Somebody’s making bank! Remember that auction of the three-volume first edition of Emma inscribed to Jane Austen’s friend, Anne Sharp? Well, if you were kicking yourself for not going for that last bid, Alert Janeite Sion let us know that the buyer’s reselling it at a healthy markup–nearly 100 percent! £325,000; about US$530,000. Remember what they say on Antiques Roadshow: something’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. It’s too bad it couldn’t have been purchased by a real Janeite who wanted to display it to the world but buy a greedy-guts Veruca Salt-like Austen carpetbagger. Alert Janeite Sarah noticed the book was featured on ABE’s “Bookshelves of the Rich and Famous.”

Cub Reporter Heather L. found a link to a collection of reproduction fabrics for quilting by Barbara Brackman that were inspired by Jane Austen’s novels. The collection, called Hartfield (PDF), includes fabrics named for locations in the novels–Pemberley, Allenham Court, Netherfield Park, Donwell Abbey, Meryton, Longbourne (sic), Mansfield Park, and Lucas Lodge. The prints were drawn from period cottons and range from a small sprig design to a large design chintz. The fabrics will be available in January 2009.

Polly Bergen reminisces about the short-lived run of First Impressions, a musical adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, in 1958:

One of the season’s short-lived shows was First Impressions, a musical version of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, in which Polly Bergen took over the lead role of Elizabeth Bennett three weeks before opening. “I replaced Gisele MacKenzie and had to learn the score very fast,” she told me. “Farley Granger [who played Mr. Darcy] and Hermione Gingold [who played Mrs. Bennett] were not singers, so I carried the vocal load of the show. It was a vicious dog-eat-dog atmosphere.”

The action took place in the early 19th Century, causing one critic to snipe that “Polly Bergen is about as period as Mickey Mantle.” She had the critique framed and hung above her desk. “I learn more from bad reviews than good ones. Everything was rushed; the last thing I gave any thought to was that it took place in 1813! It was a horrific experience, and I thought that was what Broadway was. But it’s really the medium I love.”

Yikes!

As our Gentle Readers seemed to enjoy the last set, we asked for even more photos from the P&P musical concert performance in Rochester last month! (more…)

A flat is currently for sale at Jane Austen Hall at the Royal Dock in London. The flat is modern and quite nice, but would be a lot nicer with better furnishings! But how cool would it be to say, “Yars, we have a little place at Jane Austen Hall, darling.” Dorothy’s gone out to buy some scratch-off lottery tickets in hope of a London pied-a-terre.

*Nothing wrong with IKEA–there’s a few IKEA pieces at AustenBlog World Headquarters–but wall-to-wall is a bit much! And hang a few pictures, willya?

Only a couple of days late…

Jane O’Lantern created by Caroline Hippert of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the photo was sent by Alert Janeite Cynthia, who attended a JA reading group at Caroline’s home. (Click the photo for a larger version.)