Prince Regent

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Jane Austen’s Visit to Carlton House ~ November 13, 1815

Note: A post from the archives of 2010 – reposting it because today is the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s visit to Carlton House!

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Carlton House library

Carlton House Library

Today in Jane Austen’s life:  on November 13, 1815, Jane Austen visited Carlton House, the London home of the Prince Regent, at the invitation of the Prince’s Librarian James Stanier Clarke.  Austen was “asked” to dedicate her next book  – Emma – to the Prince – it is the only dedication in her six novels [her juvenilia was humorously dedicated to her family members – see Peter Sabor’s article in Persuasions 31 (2009) “Brotherly and Sisterly Dedications in Jane Austen’s Juvenilia”].

Carlton House – front view

This is Austen’s  letter to Clarke on the 15th:

Wednesday 15 November 1815

Sir,

I must take the liberty of asking You a question – Among the many flattering attentions which I rec’d from you at Carlton House, on Monday last, was the Information of my being at liberty to dedicate any future Work to HRH the P.R. without the necessity of any Solicitation on my part.  Such at least, I beleived to be your words; but as I am very anxious to be quite certain of what was intended, I intreat you to have the goodness to inform me how such Permission is to be understood, & whether it is incumbent on me to shew my sense of the Honour, by inscribing the Work now in the Press, to H.R.H. – I sh’d be equally concerned to appear either presumptuous or Ungrateful.-

I am etc…

[Le Faye, Ltr. 125 (D), p. 296]

James_Stanier_Clarke-wp.pg

James Stanier Clarke

Clarke responded immediately:

“It is certainly not incumbent on you to dedicate your work now in the Press to His Royal Highness: but if you wish to do the Regent that honour either now or at some future period, I am happy to send you that permission which need not require any more trouble or solicitation on your Part.”  (Ltr. 125 (A), p.296)

Austen and Clarke engaged in a lively correspondence about this dedication and Clarke’s efforts to have Austen write a book about a clergyman… Austen responded in her most humorous fashion:

“I am fully sensible than an Historical Romance founded on the House of Saxe Cobourg might be more to the purpose of Profit or Popularity, than such pictures of domestic Life in Country Villages as I deal in – but I could no more write a Romance than an Epic Poem. – I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any other notice than to save my Life, & if it were indispensible for me to keep it up & never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I finished the first Chapter.- No – I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way…” (Ltr. 138(D), p. 312).

It is unfortunate that no letter exists in which Jane writes Cassandra her impressions of Carlton House and the Prince’s request – it surely must have been written – how could Austen resist sharing her thoughts about Clarke and Carlton House with her sister! – it is likely one of those that Cassandra felt could not be passed on perhaps for its anti-P.R. sentiments. – In Letter 128 to Cassandra (Le Faye, 300), Austen writes “I did mention the P.R.- in my note to Mr. Murray, it brought me a fine compliment in return…” – which seems to indicate that Austen had written just previously to Cassandra about this request for a dedication.  But all we have is Austen’s very humorous dedication to Emma:

TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT,

THIS WORK IS, BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS’S PERMISSION,
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS’S
DUTIFUL AND OBEDIENT HUMBLE SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR

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Carlton House staircase

Further reading:

 

[Images from the Wikipedia article on Carlton House]

by

Auction alert! ~ For Your Library Walls: The Prince of Wales, later the Prince Regent, later George IV

Updated with results below:

This week, a portrait of the Prince Regent, a.k.a. Prinnie and later George IV, is up for sale at Skinner. Here is the chance you’ve been waiting for – to have his mighty visage staring down at you from your library walls! Whatever would Jane Austen say? – she was not, as we know, a big fan of the Prince. [for more information on Austen’s 1815 visit to Carlton House and the Prince Regent’s Librarian, click here.]

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

British School, 18th/19th Century ~ George IV as The Prince of Wales

Auction Details: 

Skinner 2754B European Furniture & Decorative Arts – http://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2754B
October 11, 2014 10:00AM, 63 Park Plaza, Boston

Lot 566: British School, 18th/19th Century ~ George IV as The Prince of Wales http://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2754B/lots/566

Estimate: $1,000 – $1,500 SOLD for $615.

Description:

British School, 18th/19th Century – George IV as The Prince of Wales

  • Unsigned, with labels including one from The Closson Art Galleries, Cincinnati, on the stretcher.
  • Oil on canvas, 28 1/4 x 23 3/4 in. (71.5 x 60.5 cm), framed.
  • Condition: Lined, retouch, fine craquelure, surface accretions.

N.B. The portrait is somewhat similar in feel to that painted by John Russell, RA, in 1789, now in the collection of the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, which may have been the inspiration for this copy.

Stretcher incised “W.MORRILL/LINER” u.c. bar. Also with a label from Art Conservation & Services, San Francisco, California, on the stretcher. Other period labels on the stretcher are unattributed and variously inscribed with numbers. One more promising label is inscribed “S.Buckly & Co/8-5-21”

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See the full Auction catalogue for a stunning collection of fine silver, snuff boxes, paintings, porcelain, furnishings, and other decorative arts.

And here is the Prince later as George IV and what the caricaturists and his own profligate ways made of him:

A-voluptuary-wp

A Voluptuary under the horrors of Digestion (1792)
by  James Gillray  [Wikipedia]



c2014 Jane Austen in Vermont

			

	
	



			
				



	
	


		
					

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Jane Austen in Vermont ~ The Royal Navy and the Prince Regent visit Burlington

	


		

		
Lisa & Marie
Lisa & Marie


With hearty thanks to Lisa Brown for sharing her love of the Royal Navy with us Vermont Janeites, and to Marie Sprayberry for telling us of her shared-with-Jane rabid dislike of the Prince Regent and why, and displaying examples from her Georgian era royal collectibles – a most delightful day, despite the intense heat of Burlington’s heat wave and the Fletcher Free Library’s air conditioning on the fritz… [I have now successfully subjected our members and guests to one freezing December Tea where the computerized heating system refused to cooperate and we listened most intently to the two speakers, quietly shivering in our winter coats; and now the reverse of overheating the same members and guests with no air and loud fans in the skylight heated Pickering Room – as one guest bravely noted – “it was all a cost-free day in a sauna” ] – I find I have some control over these meetings, but alas! minus zero control over the weather and heating / cooling system snafus – I do apologize and thank you for your tolerance and good grace as an audience…


That said, extra kudos go to the models who courageously wore their wool-clad Royal Navy uniforms with elegance and style, as they paraded for us samples from Lisa’s wonderful collection.  Here are a few pictures with descriptions of each, with thanks to our fearless models for being such good sports:


able seaman-MH


 Marilyn as appropriately clad “able seaman”

[photo: c2014 M. Harrington]


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Jim in the green Sharpe’s uniform of the “95th Rifles”

[see: http://www.95thrifles.com/history-95th-p1.html ]

[photo: c2014 M. Harrington]


Jess-red


Jess and her redcoat from the Royal Welch Fusiliers


 Carol-USNavy


Carole in the blue and red uniform as a “US” Navy Lieutenant during the Revolutionary War


 Jay-rearIMG_3647


 Jay [a.k.a. Captain Wentworth] in an 1812 Royal Navy Captain’s uniform, deservedly admiring his epaulette

[see: http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/71310.html ]

[top photo c2014 M. Harrington]


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And a group shot of us all with Lisa (minus the able seaman, who had left to swab the deck), and with yours truly in the quickly donned uniform of a French Navy Lieutenant.


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Marie’s talk on the Prince Regent was cut short near the end by the heat and near fainting attendees, which was too bad as we were all quite taken with her chat on the dastardly Prince and his wicked ways – you can read the rest of her talk here in Persuasions-OnLine 33.1 (2012):


“Sex, Power, and Other People’s Money: The Prince Regent and His Impact on Jane Austen’s Life and Work” http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol33no1/sprayberry.html


sprayberry-fig-6a-caro-jug


 “Long Live Queen Caroline!” ceramic jug (1820)

[from the collection of A. Marie Sprayberry and Edward R. Voytovich;

photo by E. Voytovich] [see the POL article for more images of Marie’s collection]


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All in all a great day, with a great audience, and a fun weekend with Marie and Lisa, here cavorting about at the incomparable Shelburne Museum… Marie (left) and Lisa (right) on a Vermont covered bridge:


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 Gaoled JASNA Regional Coordinators Marie and Lisa (hoping to be released in time for the Montreal AGM]


[All images c2014 by Deb Barnum, unless otherwise noted; and with special thanks to Margaret Harrington!]


  c2014 Jane Austen in Vermont

			

	
	



			
				



	
	


		
					

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You are Cordially Invited … the JASNA Vermont Region: All About Jane Austen and the Royal Navy, and the Dastardly Deeds of the Prince Regent!

	


		

		
austen silhouette


Our Next Meeting!


June 8, 2014




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


A Peek into Jane Austen’s Regency World 


 Lisa Brown


“‘Of Rears and Vices I Saw Enough’~

The Royal Navy in Mansfield Park and Persuasion”


and A. Marie Sprayberry


“Sex, Power, and Other People’s Money ~

The Prince Regent and His Impact on Jane Austen’s Life and Work” 


Sunday, 8 June 2014, 1:00 – 3:30 p.m.




 Fletcher Free Library, Fletcher Room

235 College St, Burlington VT




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Lisa & Marie
Lisa & Marie


Lisa Brown will present an enlightening talk on how the Royal Navy figures in Mansfield Park and Persuasion. We will learn about the uniforms, the ships, the rating system, prize money, and more; as well as discover how very knowledgeable Jane Austen was about the Royal Navy because of her brothers’ involvement. Various uniforms will be on display – but, alas! without a Captain Wentworth in sight!


A. Marie Sprayberry investigates why Jane Austen wrote of the Princess of Wales in 1813: “Poor Woman, I shall support her as long as I can, because she is a Woman, & because I hate her Husband.” The Prince Regent brazenly personified the three themes of sex, money, and power – as long as the money was someone else’s! But did Jane Austen have particular reasons for disdaining him? And how might her views of the Prince have influenced her work? Photos of contemporary royal commemorative china and medals will illustrate the talk, all from Marie’s collection.


*Lisa and Marie are co-regional coordinators of the Syracuse Region; Lisa also co-chairs the Rochester Region, is an ECD teacher, owns a Regency era costume business, and has given various talks on the Royal Navy and Regency fashion; she works as a proof reader. Marie has spoken to JASNA on the Prince Regent and will be speaking at the Montreal AGM on “Fanny Price as Fordyce’s Ideal Woman?” She works from her Syracuse home for a NYC-based publisher.


Free & open to the public ~ Light refreshments served 


You can see the event flyer here: June 2014 flyer


Hope you can join us!


c2014, Jane Austen in Vermont

			

	
	



			
				



	
	


		
					

				 by 			

				
A Visit to Carlton House ~ November 13, 1815

	


		

		
Today in Jane Austen’s life:  on November 13, 1815, Jane Austen visited Carlton House, the London home of the Prince Regent, at the invitation of the Prince’s Librarian James Stanier Clarke.  Austen was “asked” to dedicate her next book  – Emma – to the Prince – it is the only dedication in her six novels [her juvenilia was humorously dedicated to her family members – see Peter Sabor’s article in Persuasions 31 (2009) “Brotherly and Sisterly Dedications in Jane Austen’s Juvenilia”]. 


Carlton House - front view


This is Austen’s  letter to Clarke on the 15th:


Wednesday 15 November 1815


Sir,


I must take the liberty of asking You a question – Among the many flattering attentions which I rec’d from you at Carlton House, on Monday last, was the Information of my being at liberty to dedicate any future Work to HRH the P.R. without the necessity of any Solicitation on my part.  Such at least, I beleived to be your words; but as I am very anxious to be quite certain of what was intended, I intreat you to have the goodness to inform me how such Permission is to be understood, & whether it is incumbent on me to shew my sense of the Honour, by inscribing the Work now in the Press, to H.R.H. – I sh’d be equally concerned to appear either presumptuous or Ungrateful.-


I am etc…


[Le Faye, Ltr. 125 (D), p. 296]


Clarke responded immediately:


“It is certainly not incumbent on you to dedicate your work now in the Press to His Royal Highness: but if you wish to do the Regent that honour either now or at some future period, I am happy to send you that permission which need not require any more trouble or solicitation on your Part.”  (Ltr. 125 (A), p.296)


Austen and Clarke engaged in a lively correspondence about this dedication and Clarke’s efforts to have Austen write a book about a clergyman… Austen responded in her most humorous fashion:


“I am fully sensible than an Historical Romance founded on the House of Saxe Cobourg might be more to the purpose of Profit or Popularity, than such pictures of domestic Life in Country Villages as I deal in – but I could no more write a Romance than an Epic Poem. – I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any other notice than to save my Life, & if it were indispensible for me to keep it up & never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I finished the first Chapter.- No – I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way…” (Ltr. 138(D), p. 312).


It is unfortunate that no letter exists in which Jane writes Cassandra her impressions of Carlton House and the Prince’s request – it surely must have been written – how could Austen resist sharing her thoughts about Clarke and Carlton House with her sister! – it is likely one of those that Cassandra felt could not be passed on perhaps for its anti-P.R. sentiments. – In Letter 128 to Cassandra (Le Faye, 300), Austen writes “I did mention the P.R.- in my note to Mr. Murray, it brought me a fine compliment in return…” – which seems to indicate that Austen had written just previously to Cassandra about this request for a dedication.  But all we have is Austen’s very humorous dedication to Emma:


TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT,


THIS WORK IS, BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS’S PERMISSION,

MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS’S

DUTIFUL AND OBEDIENT HUMBLE SERVANT,


THE AUTHOR


***********


 


 






Carlton House staircase


Further reading:





[Images from the Wikipedia article on Carlton House]

			

	
	



			
				



	
	


		
					

				 by 			

				
Monday Morning Chuckles: Jane Austen ~ The Prince Regent

	


		

		
Visit the Two Nerdy History Girls for a video of the Prince Regent [George IV], courtesy of Horrible Histories [and while there subscribe to their blog – for an almost daily historical treasure fix.]


And this, only because it is on EVERY Austen-related site out there ~ “Jane Austen’s Fight Club” –  [and thanks to Janeite Bonnie for the reminder to put it on this blog!]