Mr. Darcy the Bad Guy?

News alert!  our very own Matthew Macfadyen a.k.a. Mr. Darcy has been slated for the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham in Ridley Scott’s new Robin Hood [along with Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Vanessa Redgrave, William Hurt, Kevin Durand and Mark Strong] – but where oh where is Richard Armitage and the dastardly Guy of [...]

Read Full Post »

JASNA ~ Massachusetts Region ~ May 3, 2009

You are invited to join the JASNA Massachusetts Region Chapter at their next meeting scheduled for Sunday, May 3, 2009: “Learning to Love a Hyacinth: Emotional Growth in Northanger Abbey” with Ingrid Graff*  ******************************** Wheelock College, Brookline Campus 43 Hawes St Brookline, MA 2:00 pm $5. / person [Mass Chapter members free] For more information contact:  JASNA [...]

Read Full Post »

Thoughts on P&P’s “White Soup”

From Judith: The JASNA newsletter which I receive yesterday (April 21) mentioned that the Vermont chapter is interested in Nicholls’ “White soup.” There are several recipes available on line for this concoction, which is so called because no dark meat (that is beef or mutton) are used in making it, but only veal and or [...]

Read Full Post »

Charlotte Bronte ~ April 21, 1816

  Happy Birthday! to Charlotte Bronte, born April 21, 1816 in Thornton, Yorkshire.  I just had the good fortune to finally visit Haworth and tour the Bronte Parsonage.  One of the special extras was the display of the various costumes worn in the latest BBC production of Wuthering Heights [but alas! no pictures allowed!]  I append here a [...]

Read Full Post »

Hot off the Press!

Yesterday, a FedEx box left on my stoop prior to lunch yielded up a BIG surprise: my contributor’s copies of JASNA’s annual journal PERSUASIONS, vol. 30 (2008). A brief email to Susan Allen Ford, the journal editor, to congratulate her on an ‘awesome’ volume, was answered by an email which said she hadn’t received her [...]

Read Full Post »

“Jane’s Fame” ~ the Reviews

The reviews are in on Claire Harman’s Jane’s Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World [Canongate, 2009]   I list several of them for your perusal.  [I am fortunate indeed to have just been in the UK - I went into every Waterstone's I came across until finally the date of release arrived and a [...]

Read Full Post »

Austen on the Block ~ Bloomsbury Auctions

Bloomsbury Auctions-New York  announces the exhibition and auction of   The Paula Peyraud Collection, Samuel Johnson and  Women Writers in Georgian Society     Wednesday, 6 May, 2009 • 10:00 am   Bloomsbury Auctions, the world’s leading auction house for rare books and works on paper, announces The Paula Peyraud Collection, Samuel Johnson and Women [...]

Read Full Post »

If you can wait until November ~

This is a tad ahead of schedule, but Mark your Calendars!  The Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City will be hosting a Jane Austen exhibit to begin in November 2009: Jane Austen November 2009 through March 2010  Jane Austen, Lady Susan, autograph manuscript, written ca. 1793–94 and transcribed in fair copy soon after 1805. The [...]

Read Full Post »

Book Review ~ “Regency Buck” by Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer had a bit of a formula for many of her Regency novels – the established man in his mid-30s, often a fashionable dandy, and the younger woman he somehow becomes responsible for, and against all odds and all possible personality conflicts, they come together and all ends well.  Indeed, quite funny along the way, [...]

Read Full Post »

Happy Easter!!

[Raphael Tuck & Sons "Easter Post Cards"  Series, No. 700] Happy Easter One & All! An Austen Easter Basket: Today, a little potpourri from Janeite Kelly to join the beautiful illustration of Janeite Deb… In the mail yesterday, when I expected nothing but junk mail, came the latest edition (Spring 2009) of JASNA News. My [...]

Read Full Post »