The Australian television show The Chaser’s War On Everything investigated a recent survey that eight out of ten women prefer Mr. Darcy to Brad Pitt. (Requires Real Player or Windows Media Player; choose the Mr. Darcy clip. ETA: At YouTube)

The Gentleman-at-Large can take some comfort in knowing even Mr. Darcy’s proposal was rejected the first time around.

The Guardian reports that the National Library of Scotland’s John Murray archive (about which we’ve blogged previously) is desperately searching the sofa cushions for the last £5 million payment for the archives. (All the money is going to nonprofit organizations, incidentally.)

There’s a fascinating tidbit of correspondence about Emma, which Murray published.

Other files include a sales ledger showing that only 29 copies of Austen’s Emma had been sold and questioning whether it was worth continuing with it.

One wonders how in the world this fellow (who also told Charles Darwin to write a book about pigeons) built a publishing empire.

icLanarkshire reports that Sir Sean Connery his own bad self has pledged his support to the project. No details as to precisely what sort of support that entails, but one imagines Q rustling up some nifty preservative gadget in his fabulous high-tech laboratory. (Oooh. We just realized that Tuesday Next’s uncle Mycroft is Q! Bookworms, anyone?)

Alert Janeite Tony A. sent a link with performance dates and times for Paul Gordon’s musical adaptation of Emma, being staged by TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.

One of Jane Austen’s most delightful heroines, Emma is an effervescent ingénue whose matchmaking mischief inevitably misfires. Obsessed with romance, but clueless about her own feelings, she must navigate the course of true love with a generous heart as her only guide. A 19th century masterpiece brought to joyous life, this sumptuous world premiere mixes brilliant dialogue and a tuneful score in a funny and fulfilling chamber musical.

The show will run from August 22 through September 16, and tickets are $35-62.

Apparently there was a student production of Pride and Prejudice staged at the University of Rhode Island last weekend, which was duly reviewed by the student newspaper.

The problem when evaluating Pride and Prejudice is its 19th century setting and lack of action. As a conventional and somewhat stereotypical college student, I am used to fast-paced television shows and flashy, exploding things in movies.

Then what the Frank Churchill are you doing reviewing theater, Beavis? “Oh, that Harold Pinter, that Tom Stoppard, that Eugene O’Neill, their plays are all talk, talk, talk! Can’t they blow something up already?”

The other theme of the play deals with the effect of gossip in Victorian times.

Ah! That explains it. This would be the Oscar Wilde adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.