all images copyright Laura Davidson and used with permission]

c2013 Jane Austen in Vermont

Auctions · Fashion & Costume · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Movies

Austen on the Block! ~ Lounging around as Mr Darcy, or Maybe Maximus?

July 28, 2013August 31, 2020 BookLady Deb4 Comments

UPDATE: Mr Darcy’s [a.k.a Laurence Olivier] jacket sold for $6,500. – estimate was $1500. – $2000. Russell Crowe’s Gladiator tunic sold for $7500!

There is a Hollywood auction taking place today in California – the Profiles in History auction house has a number of Hollywood artifacts being offered at their Hollywood Auction 56, the costumes for the Sound of Music movie for starters. But here is one item of interest to Jane Austen followers, a pure piece of Austen and movie memorabilia to grace anyone’s closet:

Lot 422: Laurence Olivier screen-worn “Mr. Darcy” jacket from Pride and Prejudice.

Estimated Price: $1,500 – $2,000 starting bid: $1,500

Description:

Laurence Olivier screen-worn “Mr. Darcy” jacket from Pride and Prejudice. (MGM, 1940).

A beautiful smoking jacket, screen-worn by Laurence Olivier as “Mr. Darcy” in the epic film adapted from the classic Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice. Consisting of crimson, corded silk jacket with wide quilted satin lapels, black braid brocade loop and cloth-covered button front closure, integral sash with black fringed ends, crème-colored pleats peeking from sleeve cuffs and dark maroon satin lining throughout. MGM internal bias label on inside collar with “Larry Olivier” handwritten in black ink. This striking costume exhibits barely detectable age and wear. Fabric remains fresh with colors vibrant. Overall in vintage fine condition.

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You can view the auction details here: https://www.profilesinhistory.com/auctions/hollywood-auction-56/
you can also bid online at Artfact… [and where these 2 images come from]
see the pdf catalogue here: https://www.profilesinhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/HA56L1.pdf

and view the various other pieces of Hollywood history that are available, 988 lots in total, from Marilyn Monroe to the Von Trapps – the catalogue itself a work of art and collectible for any movie nut. Here is the link to the flipbook – Mr. Darcy’s jacket is on page 141, right next to Gary Cooper’s costume from Sergeant York and opposite Judy Garland Wizard of Oz posters…

It all goes live this morning 11:00 am. PST!

p.s.: do you think Mr Darcy SMOKED??

p.s. 2: just so you don’t think that my other fantasies are not touched on in this auction, if you go to page 298-300, you will find the following:

Lot 803: Russell Crowe’s Maximus tunic from Gladiator.

Estimated Price: $2,000 – $3,000

Description:

Russell Crowe’s Maximus tunic from Gladiator. (DreamWorks, 2000) This tunic was worn by Russell Crowe as “Maximus” in Gladiator. The sleeveless, knee-length tunic is constructed from studio-distressed, unbleached cotton homespun fabric and lined with a light weight muslin reinforcement lining. A bias tag with “Max” written in black ink is sewn under the muslin lining at the back of the neck. “Max” wears this tunic when he is abducted from his destroyed home by Roman slave traders and taken to Zucchabar, a Roman city in North Africa. There, he is bought by the trader “Proximo” and forced to become a gladiator. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from the costumer.

[Note: Bidding for this item begins on July 29, 2013, 11:00 am PST]

I might just have to buy this catalogue!

c2013 Jane Austen in Vermont

Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture

Jane Austen’s Mr Darcy Takes a Dip in the Serpentine

July 8, 2013 BookLady Deb12 Comments

From The Independent:

Colin Firth’s memorable wet shirt scene in Pride and Prejudice has been recreated thanks to a giant statue of Mr Darcy which has been built in The Serpentine.

Click here or on ‘view gallery’ for more photos of Colin Firth’s giant Mr Darcy

The fibreglass sculpture, which closely resembles Firth, stretches 12ft out of the water at London’s Hyde Park. The image of Firth emerging dripping wet from the lake at Lyme Park, Cheshire featured in the 1995 BBC adaption of the Jane Austen novel. The scene, which caused a stir at the time, recently topped a viewers’ poll of the most memorable TV moments ever.

The model of Darcy took a team of three sculptors in excess of two months to design, construct and paint. Lead sculptor Toby Crowther said: “The challenge for us was capturing the spirit of Darcy as handsome and noble but also aloof and proud. The Mr Darcy sculpture is a real mix of the many portrayals of Jane Austen’s most famous hero.” The sculpture will tour a number of locations before being installed in Lyme Park, where it will remain until February.

Adrian Wills, general manager of Drama, said: “Jane Austen spent a lot of time walking in Hyde Park and along the banks of the Serpentine, so we would like to think she would have approved of our new dashing Darcy.”

The statue has been built to celebrate today’s launch of new UKTV channel Drama, a free-to-air station on Sky and Freeview.

[image from BBC News]

And the Real Thing:

though I always liked this one better:

Austen Literary History & Criticism · Fashion & Costume · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Literature · Regency England

Summering With Jane Austen ~ Part IV ~ in Vermont!

June 21, 2013 BookLady Deb6 Comments

There are Jane Austen events all over the place this summer, as a number of previous posts have shown, and thankfully I can post on a few that are right here in Vermont! – so mark your calendars!

The Inn Victoria in Chester Vermont is hosting a Jane Austen Garden Party on Saturday, July 20, 2013

Enjoy the company of like-minded enthusiasts on Saturday July 20 for a Garden Party at Inn Victoria’s Secret Garden:

If you wish you may dress in period costume
Enjoy book readings
High Tea in an elegant & peaceful garden setting
Evening movie [a Jane Austen of course!] on the 8′ x 12′ screen

You can reserve for the day [events begin about 1pm and go through the evening movie and will cost $35. / person], or you can call to Reserve for the day and a room to spend the night….802-875-4288

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The Governor’s House in Hyde Park Vermont continues its series of Jane Austen weekends with two events this August:

Governor's House - The English Room — Governor’s House – The English Room

Pride and Prejudice Weekend on August 2 – 4, 2013 [and if you cannot make this weekend, you can also try September 13 – 15, 2013 or January 10 – 12, 2014!]:

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 Pride and Prejudice and how the movies stand up to the books. Attend the talk about the time of Jane Austen. Test your knowledge of Jane Austen, her books, 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. Just 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 just be good company; it will be the “company of clever well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation”. It will be the best! It’s not Bath, but it is Hyde Park and you’ll love Vermont circa 1800.

And also this: Special Jane Austen Weekend in Character, August 9 – 11, 2013

Another Jane Austen “in character” weekend is scheduled for August 2013. Each guest will choose to be a character from any one of Austen’s novels. Period dress is optional, but guests will interact in character throughout the weekend. The activities will depend somewhat on the weather and participant interest, but may include a Regency dinner party, an evening of games, letter writing, fencing, English Country dancing, crewel embroidery, tatting, rolled paper decoration, a game of croquet, a very long walk, riding, carriage driving, archery, shooting, and a picnic with or without Colonel Brandon. Rates are the same as regular Jane Austen weekends, but there is an additional charge to participate in some activities. Now’s your chance to be Elizabeth Bennet, Anne Elliot or Lady Catherine, but only one of each character may sign up so make haste to confirm your reservation. Bring your own Darcy or maybe meet him on the croquet lawn. Perhaps the door to the romance of Jane’s world isn’t in Hammersmith after all.

You can view the video of last year’s character weekend here:

You can also participate in the Inn’s periodic Afternoon Teas: [see website for costs]

Afternoon Tea and Tea Etiquette Talk – June 30, 2013 3:00 pm
Jane Austen Tea – August 3, 2013 3:00 pm
Jane Austen Tea – September 14, 2013 3:00 pm

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And a small digression here: Innkeeper Suzanne began her series of Downton Abbey discussion dinners this past winter and these will continue once the new season is broadcast, so watch the website for dates and times. And if this isn’t enough to fill up your schedule, Suzanne is also embarking on a new literary adventure called the Vermont Apple Pie Literary and Travel Society:

The fictional Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Peel Society began as a spur-of-the-moment inspiration to make it possible for the people of Guernsey to get together and enliven their existence during the time of the World War II German occupation of the islands. Although this is Vermont and our pie will be apple, we too want to enliven our evenings with stimulating conversation. Guernsey during the occupation and how that impacted the daily lives of its citizens will be the topic for our first series of dinners and talks. We will organize a travel adventure to Guernsey and other Channel Islands in May.

It’s not your ordinary book club, more like a salon where discerning minds can share their intellectual curiosity, although books will be part of the backdrop of our discussions and we will suggest a list of possible titles to consider reading for each topic. The dinners will be held on Saturday evenings and for those who spend the weekend, there may be other activities to expand the general topic. We invite your thoughts and participation. So if you enjoy the society of people who read and think, want to learn something new, enjoy talking about ideas, yearn to visit new places and expand your circle of interesting friends, then please join us because we want to hear what you have to add to the conversation.

The dinners will be held at the Governor’s House in Hyde Park, 100 Main Street, Hyde Park, Vermont. Cost is $45.00 plus tax per person and, of course, includes home-made apple pie. See the website for reservation information.

Schedule for Guernsey under German Occupation:

Dinners & Discussion:

October 19, 2013 – 6:00 pm
February 1, 2014
March 8, 2014

Travel to Guernsey: May, 2014

For more information and how to sign up, as well as a suggested reading list, please visit the website here: http://www.onehundredmain.com/events/vermont-apple-pie-literary-and-travel-society/

Future topics include:

Newfoundland and its connections to the Channel Islands and other places
Rudyard Kipling in Vermont
Palladio, Vicenza and the legacy to English and American architecture
Spices: where they come from, how they got here, and what we do with them

Governor's House in Hyde Park — Governor’s House in Hyde Park

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Hope to see some of you at these various events – one wonders what we actually did before Jane Austen took over our lives?

c2013 Jane Austen in Vermont

Jane Austen · JASNA-Vermont events · Regency England

A Sunday in Vermont with Jane Austen

June 6, 2013June 6, 2013 BookLady DebLeave a comment

Just a reblog here of a piece written by one of the attendees at our JASNA-Vermont Sunday event with JASNA News editor Sheryl Craig on the economics in Pride and Prejudice – Joe Trenn of The Book Shed in Benson, VT wrote the following for the blog of the Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association:

One of the more satisfying regular events on the calendar for northeastern literary seekers is the quarterly meeting of JASNA-Vermont, the Vermont region of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Organized and chaired by self-titled “Janeite” Deb the alter ego of Bygone Books owner Deborah Barnum and the Regional Coordinator of JASNA-Vermont, the meetings feature a talk on some aspect of Austen by an expert from academia or the wide, passionate world of Austen fandom. Before and after the talk there is a social gathering fueled by delicious scones and other delights prepared by Janeite Marcia Merrill and her volunteer bakers.

the Workhouse, St. James’s Parish, from The Microcosm of London (1810)
[image: Wikipedia Commons]

Auctions · Books · Jane Austen · Literature · Rare Books

Austen on the Block!

May 27, 2013 BookLady DebLeave a comment

Several interesting (and largely expensive!) items will be up for auction in the next month:

CHRISTIES: Sale 8952: Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, 18 June 2013, London.

Lot 174:

AUSTEN, Jane (1775-1817). Pride and Prejudice. London: T. Egerton, 1813. 3 volumes, 12° (173 x 115mm). (Lacking half-titles, P2 at end of volume one with small marginal repair, tiny orange marginal mark to L5v of vol. II and lighter mark on a few other leaves, some spotting occasionally heavier.) Contemporary calf (rebacked, extremities lightly rubbed).

Second edition. Pride and Prejudice was written between October 1796 and August 1797 when Jane Austen was not yet twenty-one, the same age, in fact, as her fictional heroine Elizabeth Bennet. After an early rejection by the publisher Cadell, Austen’s novel was finally bought by Egerton in 1812 for £110. It was published in late January 1813 in a small edition of approximately 1500 copies and sold for 18 shillings in boards. The present second edition is thought to have been published in October that same year. Gilson A4; Keynes 4. (3)

Estimate: £3,000 – £5,000 ($4,527 – $7,545)

Lot 175:

AUSTEN, Jane (1775-1817). Sense and Sensibility, London: printed for the Author and published by T. Egerton, 1813. 3 volumes, 12° (176 x 105mm). (Lacking half-titles and without final blanks, occasional light spotting.) Contemporary calf, gilt spines (joints splitting, corners very lightly bumped, small blank stain to vol. II).

Second edition of Jane Austen’s first published novel which grew from a sketch entitled Elinor and Marianne, written in 1795 in the form of letters; it was revised 1797-1798 at Steventon; and again in 1809-1810, the first year of Jane Austen’s residence at Chawton. Thomas Egerton undertook the publication of the first edition in 1813 on a commission basis, and Jane Austen ‘actually made a reserve from her very moderate income to meet the expected loss’. The price of the novel was 15 shillings in boards and advertisements first appeared for it on 30 October 1811. The present second edition is believed to have been printed in October 1813 as the first edition sold out in less than two years. Gilson A2; Keynes 2. (3)

Estimate: £3,000 – £5,000 ($4,527 – $7,545)

Lot 192:

SETS, English and French literature — AUSTEN, Jane. Works. Illustrated by C.E. Brock. London: 1907. 6 volumes, 8°. Contemporary red half calf, spines lettered in gilt (extremities rubbed). [With:] ELIOT, George. Works. Library Edition. Edinburgh: 1901. 10 volumes, 8°. Contemporary blue half roan, spine tooled in gilt (spines evenly faded, extremities rubbed). [And:] BALZAC, Honoré de. Oeuvres completes. Paris: 1869-1876. 24 volumes, 8°. Contemporary red half roan, spines lettered in gilt (extremities rubbed). And 5 related others [ie. Maupassant, Corneille, Rabelais, Macaulay] in 33 volumes, 12° and 8°. (73)

Estimate: £500 – £800 ($755 – $1,207)

[Image from Mollands]

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Other items of interest at this Christie’s auction (i.e., what I would love to have!):

Lot 75:

ACKERMANN — Microcosm of London. London: T. Bensley for R. Ackermann [1808-1810, plates watermarked 1806-1808]. 3 volumes, 4° (330 x 272mm). Engraved titles, engraved dedication leaves, and 104 hand-coloured aquatint plates by Buck, Stadler and others after Rowlandson and Pugin. (Lacking half-titles, light offsetting from the plates onto the text, some text leaves evenly browned.) Late 19th- early 20th-century red half calf, spine gilt in compartments, morocco labels (spines lightly and evenly faded).

ONE OF ACKERMANN’S FINEST BOOKS, the rumbustious figures of Rowlandson are the perfect foil to Pugin’s clear and accurate architectural settings. Printing continued for nearly 30 years but, as Abbey notes, the ‘original impressions of these splendid plates have a luminous quality entirely absent from later printings’. This copy is evidently bound from the original parts: with the first issue of the contents leaf in volume 1, and all the errata uncorrected in volumes 2 and 3, and 5 out of 6 errata corrected in volume 1. This copy shows 2 of Abbey’s first state points for the plates: at plates 8 and 11 in volume 1. Abbey Scenery 212; Tooley 7. (3)

Estimate: £3,000 – £5,000 ($4,527 – $7,545)

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BONHAMS: Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Historical Photographs 20752, 19 Jun 2013 London.

Lot 139:

[AUSTEN (JANE)]. Sense and Sensibility: a Novel. In Three Volumes. By a Lady, 3 vol., first edition, without half-titles, final blank leaf present in volume 2 only, some pale foxing and staining, contemporary calf, sides with gilt and blind-tooled borders, rebacked preserving most of original backstrips and red morocco labels [Keynes 1; Gilson A1; Sadleir 62a], 12mo (173 x 104mm.), Printed for the author, by C. Roworth… and published by T. Egerton, 1811. FIRST EDITION OF JANE AUSTEN’S FIRST PUBLISHED NOVEL. According to Keynes, Egerton printed no more than 1000 copies, priced at 15 shillings in boards; all were sold by the middle of 1813.

Estimate: £15,000 – 20,000 US$ 23,000 – 30,000 €18,000 – 23,000

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Also of note in this auction: a first edition of Jane Eyre

Lot 147:

[BRONTE (CHARLOTTE)]. Jane Eyre. An Autobiography, 3 vol., first edition, with all but two of the printing flaws listed by Smith, half-titles in each volume (but without the additional fly-leaf and advertisements), volume 2 with additional 8-page ‘Ready Money Price List of Drawing & Painting Materials… Alexander Hill’ tipped-in on front free endpaper (seemingly removed from other volumes), original price of “31/6” marked in pencil on front paste-down of volume 1, a few leaves slightly creased, some light foxing and occasional soiling in margins, UNTRIMMED IN PUBLISHER’S GREY BOARDS with grey/brown diaper half cloth spine, rubbed, spine label to volume 1 chipped with loss of 2 or 3 letters, split to lower joint of volume 2, crease to upper cover of volume 3, [Sadleir 346; Smith 2; Grolier, English 83], 8vo (199 x 122mm.), Smith, Elder, and Co., 1847

Footnotes

FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST BRONTE SISTERS NOVEL: AN EXTREMELY RARE VARIANT IN ORIGINAL BOARDS, ENTIRELY UNTRIMMED AND WITH THE ORIGINAL PRICE OF ’31/6′ MARKED IN PENCIL. The binding seems to correspond with Smith’s variant B (allowing for some fading of the cloth over the years), but with white rather than yellow endpapers and a further slight variation in the printed spine labels, those on the present set having no semi-colon after “Eyre” and the words “In Three Volumes” inserted above the volume number. We can find no trace of any other copy in original boards having sold at auction.

Provenance: the tipped-in small price list of drawing and painting materials suggests an Edinburgh connection at or soon after the time of publication. Alexander Hill (of Princes Street, Edinburgh, younger brother of the painter David Octavius Hill) was publisher, artists’ colourman and printer to the Royal Scottish Academy from 1830 until his death in 1866. In 1847 he was also appointed printseller and publisher in Edinburgh to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (see National Archives, LC 5/243 p.61). The price list tipped-in to this copy gives Hill’s address as 67 Princes Street, where he had a shop from 1839 until his death, and mentions the royal appointment, reference to which he seems to have dropped by 1853.

Estimate: £30,000 – 50,000 US$ 45,000 – 75,000 €35,000 – 58,000

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BONHAMS: Fine Books and Manuscripts 20981: June 25, 2013, New York

Lot 3259:

[Austen, Jane]. Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion. With a Biographical Notice of the Author. London: John Murray, 1818. 4 volumes. 12mo (180 x 105 mm). [2], xxiv, 300; [2], 331, [2], 280; [2], 308 pp. Without half-titles. Period half calf over marbled boards, spines gilt. Extremities rubbed, typical light spotting and toning, pp 251-262 in vol 3 creased at outer margin, ffep. in vol 1 loose, volume 4 more so with a crack down spine, a little re-touching to vol 2 spine.

Provenance: T. Hope (early ownership stamps); purchased by the family of the current owner in 1960 from McDonald Booth. FIRST EDITION IN CONTEMPORARY BINDING of Jane Austen’s last published work, issued a year after her death. Persuasion was in fact her first novel, but its first appearance is in this set. This was also her only four-volume publication, all previous works were issued in “triple-deckers.” Gilson A9; Sadleir 62e.

Estimate: US$ 5,000 – 8,000 £3,300 – 5,300 €3,900 – 6,200

Lot 3260:

[Austen, Jane]. Emma: A Novel. In Three Volumes. By the author of “Pride and Prejudice” &c. &c. London: Printed for John Murray, 1816. 3 volumes. 12mo (176 x 112 mm). [6], 322; [2], 351, [1]; [4], 363, [1 ad] pp. Half-titles in vols 1 & 2. Old green marbled boards rebacked to style in calf, green morocco spine labels. Intermittent spotting and browning; vol 2 L8 with corner tear crossing a few letters.

FIRST EDITION. Emma is the only one of Jane Austen’s novels to bear a dedication, to the Prince Regent. It was her fourth novel to be published with a print run of 2000 copies. Gilson A8; Sadleir 62d.

Estimate: US$ 8,000 – 12,000 £5,300 – 8,000 €6,200 – 9,300

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And finally, this letter from Frances Burney to her father comes to auction in just a few days:

Dreweatts / Bloomsbury auction: Important Books & Manuscripts – 30th Anniversary Sale,30 May 2013 London

Lot 171:

Burney (Frances [Fanny], married name D’Arblay, writer, 1752-1840) Autograph Letter initialled “FB d’A” to her father, Charles Burney, “My dearly beloved Padre”, 4pp. with address panel, 8vo, Chenies Street, 12th June 1813, lamenting that she had not been able to visit him, “but some Giant comes always in the way. Twice I have expected Charles [Charles Burney (1757-1817), schoolmaster and book collector; brother of Fanny], to convey me: but his other engagements have made him arrive too late”, social activities, “Yesterday I dined with Lady Lansdowne, & found her remarkably amiable. She is niece to a person with whom I was particularly acquainted of old, at the Queen’s house, Mr. Digby, who was vice Chamberlain; & that made a little opening to converse… Lady Anne was in high spirits, & full of sportive talk & exhilarating smiles. We had no sort of political talk. All was elegant, pleasing, & literary”, and Sir Joshua Reynolds portrait of Dr Burney, “Every body talks of your portrait at Sir Joshua’s exhibition, & concurs in saying it is one of the best that greatest of English Masters ever painted. I have not yet, to my infinite regret, found time for going thither. Mrs. Waddington will positively take me once to Chelsea, to pay her respects to you; but she is prepared for being denied your sight, if you should be ill-disposed for company. Sally must see her at all events: besides she is a great admirer of Traits of Nature”, ink postal stamp, remains of red wax seal, folds, slightly browned.

*** Unpublished; not in The Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney (Madame D’Arblay), edited by Joyce Hemlow & others, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1972-75.

Estimate: £3,000-4,000

[Images and text from the respective auction sites]

c2013, Jane Austen in Vermont

Austen Literary History & Criticism · Great Britain - History · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Societies · JASNA · JASNA-Vermont events · Regency England · Social Life & Customs

Please Join Us! ~ JASNA-Vermont Meeting – June 2, 2013 ~ Trickle-Down Economics in Pride and Prejudice, with Sheryl Craig

May 5, 2013 BookLady Deb4 Comments

You are Cordially Invited to JASNA-Vermont’s June Meeting

“Trickle-Down Economics in Pride and Prejudice;
Or, Why ‘Mr. Darcy Improves upon Acquaintance’!”

with Sheryl Craig*

What Jane Austen’s first readers did not need to be told was that a man named Fitzwilliam Darcy had to be a moderate Whig, one who supported Tory Prime Minister William Pitt’s tax and Poor Law reform proposals, and that Darcy’s home county, Derbyshire, paid high wages, provided generous welfare benefits, and funded the best system of poor houses in England. Thus, Darcy, and moderate Whigs like him, were worthy of both Elizabeth Bennet’s and the reader’s esteem and served as role models to be emulated throughout Georgian Britain and, as it turns out, throughout time.

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Sunday, 2 June 2013, 2 – 4 p.m.

Champlain College, Hauke Conference Center,
375 Maple St Burlington VT

~Free & open to the Public~
~Light refreshments served~

For more information: JASNAVermont [at] gmail [dot] com
Please visit our blog at: http://JaneAustenInVermont.wordpress.com

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* Sheryl Craig has published articles in Jane Austen’s Regency World, Persuasions, Persuasions On-Line, and The Explicator. She has also written film reviews for the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. Sheryl was JASNA’s International Visitor in 2008, is the editor of JASNA News, and was JASNA’s Traveling Lecturer for the Central region in 2012. She has a Ph.D. in Nineteenth-century British literature from the University of Kansas, has taught at the University of Central Missouri for over twenty years, and is a life member of JASNA.