Jane Austen Inspired Calendars for 2010

“A man who has nothing to do with his own time has no conscience in his intrusion on that of others.”

Marianne Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 31 

As the New Year quickly approaches, its time to select a new calendar to keep my life in order. Searching about the Internet, I discovered these beautiful new 2010 calendars inspired by Jane Austen and her novels available for shipment in plenty of time for the New Year. They make excellent holiday gifts too, so surprise your Janeite friends and family members with a new wall calendar from these fine resources. 

The Republic of Pemberley 

Support the web’s finest resource for all things Jane Austen by purchasing your calendar from The Republic of Pemberley at their Pemberley Shoppe. This year’s selection includes:

 

Jane Austen 2010 Rancor Vertical Wall Calendar. Amply sized at 11” x 17”, enjoy one Regency era image per month with witty quotes from Austen’s novels and letters. 

Jane Austen 2010 Brock Wall Calendar. Enjoy twelve images of the Brock brother’s illustrations from the 1890’s in full color enhanced with quotes and information on the novels. Each page measures 8 ½” x 11’ totaling 11’ x 17” when hung. 

The Wisconsin Region of JASNA 

The 2010 Jane Austen Wall Calendar is an update edition with twelve beautiful pen and ink and color tinted illustrations by C.E and H.M. Brock circa 1890’s and important dates from Jane Austen’s life and events in her novels included with each day. Imagine knowing what day Mr. Collins arrives at Longbourn in Pride and Prejudice or when Jane writes to her nice Fanny Knight, “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection.”, and every other significant event in Jane Austen’s world. Available through JASNA’s website. 

Love Pride and Prejudice Shoppe

 

Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy 2010 Vertical Wall Calendar. Enjoy twelve images of that famous couple from Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy illustrated by the renowned late Victorian artist Hugh Thomson. The calendar measures 11” x 17” and the 11” x 11” illustrations could be framed or re-used in your next art project. From the Love Pride and Prejudice Shoppe at Cafepress. 

Jane Austen Centre Online Gift Shop

Jane Austen 2010 Wall Calendar. From Jane Austen ‘central headquarters’ in Bath, England, The Jane Austen Centre is the hub and heart of all things Austen and features a museum and gift shop which ships worldwide. The 2010 Jane Austen Calendar features one page per month calendar with vintage illustrations and quotations from Jane Austen’s novels. Measureing 8.25″ x 17,” it is spiral bound with a hook for easy hanging. 

British Museum 

2010 British Library Jane Austen Desk Diary. This stunning diary combines quotations from Jane Austen’s letters and novels, with colour images, taken from the British Library’s collections, and silhouette drawings by her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh. The evocative images, combined with Jane Austen’s lively insights and reflections, conjure up a picture of life in the countryside in Regency England. All major national and religious holidays are included. Hardback with ribbon marker. 

Enjoy!

‘Prayers composed by my dear sister Jane’ – A Thankful Sense of Jane Austen’s Prayers

“Give us a thankful sense of the blessings in which we live, of the many comforts of our lot; that we may not deserve to lose them by discontent or indifference. Hear us almighty God, for his sake who has redeemed us, and taught us thus to pray. Amen.” Prayer I, Jane Austen

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Even though Jane Austen never celebrated (that I know of) this American holiday of turkey, football and family, I thought that the stanza from her Prayer I quite apt in giving thanks on this occasion. 

In addition to seven novels, poems, juvenilia and letters, three of Jane Austen’s prayers still survive. They were first mentioned as a group in the Times Literary Supplement on the 14th January 1926 as three prayers on two manuscripts. The first manuscript was titled, ‘Prayers composed by my ever dear sister Jane’ with a watermark on the paper from 1818. Since Jane Austen died in 1817, it is believed that it was transcribed by her sister Cassandra. The second manuscript is believed to have been partially in Austen’s hand and partially transcribed by her brother Henry Austen and can not be dated. All three poems were first published in a limited edition together by book collector William Matson Roth in 1940 by Colt Press, San Francisco. He had purchased the two sheet manuscript at auction in 1927 from the descendants of Jane Austen’s brother Charles. Roth donated the manuscripts in 1957 to Mills College in Oakland, California where they now reside. 

The Prayers are classified as part of Jane Austen miscellanea and can be found in entirety in The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen: Minor Works, Oxford World’s Classics Catharine and Other Writings and transcribed online by Ken Roberts. An abbreviated edition of Prayer I written by Jane hangs on the wall in St. Nicholas’ Church, Steventon where Jane’s father George and her brothers James and Henry Austen were rectors at Steventon and she was a member until her father’s retirement and her immediate family’s removal to Bath in 1801. 

Further reading 

• ‘A Nation Improving in Religion’: Jane Austen’s Prayers and Their Place in Her Life and Art, by Bruce Stovel, JASNA Persuasions 1994 
• Thanksgiving: A Janeite is Grateful for JASNA

Vampire Darcy’s Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation, by Regina Jeffers – An Excerpt

Last June I posted a preview of Darcy’s Hunger, a new Pride and Prejudice retelling of Jane Austen’s famous love story with a vampire theme. Since then, the book has gone through a ‘turning’ so to speak with a new cover, an earlier release date of October 1st, 2009 and complete name change to Vampire Darcy’s Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation. Here is the publisher’s description:  

In Austen’s original novel, Darcy and Elizabeth are compelled to overcome countless obstacles — but that’s nothing compared to what they face in Vampire Darcy’s Desire. This inventive, action-packed novel tells of a tormented Darcy who comes to “Netherfield” to escape the intense pressure on him to marry. Dispirited by his family’s 200-year curse and his fate as a half-human/half-vampire dhampir, Darcy would rather live forever alone than inflict the horrors of a vampire life on a beautiful wife. Destiny has other plans. Darcy meets Elizabeth and finds himself yearning for her as a man and driven to possess her as a vampire. Uncontrollably drawn to each other, their complex relationship forces them to confront their pride and prejudice like never before and to wrestle with the seductive power of forbidden love. Meanwhile, dark forces are at work all around them. Most ominous is the threat from George Wickham, the purveyor of the curse, a demon who vows to destroy each generation of Darcy’s and currently has evil intentions for the vulnerable Georgiana. 

The author Regina Jeffers has kindly offered to share an excerpt from the novel with us. As you will surmise from this short scene, there is no prolonged mystery over who is and isn’t a vampire that we experienced in the first Darcy themed vampire novel to hit bookstores with past summer. Jeffers has taken an entirely direct approach from the first page. Enjoy the excerpt! 

She was beautiful in all her innocence, much more beautiful than the infamous Mrs. Smith, his latest minion, who arranged this encounter and waited for him in the adjoining woods. Long, thick lashes rested on the rise of her high cheek bones, and although a bit mussed, the golden tresses spread out across her pillow like the rays of the sun. A deep sigh brought his attention to her lips, and for a moment he thought her awake, but Georgiana Darcy slept soundly thanks to his spellbinding charm. She was the embodiment of his beloved Ellender. 

One candle lit the room, casting shadows, which danced in the corners. There was nothing mediocre about the room – rich tapestries and elegant sculpting. “Only the best for the Darcys,” he mumbled as he moved forward to stand over her. 

With a unique swagger not found in many of his kind, he nearly glided to the bed’s edge. Unable to hide his anger and his contempt, a frown furrowed his deep set eyes, and a flash of fire transformed his vision. A torrent of images racked his soul – pictures of blood – of betrayal – of revenge. “You will do quite well, my Dear,” he whispered. “I will enjoy spending an eternity with you.” He lightly twisted one of her curls around his finger. “This is for the first of my kin to suffer at the Darcys’ hands.” 

Slowly, he leaned over her, feeling the blood rush through her veins – hard, dark eyes, seeking the indentation of her neck – relishing a feeling of expectancy – ringing silence broken only by his breathing. 

Fully engulfed in his desire, when the door swung open, it took several seconds before he realized an intruder discovered his inexplicable need for her. “Move away from her, Wickham,” the tall, dark figure ordered as he stepped carefully into the room. “You will not bring your death and decay into my household.” 

“You brought it into mine, Darcy.” He stood, trying to judge his next move. Wickham knew in an out-and-out fight to the end, the man in front of him stood no chance of survival, but sensing no supernatural fear from the intruder made Wickham question what else this confrontation held. Absent of all volition, he hesitated only a moment before moving in a swirling whirlwind to a point of advantage, but the man framed in the light of the doorway did not move. 

A dramatic black eyebrow lifted quizzically. “You forget, Wickham, we already share the same characteristics. You cannot infect what is already infected. Neither my sister nor I will follow you into the darkness. This madness ends – the curse – the wicked allure will die with us.” The deep rumble of his voice filled the room, and a gleam entered his ice blue eyes, intensified by his opponent’s muteness. 

“I have not given up taking my fill of beautiful young ladies.” A glowering presence exuded from him, right before a squall-like eruption pushed Wickham forward, arms extended to the side, sending Darcy rolling along the floor, scrambling to avoid the chasm – an abhorrent shudder of death. “I am coming for you, Darcy,” the voice boomed through the room as cold blasts flew from sinewy hands, reminiscent of the grave. 

Sucking noises filled Fitzwilliam Darcy’s senses, and he realized the tall, pale form loomed over him in an infuriating counterattack. Sliding against the far wall, it was all Darcy could do to bite back a scream, but he ducked first and came up, arm flung overhead, preparing to unload. “Now, Wickham,” he hissed, and then he released it. 

A vial, carrying clear liquid, tumbled end-over-end through the air, splitting the silence surrounding them – each figure moving in slow motion, playing out their parts in a deliberately swirling tableau. 

And then the stopper exploded, and the transparent fluid rained down on the apparition of George Wickham. A scream filling the room mingled with agony and terror, smelling of old blood and dark radiance. The shadow hissed in the moonlight, and the odor of burning flesh wafted over both of them. 

Fitzwilliam Darcy’s smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “Holy water,” he whispered in affirmation. 

“You will rot in hell!” Wickham threatened. “I will see those you love ruined – see them lick the blood from your body. Sharp fangs jutting from their mouths – smelling of death and decay – ghoulish nightmares!” He started forward again, prepared for another reprisal, but Darcy anticipated the move. Pulling the double crucifixes from his pocket, he met Wickham’s intent with one of his own. “Iron,” he mocked, unfurling the chain and reaching out to his enemy. 

Panic played across Wickham’s fever-filled eyes as he backed away from the symbol of the Trinity, stumbling – recoiling – and suddenly, he was gone in a grey shadow moving across the lawn, a highly combustible howl billowing upon the breeze in his retreat. 

Darcy stood motionless for several long minutes, needing to clear his head. He took a slow breath, trying to control his anger, and then he smelled it – smoke. Against his better judgment, he rushed to the bedchamber’s open door. “Wickham!” he cursed. The house he rented in Ramsgate heated with a fiery blaze, started at three separate points of entry on the bottom floor. Thick smoke, fueled by heavy draperies and fine upholstered furniture, rolled from the doorways of the lower rooms and rose in a black drape to cover the stairway. Acrid smoke drifted his way. Immediately, he turned toward the body still reclining on the bed where George Wickham left her. 

“Georgiana!” he called in a panic as he scooped her into his arms and pulled his sister tight to his chest. Darcy grabbed a towel on the washstand and dipped it into the tepid water she used earlier. He draped the wet towel over her head and face, repeating the procedure for himself. Then he made his way to the top of the stairs. Thick smoke covered the lower half of the rise. He took a deep breath and lunged forward.

Author’s Biography 

Regina Jeffers currently is a teacher in the North Carolina public schools. A self-confessed Jane Austen “freak,” she began her writing career two years ago with the encouragement of her Advanced Placement students. Vampire Darcy’s Desire will be her sixth book in that short time. 

Vampire Darcy’s Desire has been published by Ulysses Press and is now available for purchase. Trade paperback, ISBN: 978-1569757314

Emma 2009 Masterpiece Classic Preview

Mark your calendars for January 24th, 2010 at 9:00 pm for the North American premiere of the new miniseries Emma on Masterpiece Classic on PBS. Staring Romola Garai (Atonement, Daniel Deronda) as the handsome, clever and rich heroine Emma Woodhouse, this new 3 part historical drama/comedy will run on three consecutive Sundays: January 24th (2 hours), and January 31st and February 7th (1 hour ea).

Based on Jane Austen’s fourth published novel Emma, this new adaptation is by renowned screenwriter Sandy Welch (Our Mutual Friend, Jane Eyre, North And South) and aired in the UK in four one hour episodes in October 2009. It was jointly produced by the BBC and WGBH. It also stars Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone Endgame) as Mr. Knightley, and Sir Michael Gambon (Cranford) as Mr. Woodhouse. PBS has created a beautiful Emma page on their Masterpiece Classic website and this amusing video. 

 

The DVD of Emma (region 1) will be available for purchase on February 9th, 2010 and will include 3 bonus featurettes: Emma’s Locations, Emma’s Costumes, Emma’s Music and Emma’s Mr. Woodhouse interview with Michael Gambon. This 2-disc set runs 240 minutes, which I am assuming includes the running time of the special features. The UK edition of the DVD (region 2) will be available for purchase on November 30th, 2009 in the UK. The running time for the UK edition is 228 minutes. 

I have seen this adaptation and am looking forward to North American viewer reaction to this unique interpretation of Jane Austen’s classic novel. I will not reveal any spoilers. I can, however, say that the costumes, locations and music are stunning. Stay tunned for more information on this production as it arrives.

• Visit the Masterpiece Classic Emma page

A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen, edited by Susannah Carson – A Review

When the new Austen literary tome A Truth Universally Acknowledged edited by Susannah Carson started off with a foreword by Harold Bloom the famous American writer, literary critic and current Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University, I was more than a bit anxious fearing the book would be over my head. Firstly, I am neither a scholar nor a brilliant intellectual and have trouble understanding all the pedantic puffery about Jane Austen that passes as literary criticism these days. Moreover, do I really need 33 great writers making me feel inadequate? Secondly, if these great minds explain to me why I read Jane Austen, the last veil will have fallen and the party will be over. After years of awe and admiration, do I really want to see the wizard behind the curtain? 

My apprehension was softened after reading Bloom’s foreword. I smiled deeply when he expressed why we read Jane Austen. This was a promising beginning. “[S]he seems to know us better than we know ourselves, and she seems to know us so intimately for the simple reason that she helped determine who we are as both readers and as human beings.” He makes her sound like she sits on the right hand of God! He is definitely on to something. The balance of essays are from a wide range of Austen admirers: contemporary and classic authors, movie directors, literary critics and scholars. Some of the essays are newly commissioned from contemporary writers such as Anna Quindlen, Jay McInerney, A.S. Byatt and Amy Heckerling. Others are from deceased literary giants such as C. S. Lewis, Virginia Woolf, E. M. Forster and W. Somerset Maugham and previously published in the last century. The editor Susannah Carson has also contributed her own slant on Austen’s current appeal from her essay Reading Northanger Abbey. Here is a memorable passage. 

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that Austen’s novels are about marriage: they all end with at least one successful match, and sometimes as many as three. Dating guidebooks have been compiled from advice culled from her novels, suggesting that much of Austen’s current appeal lies in her treatment of romance plot. If we read Austen, will we improve our chances of finding the right mate? Perhaps, but such instruction is incidental: Austen does not set out to describe ideal relationships. Her interest is in flawed characters who achieve a greater level of self understanding throughout the course of each novel and who are rewarded at the end with the relationship which, although never entirely perfect, are perfect for them.”   

Carson hit the nail on the head for me. Austen’s characters and plots are indeed perfect imperfections. That is why I am so drawn to them. There are also many other tidbits of wisdom and insight throughout the book, along with some pure folly and nonsense. Some still think Fanny Price is a prig. (C.S. Lewis defends her bless his heart). One felt that the sparkling Elizabeth Bennet’s appeal is diminished by accepting Mr. Darcy who is a dud and not her intellectual equal. Another had mixed feelings about Austen’s masterpiece Emma. And those in the Henry Tilney camp will need a strong dose of aromatic vinegar after reading that he and Catherine Morland are ill suited for marriage; his acerbic wit quickly growing tired of her vapid naivety. The upside of a book containing essays is that you’re not stuck for very long with an author you’re not enjoying or learning from. The downside is when the majority fall into that category. Happily, opinions on Austen vary as greatly in this book as her enduring appeal to readers. There is something here for every level of adulation, Janeite or scholar; even some “Till this moment I never knew myself” epiphanies. 

Like Austen’s characters, this book does have its endearing flaws. To understand the context of the essays, you must have read Austen or seen a movie or two. Hopefully the former. Unfortunately, the essays are not dated, so the reader is left to peruse the biographies of the writers in the back of the book to understand the timeframe of when the essay might have been written. It also suffers from some wobbly bits of unevenness in cohesion as a whole. 33 great writers enthusiastically enlighten us on why we read Jane Austen, wander a bit, individually entertain, but do not always directly address the primary theme. Honestly, in their defense, I do not think the question of why we read Jane Austen is answerable to everyone’s satisfaction. It is far too personal, and therein lays Austen’s brilliance and success. In actuality, what should be asked is why we continue to read Jane Austen? There is big a difference. Many read Austen for the first time in school because they were required to. Those who return to re-read her offer the greatest compliment that an author can receive and a testament to her enduring appeal. After nearly two hundred years of complements queuing up in support of her works it is no wonder that she is the literary and pop media phenomenon that many of the essays expound upon. 

Regardless of my quibbles with the semantics, if you are enthralled by Austen’s alluring prose and are intrigued to learn what great writers have said about her over the last century, this volume is the most accessible and enjoyable ensemble of Austen essays I have read. Kudos to editor Carson (who by-the-way is herself a doctoral candidate and literary scholar) for having the foresight and ingenuity to pull together a collection of writers who do not all look down at Janeites from an ivory tower and are not afraid to show a personal side of their adulation. This everyman Austen reader is most grateful, and happy that in conclusion, Austen is as enigmatic as ever. 

4 out of 5 Regency Stars

A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen, edited by Susannah Carson
Random House (2009)
Hardcover (288) pages
ISBN: 9781400068050

• Interview of the editor Susannah Carson at Jane Austen’s World

Further Reviews

• Jane Austen’s World
• Mary of Many Colors
• Chicago Tribune
• Publisher’s Weekly

Jane Bites Back – An Excerpt

Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford, a new Jane Austen contemporary vampire novel will be released for sale on 29 December 2009. Vic and I have both chatted about this book before on Jane Austen Today: first when the initial sale was announced in June of 2008, and recently in September when the cover art was revealed. Here is the publisher’s description: 

Two hundred years after her death, Jane Austen is still surrounded by the literature she loves—but now it’s because she’s the owner of Flyleaf Books in a sleepy college town in Upstate New York. Every day she watches her novels fly off the shelves—along with dozens of unauthorized sequels, spin-offs, and adaptations. Jane may be undead, but her books have taken on a life of their own. 

To make matters worse, the manuscript she finished just before being turned into a vampire has been rejected by publishers—116 times. Jane longs to let the world know who she is, but when a sudden twist of fate thrusts her back into the spotlight, she must hide her real identity—and fend off a dark man from her past while juggling two modern suitors. Will the inimitable Jane Austen be able to keep her cool in this comedy of manners, or will she show everyone what a woman with a sharp wit and an even sharper set of fangs can do? 

Now you can read an excerpt of the novel. The first two chapters can be found here. They introduce us to a modern-day forty something undead Jane Austen, living in upper-state New York as Jane Fairfax, an independent book store owner who not only can’t get her 200 year plus manuscript Constance published, she must witness other less talented writers making a killing off her name and characters. We also learn how, when, and who turned her. One hint. He is “mad, bad and dangerous to know,” and one assumes, still around and not buried in Nottingham. ;-) 

The excerpt is a teaser and you may shortly be as startled as I when Jane takes a bite out of her first victim in the book.

Austenprose Celebrates Second Anniversary – What Would Dear Jane Say?

“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours,

and laugh at them in our turn?”

Another year in the Austen blogosphere has passed and I’m still here musing and muddling about on my favorite author and other related Regency folly and nonsense! Milestones are a great time to look back and reflect on what I really have been blabbering about, who was hot, and not, and what you all enjoyed the most. So here goes. 

Top 10 most popular posts 

1. Pride and Prejudice: Which Mr. Darcy Has the Noble Mien for You? 
2. Masterpiece’s Wuthering Heights Succumbs to a Case of Bad Parenting 
3. Zombies and Vampires and Jane Austen, Oh My! Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is Haute! 
4. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, by Amanda Grange – Preview 
5. Preview: BBC One’s Emma staring Romola Garai Begins on Sunday 
6. Lost in Austen: Review of Episode Four: Amanda Fixes Things at Warp Speed! 
7. Lost in Austen: Review of Episode Three: Droolgate as Darcy Does the Dip 
8. Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, by Sharon Lathan: The Sunday Salon Review 
9. Jane Austen Short Story Award 2009 Winners Announced 
10. Little Dorrit Recap & Review of Episode Two on Masterpiece Classic

This is a diverse mix of posts indeed as interest is all over the Austen hill and dale, and some not even in her neighborhood. It represents what was in the news, on our minds and haute in the media and culture for the past year. Some I expected, others are a complete surprise.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that many, many people are still fascinated by top hottie Mr. Darcy. He eclipsed all other posts four times over. In my mind, this proves that he is indeed a literary and pop culture icon.

The balance of posts were topical items. Controversary is still King. The review of Wuthering Heights proved that if you express your opinion decidedly and make a fool out of yourself, people will flock to watch you squirm in embarrassment. I hope that the Brontë community will forgive me for trying to apply Austen logic to a Victorian tale of craziness.

Vampires and zombies arrived at our local bookstores this year stretching Austen in totally new directions. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was the breakout surprise. Who ‘da thought a zombie and Austen mash-up would make an international best selling novel and launch a new book genre – literary rip offs – opening  the flood gates for, yes, Austen and vampires?  We were all aflutter to read Mr. Darcy, Vampyre and snapped that one up too. Hope the author made a ton of money since that appeared to be the prime objective. Another book that caused bus accident gawking was Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One. I will let other pens dwell on the “why,” but I have sneaking suspicion that the author is dancing all the way to the bank too.

Two new Austen inspired mini-series hit the airwaves in the UK and US. Lost in Austen was the biggest surprise hit and the new Sandy Welch adaptation of Emma that premiered in the UK last month had tongues wagging.

Last and pleasingly last, the Jane Austen Short Story Award garnered more interest than anticipated. It is gratifying to think that new short stories inspired by Jane Austen piqued Googling and readers landed on my blog. 

The rest of data is just icing, but of interest in an Austen cultural enlightening kind of way. It is a small example of who Janeites are, and why we love Jane Austen.

Top 5 most popular book reviews

1. Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, by Sharon Lathan: The Sunday Salon Review 
2. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Jane Austen Ate Our Brain Long Ago: The Sunday Salon Review
3. Darcy’s Passions: Pride and Prejudice Retold Through His Eyes: A Novel, by Regina Jeffers: The Sunday Salon Review
4. The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy, A Novel by Maya Slater – A Review
5. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, by Amanda Grange – A Review

I reviewed 59 books in the last year! Gulp – that’s a lot of Jane and her scions.

Top 5 most popular search terms

1. Elliot Cowan
2. Matthew Macfadyen
3. David Rintoul
4. Northanger Abbey
5. Mr Darcy Vampyre

What? No Colin Firth? Abomniable.

Top 10 clicks to other sites

1. Jane Austen Today
2. BBC official Emma page
3. Which Austen Heroine are You Quiz?
4. Everything Austen Challenge at Stephanie’s Written Word 
5. PBS Masterpiece website
6. Jane Austen’s World
7. Republic of Pemberley
8. AustenBlog
9. Naxos AudioBooks
10. Enchanted Serenity of Period Films

Who you all want to visit – says a lot about me too!

Top 10 referrers

1. Jane Austen Today
2. Jane Austen’s World
3. Molland’s Circulating Library
4. The Duchess of Devonshire’s Gossip Guide
5. AustenBlog
6. Elegant Extracts
7. Becky’s Book Reviews
8. Reading, Working, Writing, Playing
9. Emma Adaptations
10. Marie Antoinete’s Gossip Guide

A big thank you to fellow Janeite’s Vic (Ms Place) of Jane Austen’s World and my co-blogger at Jane Austen Today and Mags at AustenBlog. Two clever and witty ladies who keep me on my toes. Last, but first in my book – your 1,975 comments – all read and greatly enjoyed. Thanks to all for visiting my little corner of Austenland…

 where “There is a monsterous deal of stupid quizzing, & common-place nonsense talked, but scarcely any wit.”

Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra, 21 April 1805

Maria Edgeworth – One of Jane Austen’s Favorite Novelist

“And what are you reading, Miss –?” “Oh! it is only a novel!” replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. “It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda”; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language. Northanger Abbey, Chapter 5 

Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849) was an Anglo-Irish author most famously remembered by Janeites as being favored by Jane Austen with a presentation copy of Emma in 1816 which Edgeworth read, did not understand, or appreciate. “There’s no story in it,”  she wrote to a friend and then never acknowledge or thanked the author for sending it to her before publication. Previously, Austen had paid homage to Edgeworth’s talent by mentioning her with another famous female novelist of the era in her reproving “In Defense of a Novel” passage in Northanger Abbey quoted above. 

In Jane Austen’s time, novels were considered low-brow and unworthy of serious consideration by critics and general society. By mentioning Cecilia: or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782) and Camilla: Or, A Picture of Youth (1796) by Frances Burney and Belinda (1801) by Maria Edgeworth, Austen ironically defends writing and reading novels in the midst of a novel parodying gothic novels. A nice bit of genteel saber rattling indeed. 

When you read Maria Edgeworth’s works, she takes a much different perspective with her characters and plot than Austen, delving into areas where she never chose to tread: politics, religion and social unrest. Edgeworth’s reaction to the level of everyday events and secluded activity of a few families in Highbury must have bored her to tears to have made such a biting comment and exemplifies how progressive Austen’s advancement of the English novel truly was. 

Further links 

• Biography and works of Maria Edgeworth
• Read Belinda online, (1896 edition) illustrated by Chris Hammond
• Read my previous post on illustrator Chris Hammond 

*Portrait of Miss Maria Edgeworth (1807) by John Downman (1750-1824), pencil and watercolor heightened with white from the Bloomsbury auction  2009

Austen’s Power – Zombies “et al”

I know, I know. I am writing about Austen monster mash-up’s again. Sick of it as much as me yet? Here’s an article in Hemispheres, United Airlines online magazine about one Janeite writer’s experience with a sales clerk while buying P&P (the original) at Borders Bookstore that inspired her to write about the swath of Austen inspired derivatives and her enduring popularity. 

While I must gently reprove author Gillian Fassel (since I work for Barnes and Noble) for trusting that she would receive exemplary customer service without snark at a Borders, I will commend her for doing her homework and asking a great source for her opinion on the recent rage of Austen monster mayhem and what Jane Austen would think of it ;-) 

Just love the clever illustration by Thomas Allen

A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy Exhibit Opens at the Morgan Library

The wait is over for those lucky Janeites who live on the east coast or will be visiting New York City shortly. The new exhibit A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy opened today at the Morgan Library and should prove to be a once in a lifetime Austen extravaganza for enthusiasts and admirers of the English author whose novels are not only masterpieces of social observation and wit, but profoundly popular in world literature close to two hundred years after their publication. You can read a full description of the exhibition from my previous preview post. The treasures collected and support material should prove to be a proper celebration and tribute to Austen’s impact and legacy.

Check out the new online highlights of the exhibition at the Morgan Library website and experience a glimpse of the full feast of Austenalia offered including selected images of original letters written by Austen, original manuscripts of Lady Susan and The Watsons, images of portraits of the author, artwork from editions of her novels and from the Regency era, and a short documentary film The Devine Jane: Reflections on Austen especially commissioned for the exhibition featuring interviews of contemporary writers, scholars and actors such as Sandy Lerner from the Chawton House Library and Harriet Walter, acclaimed British actress who brilliantly portrayed Fanny Dashwood in the 1995 film adaptation Sense and Sensibility.

The Morgan Library has the largest collection of Jane Austen’s letters and manuscripts in the world. One of the most spectacular items in the collection is the manuscript of Jane Austen’s delightfully wicked novella Lady Susan, the only surviving complete manuscript of any of Austen’s novels. The online exhibit includes several images of the original manuscript written in Jane Austen’s hand and augmented by an audio reading of each page from the Naxos AudioBooks recording of Lady Susan read by actress Harriet Walter, who is also interviewed in the documentary film. 

The exhibition runs November 6, 2009 through March 14, 2010. Unfortunately, this Janeite can not attend, but we are hoping for a report from one of our readers who has the pleasure of spending a day or two with Jane in New York City.

Media Reviews

• New York Times: At the Morgan, the Jane Austen Her Family Knew

Additional Info

• Read my previous post on Austen illustrator Isabel Bishop featured in the Morgan exhibit
• Read my review of the Naxos AudioBooks recording of Lady Susan read by Harriet Walter
• Purchase Jane Austen’s Letters, edited by Deirdre Le Faye

Dawn of the Dreadfuls – Prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Rises from the Grave

Quirk Books, the literary monster mash-up mogul who brought us Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monster has announced that its third book for Quirk Classics will be Dawn of the Dreadfuls, a prequel to its New York Times bestseller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  Here is the publisher’s description: 

In this terrifying and hilarious prequel, we witness the genesis of the zombie plague in early-nineteenth century England. We watch Elizabeth Bennet evolve from a naïve young teenager into a savage slayer of the undead. We laugh as she begins her first clumsy training with nunchucks and katana swords and cry when her first blush with romance goes tragically awry. Written by acclaimed novelist (and Edgar Award nominee) Steve Hockensmith, Dawn of the Dreadfuls invites Austen fans to step back into Regency England, Land of the Undead! 

Surprisingly, co-authors are listed as Jane Austen and Steve Hockensmith even though according to Quirk editor Jason Rekulak Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a “completely original novel inspired by Austen’s characters; — in other words, there’s not a drop of original Austen writing in it.” Obviously, since Jane Austen did not write a prequel to Pride and Prejudice there was no text to mash-up and this new novel needed to be an original story only lifting her characters names. We are, however, perplexed at her inclusion. Other authors have been writing prequels, sequels and retellings of Pride and Prejudice for years, but admittedly, this is the fist time this writer has seen the original author’s name attached with another author’s work.  

In actuality, the lack of Jane Austen’s text is a win-win situation for both Austen and zombie fans who each had qualms about their peas touching their potatoes on the plate. Now only Austen’s name is being exploited and not her words. 

Dawn on the Dreadfuls goes on sale in the US on the 24th of March, 2010. I liked P&P&Z, but this literary mash-up business was pushed way beyond amusing parody with Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and unless this new novel is exceptionally well written, I’ve had enough of others ripping off my favorite author.

BBC One’s Emma 2009 – Episode Four Slideshow

Episode four of BBC One’s Emma aired on Sunday, October 25th in the UK. The last two episodes improved greatly for me. I think after the initial shock of the changes with Jane Austen’s original concepts for character’s and the lack of her beautiful language, I settled in to enjoy this four part serial from a different vantage – a visually stuning Regency story that was lovely in its own respect if I overlooked the liberties taken and the blunders with Regency manners. All in all, I enjoyed this Emma, and look forward to its US permiere on Masterpiece Classic starting on Sunday, January 24th through February 7th, 2010. PBS have divided it into three consecutive airings, so we shall have to wait and see  if they have cut out any of the UK production to fit in their three episodes. Here is a slideshow of the last episode for your enjoyment. The film was stunningly filmed with kudos to the lighting director, costume designer, and art department.  Enjoy!