Would Elizabeth Bennet Have Listened to The Staves?

In Sound Check, Marina Csomor conjectures that Elizabeth Bennet might have liked The Staves if she'd had an opportunity to listen to the trio's pretty soft voices. I think she might just be correct.

New Display at the Jane Austen House Museum

The dining room wall at the Jane Austen House museum at Chawton Cottage is exhibiting a new explanatory display of Sense and Sensibility. The novel celebrated its 200 year anniversary in 2011.The designs were based on the coloured illustrations by the brothers, Charles Edmund ( C. E.) and Henry Matthew (H. M.) Brock of Cambridge. These were included in the 1908 edition of the novel published by Dent and Company.

Click on image to read the text. Then click on link to see other images.

Information about the display sits on the new The Jane Austen's House Museum blog, written by Julie Wakefield, author of Austenonly.

Port wine in Pride and Prejudice

Inquiring readers: Raquel Sallaberry from Jane Austen em Portugues contributed this interesting information about Port wine:

Last year when I drank a Port wine I vaguely remembered having read a mention about this wine in Jane Austen, but was not sure in which of the books. When we finished the bottle, I brought it home to photograph and do research.

Port wine became very popular in England after the Methuen Treaty in 1703, which allowed the importation of Portuguese's wines. Due to the war with France, they were less expensive than the French wines. The history of Port wine is very old, but the designation of this wine as "Port" began in the seventeenth century. It derives from the city of Porto in Portugal, from where it was shipped.

The only reference I found to Port wine on the work of Jane Austen was in Pride and Prejudice, chapter 16:

The officers of the —–shire were in general a very creditable, gentlemanlike set, and the best of them were of the present party; but Mr. Wickham was as far beyond them all in person, countenance, air, and walk, as they were superior to the broad-faced stuffy uncle Philips, breathing port wine, who followed them into the room.
| Chapter 16, Pride and Prejudice |

The passage below is in Portuguese (Portugal) translated by Leyguarda Ferreira, in 1949, to the Romano Torrres publisher.

Os oficiais do regimento eram todos perfeitos rapazes, mas Wickham excedia-os em distinção, na elegância do andar e dos gestos, na expressão agradável do semblante e nem podia ser comparado com o tio Philips, com as faces balofas, cheirando a vinho do Porto.
| trad. Leyguarda Ferreira, 1949 |

For the Jane Austen's description we can see how popular this wine was in England at that time. Uncle Phillips, who was not exactly a wealthy man, drank it a lot, but in reasonable quantities.

Another curious detail about the wine is the original spelling, which is all lowercase. This seems to contradict the well-known description of "Port Wine".

And finally, notice the coincidence of the names of the translator and producer of the wine: Ferreira!

To learn more about this special wine I recommend the wonderful Instituto do Vinho do Porto's site.

(Image: Porto wine's bottle and my Pride and Prejudice's Romano Torres edition)

The Unseen Portrait of Jane Austen

Inquiring Reader, Frequent contributor Raquel Sallaberry sent a YouTube video of Jane Austen: The Unseen Portrait. Sadly, the link was taken off the site. The clip below shows a fascinating discussion of whether the image of the woman identified as Jane Austin is really of her. I wrote a brief post about this portrait before the holidays. The comments that sit below it are more interesting than my own thoughts.

What do you think? Could this be a portrait of Jane Austen or not?

The Unseen Portrait of Jane Austen
	Yes, this is her portrait
	No way
	I'm not sure
pollcode.com free polls

Contributed by Raquel Sallaberry, Jane Austen em Portugues

Sunday Sample: Looking Good in the Regency Dress c.1795 to 1820

Sleeve Mock Up

Historical Sewing offers tips on how to look great in a Regency dress in a book that is available at a special price of $9.97. The book covers such topics as how someone with large arms can look good in a Regency dress and how to disguise a wide rib cage.

Click here to find out more to increase your sewing skills and make your costumes look like the clothing your ancestors wore! 

Friday Fabulousness: Duncan Phyfe Exhibit at the Met

Fr

Duncan Phyfe bedstead

"A tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit “Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York” offers a window into society living in the city during the early 19th century. Well-heeled city dwellers were eager to be as fashionable as their contemporaries in London and Paris, and Phyfe was a style-watcher who was able to consistently meet his customer’s demand for European-influenced good taste." - Read more of the article at NJ.com

Colin Firth: Eye Candy

Colin Firth/Mr. Darcy
Absolutely the handsomest man on the red carpet at the 
2012 Golden Globe Awards.

Downton Abbey or Golden Globes: Which Did You Watch?

What a dilemma! Watch Downton Abbey or watch Downton Abbey win a possible award at the Golden Globes. Both can be TVod, and Downton Abbey can be streamed on PBS the day after. Curious minds want to know:

Lady Sibyl bakes a cake

Did you watch Downton Abbey Season 2, Episode 2 live? Or were you glued to the Golden Globes and Ricky Gervais's caustic comments? Congratulations Downton Abbey for winning best mini-series. Elizabeth McGovern lost to Kate Winslet, which I suppose is somewhat acceptable, and Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith lost out as well, which made me sad.

Elizabeth McGovern (Cora, Lady Grantham) at
the 2012 Golden Globes Awards

Did you watch Downton Abbey or the Golden Globes Ceremony?
	I watched Downton Abbey, 'natch
	I'll watch Downton Abbey online streaming or TVO
	I watched the Golden Globes. Who can resist live TV and all that glamour?
	I'll watch the Golden Globes streaming. Who cares about these endless awards shows?
	I watched neither.
pollcode.com free polls

Jane Austen in Brazil

The title sounds like a movie, we know, but that is a testament of how popular Jane Austen has become the world over. Raquel Sallaberry, who writes Jane Austen em Português, is a regular contributor to this blog. She sent in this item about a new series of books to be published in Brazilian Portuguese.

Loredano's book covers

Last year in Brazil, we had a number of Jane Austen editions of books published, among them a collection of pocket books from Nova Fronteira & Saraiva DeBolso Press. This press publishes classics, but so far had none for Jane Austen out. So, they reprinted the first translation in Portuguese by Lúcio Cardoso, of Jane Austen, Orgulho e preconceito (Pride and Prejudice). Razão e sentimento (Sense and Sensibility) and Emma, both translated by the poet Ivo Barroso, are also part of this collection.

The cover of the books are drawn by cartoonist Loredano, which surprised Brazilian Jane Austen fans, who were accustomed to more conventional covers. Most of them didn't like the cover.

I can't remember seeing Jane Austen's caricature in her English book covers. Are there any?

Jane Austen: Still and Always Relevant

In 'Dating tips from Dickens, Austen and Tolstoy', authors Maura Kelly and Jack Murnighan discuss their book, Much Ado About Loving, which is about love lessons from literature. Here's what they said about Jane Austen:

...even with books written during an era when courtship was so much more formal — there’s a lot of philandering and a lot of wondering about where relationships are going that feels familiar. Maybe even more, with Austen, there are questions about finding the person who will help you become your true self, and your best self — about self-realization — which feel very relevant.

Here's the link to the article on Salon.

Downton Abbey Season 2, Episode One: Poll

What did you think of Downton Abbey Season 2's first episode? Don't hold back. Curious minds want to know!

Downton Abbey Season 2, First Episode
	I loved it
	I liked it
	It was ok - I'm withholding judgment
	It wasn't as good as Season One
	I didn't like it
	I didn't see it
pollcode.com free polls

Downton Abbey Season 2 Airs on PBS Tonight

The wait is over! Downton Abbey Season 2 will be airing at 9 PM on your local PBS station. I'll be watching along with millions of others to see how the Earl of Grantham's family fares during World War One, and how the servants are holding up.

Lady Sybil works as a nurse

If you are so inclined, join the twitter party. One of the hosts will be Laurel Ann from Austenprose. Click here to find out how to access the tweet deck!

Lady Edith learns to drive a tractor

Lady Mary moves on with a new man

Goodness, gracious, what comes next?

Free Bookmarks: A Belated Holiday Gift to Use Year Round

Gentle readers, blogger Josie from Hey Little Birdie! sent this link on December 21st. Reading my backlog of emails, I stumbled across this unexpected gift. She has designed Pride and Prejudice bookmarks to download and print on card stock paper. What a wonderful gift for book club members and Janeites!

Here is the link. Thank you, Josie!!

Friday Film: Jane Austen Fine Eyes Quiz

This quiz is extremely hard. Your success will be on how familiar you are with the Jane Austen films, and the actors and the characters they play. I could name only a few, and I must have seen all the films several times!

To Play:
Watch the video below and try to guess which character, actor and film the 75 pairs of eyes belong to.
Put your guesses in a comment.
Guess as many times as you wish.
For bonus points, try to guess which Jane Austen films the five dance songs - Old Fashioned Charm

Countdown to 2012: The Five Jane Austen Related Books I Most Enjoyed Reading in 2011. #5 Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely

First, Happy New Year to all my readers. Thank you so much for stopping by!

My fifth choice for favorite Jane Austen related book would have been Jane Austen's Letters, edited by Deirdre LeFaye, but the book came too late in the year for me to finish it. And so I gladly and swiftly turned to my next choice and one of my favorite JA mysteries of last year, Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely. Here is my review.

I can't wait to see what books await me in 2012. Have you any you wish to recommend to this blog's readers?

Countdown to 2012: The Five Jane Austen Related Books I Most Enjoyed Reading in 2011. #'s 3, 4 - Tea With Jane Austen and In the Garden With Jane Austen

I had the pleasure of reading In the Garden with Jane Austen and Tea with Jane Austen, both written by Kim Wilson. The books have been out for quite a few years, but the publisher has reissued new copies. Both books contain fine color photographs, contemporary illustrations, historical information that flesh out the Regency era, and personal information about Jane Austen that make them more than what they seem on the surface.

Had these books been newly published this past year, I would have rated them #1 and #2 respectively. You can visit Amazon.com to read the first few pages of both books. After you do so, I am positive you will quickly purchase them and read them right away

Read my review of Tea With Jane Austen here.

See my giveaway of In the Garden With Jane Austen here.

Happy New Year all! Have a safe and wonderful evening!