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25 April 2005

Fragment of letter written by Jane Austen for sale

Filed under: Jane in the News — Mags @ 9:23 pm

A correspondent (who shall remain nameless for now as we are not sure she expected to be named) sent us a scan of an advertisement from Bauman Rare Books offering a fragment of a letter written by Jane Austen, framed, for the low-low price of $7,500. Mere pocket change! We can find that in the crevices of the overstuffed chintz armchairs at AustenBlog World Headquarters! Yeah, sure.

The letter is listed as #119 in the edition of the letters edited by Deirdre LeFaye. Many thanks to our mysterious correspondent for this excellent goodie.

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Behind the scenes with Andrew Davies

Filed under: Austen Societies and Events, Screen — Mags @ 9:11 pm

Alert AustenBlog Reader Jan H wrote to tell us of a post by Stephanie Ruth at the Republic of Pemberley stating that Andrew Davies (who is, of course, the screenwriter for P&P2, Emma3, and both Bridget Jones movies, among lots of other adaptations) will be giving a talk called “Mr Darcy’s Wet Shirt, a Couple of Trollopes and Other Temptations” at St. Peter’s Hall, Dormer Place, Leamington Spa on Tuesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are £7.50 and include a glass of wine. Mr. Davies will take questions afterwards. If any of our readers go to the talk, we’d love to publish your review.

Thanks for the heads up, Jan!

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New Alton Library has a “Jane Austen Study”

Filed under: Jane in the News — Mags @ 8:53 pm

The Guardian has an article about the new library in Alton, which was the market town that served Jane Austen and her family when they lived in Chawton.

The interior, arranged over three floors, is equally simple, unpretentious and efficiently modern. The ground floor is the lending library with a self-service cafe, and separate reading areas for children and teenagers. The first floor boasts a desk of computers, a reference library and a Jane Austen study in one big-windowed corner. Under the pitched roof, the librarians have their comfortable office.

It sounds to us like it will be a great gathering place for the Alton community.

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