Happy Birthday, Jane
Today is the 229th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, late one night of a cold, snowy December in Steventon, Hampshire.
“…last night the time came, and without a great deal of warning, everything was soon happily over. We have now another girl, a present plaything for her sister Cassy and a future companion. She is to be Jenny…” - From a letter from the Rev. George Austen to his sister-in-law, Mrs. Walter, 17 December 1775*
I treasure the writings of Jane Austen, because I get more enjoyment from them as a whole than from the production of any other writer. I also treasure the many friendships I’ve made as a result of my public enjoyment of those works, both offline and online. Happy Birthday, Jane, and happy Jane Austen’s Birthday to all of the readers of AustenBlog. Lift a glass of virtual champagne with me, and feel free to leave your greetings and wishes to Jane in the comments of this post. I do believe she will see them there.
*quoted from Jane Austen: A Family Record by William Austen-Leigh and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh, revised and enlarged by Deirdre LeFaye
December 16th, 2004 at 6:59 pm
Happy Birthday, JA!! You’ve given us much pleasure!!
December 17th, 2004 at 9:14 pm
Thank you Jane. Thank you for allowing me to meet a group of truly wonderful people. And I don’t just mean the characters in your books. I mean all the lovely people I’ve met through JASNA and Pemberley and Mollands and, of course, here.
All the best!