The Thing About Austen

Ep99: The Thing About White Soup

11/26/2024

Mr. Bingley is planning to hold a ball at Netherfield Park, and white soup is obviously on the menu. This episode we're cooking up something special in the kitchen as we explain exactly what goes into this delicious dish.

Selected Sources

Cashman, Dorothy. “Stir It In Well, It Will Give a High French Taste: The Relationship with French Culinary Influence in 18th. and 19th. Century Ireland.” Conference presented at the Dublin Gastronomy Symposium, Dublin, June 6, 2012.
Grigson, Jane. English Food. London: Ebury Press, 1992. https://archive.org/details/englishfood0000grig.
Lane, Maggie. Jane Austen and Food. London: Continuum, 2007.
Lloyd, Martha. Martha Lloyd’s Household Book: The Original Manuscript from Jane Austen’s Kitchen. Oxford: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2021.
McConchie, R. W. “‘Her Word Had No Weight’: Jane Austen as a Lexical Test Case for the OED .” Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America 33, no. 1 (2012): 113–36. https://doi.org/10.1353/dic.2012.0014.
Sutherland, Eileen. “Dining at the Great House: Food and Drink in the Time of Jane Austen.” Persuasions 12 (1990): 88–98.
Vogler, Pen. Dinner with Mr Darcy: Recipes Inspired by the Novels and Letters of Jane Austen. New York: Ryland Peters & Small, 2020.
Wei, Po-Yu Rick. “‘It’s All the Same What I Eat’: Jane Austen’s Dietary Philosophy.” LITERA 31, no. 1 (June 10, 2021): 19–41. https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA2020-868450.

Ep98: The Thing About Northanger Abbey's Bell System

10/25/2024

Transcript

THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE. And the person calling is General Tilney. For this year's spooky season episode, we're talking about the bell system at Northanger Abbey.
If you have ever wondered for whom the bell pulls, this episode is for you.

Selected sources

“Amalgamated Society of Whitesmiths, Domestic Engineers and General Pipe Fitters and Predecessors.” Accessed October 5, 2024. https://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/AMW.
Cassell. Cassell’s Household Guide: Being a Complete Encyclopaedia of Domestic and Social Economy and Forming a Guide to Every Department of Practical Life. Vol. 1. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1869. http://archive.org/details/cassellshousehol01londuoft.
Dredge, Sarah. “‘Was There a Servant . . . Who Did Not Know the Whole Story before the End of the Day?’ Upside-Down Points of View in Austen.” Persuasions On-Line 40, no. 2 (2020). https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-40-no-2/dredge/.
Girouard, Mark. Life in the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1994.
Knight, John I. Mechanics Magazine. Knight, 1825.
Loudon, J. C. An Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture and Furniture. London: Longman, 1833.
Palmer, Marilyn, and Ian West. “Communications: Bells and Telephones.” In Technology in the Country House, 131–49. Swindon: Historic England, 2016.
Sambrook, Pamela A. The Country House Servant. The History Press, 2002.
Stone, Lawrence, and Jeanne C. Fawtier Stone. An Open Elite?: England, 1540-1880. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984. http://archive.org/details/openeliteengland00ston.

EP97: The Thing About Molland's

10/5/2024

Transcript

Anne is in Bath, and surprise, surprise, so is Captain Wentworth. Everyone has fortuitously converged at Molland's, and we're here to break down the momentous occasion. If you have ever run into your ex at the confectionery shop, this episode is for you.

Selected Sources

“2-22, MILSOM STREET, Non Civil Parish - 1395729 | Historic England.” Accessed September 6, 2024. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1395729.
Anstey, Christopher. The New Bath Guide: Or, Memoirs of the B-N-R-D Family. in a Series of Poetical Epistles. London: C. Whittingham, 1800.
Day, Ivan. “The Art of Confectionery,” 1997. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=4a8725733d012539cdf505e69d9f16bf07d2a388.
Fawcett, Trevor. Bath Commercialis’d: Shops, Trades and Market at the 18th-Century Spa. Bath: RUTON, 2002.
———. Bath Entertain’d: Amusements, Recreations and Gambling at the 18th-Century Spa. Bath: RUTON, 1998.
———. “Eighteenth-Century Shops and the Luxury Trade.” In Bath History, Vol. III, 49–75. Bath: Sutton Publishing, 1990. https://www.historyofbath.org.
Holloway, Sally. “The Foods of Love? Food Gifts, Courtship and Emotions in Long Eighteenth-Century England.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, November 20, 2023, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0080440123000270.
John Cam Hobhouse, Baron Broughton. The Wonders of a Week at Bath: In a Doggerel Address to the Hon. T. S----, from F. T.----, Esq. of That City. London: J. Cawthorn, 1811.
Piozzi, Hester Lynch. The Piozzi Letters: 1817-1821. Edited by Edward A. Bloom and Lillian D Bloom. University of Delaware Press, 1989.
Stobart, Jon. Sugar and Spice: Grocers and Groceries in Provincial England, 1650-1830. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Todd, Janet M. Jane Austen in Context. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Visit Bath. “A Brief History of Milsom Street,” September 1, 2023. https://visitbath.co.uk/blog/read/2023/09/a-brief-history-of-milsom-street-b231.

Ep96: The Thing About John Thorpe's Gig

9/10/2024

Transcript

John Thorpe has recently purchased a gig, and he has a full list of (obviously extremely impressive) features to review with you. Buckle up because this episode we're delivering a crash course on gig carriages.

Selected Sources

Byrne, Aoife. “‘Very Knowing Gigs’: Social Aspiration and the Gig Carriage in Jane Austen’s Works.” Persuasions 37 (2015): 198–207.
Donnelly, Bridget. “Accidents, Risk Management, and Driving Culture, 1780–1830.” Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture 49, no. 1 (2020): 177–99. https://doi.org/10.1353/sec.2020.0016.
Duckworth, Alistair M. “Jane Austen’s Accommodations.” Persuasions 7 (1985): 67–77.
Ewing, Jennifer S. “As the Wheel Turns: Horse-Drawn Vehicles in Jane Austen’s Novels.” Persuasions On-Line 40, no. 1 (Winter 2019). https://ezproxy.uvu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/as-wheel-turns-horse-drawn-vehicles-jane-austen-s/docview/2332294766/se-2?accountid=14779.
Felton, William. A Treatise on Carriages. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. London, 1803. https://archive.org/details/treatiseoncarria01felt/page/n7/mode/2up.
Grose, Francis. 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Project Gutenberg. Accessed July 3, 2024. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5402/pg5402-images.html.
Jones, Hazel. Jane Austen’s Journeys. London: Robert Hale, 2014.
Mahony, Stephen. Wealth or Poverty: Jane Austen’s Novels Explored. London: Robert Hale, 2015.
Nimrod. Memoirs of the Life of the Late John Mytton...: With Notices of His Hunting, Shooting, Driving, Racing, Eccentric and Extravagant Exploits. Methuen and Company, 1837.
Walrond, Sallie. The Encyclopaedia of Driving. London : Country Life Books, 1979. http://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofd0000walr.

Ep95: The Thing About Mary's Concerto with Dr. Lidia Chang

8/20/2024

Transcript

Mary Bennet is ready to wow the audience with her concerto, but it's not receiving the rousing reception she might have hoped for. This episode we welcome back Dr. Lidia Chang to discuss Mary's performances within the context of Regency era societal expectations for a young lady's musical education and accomplishments. Thank you so much to Lidia for joining us for this episode! You can find her online at https://www.lidiachang.com and follow her on Instagram @Lidiaac.

EP94: The Thing About Anne Steele's Beaux

7/25/2024

Transcript

Anne Steele has one thing on her mind, and she would like to tell you all about it. No, really. ALL about it. This episode we take a look at Miss Steele's favorite topic of discussion and try to answer the all important question: where are all the smart beaux? If you have ever wondered where you can find all the beaux, smart or otherwise, this episode is for you.

Selected Sources

Grose, Francis. 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Project Gutenberg. Accessed July 3, 2024. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5402/pg5402-images.html.
Hall, Lynda A. Women and “Value” in Jane Austen’s Novels: Settling, Speculating and Superfluity. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Heydt-Stevenson, Jillian. “Bejeweling the Clandestine Body/Bawdy: The Miniature Spaces of Sense and Sensibility.” In Austen’s Unbecoming Conjunctions: Subversive Laughter, Embodied History, by Jillian Heydt-Stevenson, 29–67. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-09853-5_2.
Lauber, John. “Jane Austen’s Fools.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 14, no. 4 (1974): 511–24. https://doi.org/10.2307/449750.
Nigro, Jeffrey, and William Phillips. “A Revolution in Masculine Style: How Beau Brummell Changed Jane Austen’s World.” Persuasions On-Line 36, no. 1 (2015). https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/vol36no1/nigro-phillips/.
Rytting, Jenny Rebecca. “The Other Siblings in Sense and Sensibility.” Persuasions 44 (2022): 122–32.
West, William. Tavern Anecdotes, and Reminiscences of the Origin of Signs, Coffee-Houses, &c: Intended as a Lounge-Book for Citizens and Their Country Cousins. S & D.A. Forbes, no. 29 Gold-Street, 1830.

EP93: The Thing About Austen's Teenage Writings with Dr. Kathryn Sutherland

7/17/2024

Transcript

Jane Austen's early works, contained within three surviving notebooks, are funny, sharp, and brimming over with personality. This episode we are joined by Dr. Kathryn Sutherland, one of the editors of the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Austen’s Teenage Writings, to discuss the nature of these writings, the way they were consumed by her family audience, and their relationship to her later novels. Thank you so much to Kathryn for joining us for this episode! You can learn more about her and her work at www.english.ox.ac.uk/people/professor-kathryn-sutherland.

EP92: The Thing About Mr. Knightley's Strawberries

6/19/2024

The strawberries are ripe, so gather up your best bonnet and your beribboned basket and head on down to Knightley's U-Pick Farm. We've got all of your favorite strawberries, from the hautboy to the Chili to the white wood. This episode we visit Donwell Abbey to take a look at Mr. Knightley's very fine strawberry beds.

Selected Sources

Frézier, Amédée François. A Voyage to the South-Sea, and Along the Coasts of Chili and Peru, in the Years 1712, 1713, and 1714: Particularly Describing the Genius and Constitution of the Inhabitants, as Well Indians as Spaniards ... Translated by Edmond Halley. J. Bowyer, 1717.
Historic Royal Palaces. “The Georgians.” Historic Royal Palaces. Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/history-and-stories/the-georgians/.
Hopkins, Lisa. “Food and Growth in Emma.” Women’s Writing 5, no. 1 (1998): 61–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/09699089800200031.
Karp, David. “Berried Treasure.” Smithsonian, July 2006. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/berried-treasure-120534521/.
Lee, D. Vivian. “Early History of the Strawberry.” In The Strawberry; History, Breeding, and Physiology, edited by George M. Darrow, 15–13. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. http://archive.org/details/strawberryhistor00darr.
———. “The Strawberry from Chile.” In The Strawberry; History, Breeding, and Physiology, edited by George M. Darrow, 24–39. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. http://archive.org/details/strawberryhistor00darr.
Sheehan, Colleen A. “Jane Austen’s ‘Tribute’ to the Prince Regent: A Gentleman Riddled with Difficulty.” Persuasions On-Line 27, no. 1 (2006). https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol27no1/sheehan.htm?
Stocks, Christopher. Forgotten Fruits: The Stories Behind Britain’s Traditional Fruit and Vegetables. Random House, 2009.
Tepe, Emily. “A Spy, a Botanist, and a Strawberry.” University of Minnesota Fruit Research, June 11, 2019. https://fruit.umn.edu/spy-botanist-strawberry.
Tickler, Or, Monthly Compendium of Good Things, in Prose and Verse. “Miscellanies.” 1818.
Tobin, Beth Fowkes. “The Moral and Political Economy of Property in Austen’s Emma.” Eighteenth-Century Fiction 2, no. 3 (April 1990): 229–54. https://doi.org/10.1353/ecf.1990.0000.
Todd, Janet. “The Anxiety of Emma.” Persuasions 29 (January 1, 2007): 15–25.
Wilson, Kim. In the Garden with Jane Austen. London: Frances Lincoln, 2009.

EP91: The Thing About the Lakes

6/4/2024

Lizzy is headed to the Lake District with her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner. Or is she? This episode we get into the trip that didn't happen and discuss the picturesque splendors of the Lakes. If you have ever been curious about the ideal cow configuration (and you know you are), this episode is for you.

Selected Sources

Allen, Dennis W. “No Love for Lydia: The Fate of Desire in Pride and Prejudice.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language 27, no. 4 (1985): 425–43.
Dove, Jane. “Geographical Board Game: Promoting Tourism and Travel in Georgian England and Wales.” Journal of Tourism History 8, no. 1 (January 2, 2016): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2016.1140825.
Gilpin, William. An Essay on Prints. 5th ed. London: A. Strahan, for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies, 1802.
———. Observations, Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, Made in the Year 1772, on Several Parts of England; Particularly the Mountains and Lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland. R. Blamire, 1792.
Jones, Hazel. Jane Austen’s Journeys. London: Robert Hale, 2014.
Lake District National Park. “Landscape and Geology.” Lake District National Park: [email protected], September 18, 2006. https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/learning/geology.
Lane, Maggie. Jane Austen’s England. London: Hale, 1996.
Litz, A Walton. “The Picturesque in Pride and Prejudice.” Persuasions 1 (1979): 13–15.
Orestano, Francesca. “The Revd William Gilpin and the Picturesque; Or, Who’s Afraid of Doctor Syntax?” Garden History 31, no. 2 (2003): 163. https://doi.org/10.2307/1587293.
Reych, Zofia. Born to Climb: From Rock Climbing Pioneers to Olympic Athletes. Vertebrate Publishing, 2022.
Shapard, David M. “Notes and Annotations.” In The Annotated Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. New York: Anchor Books, 2012.
Stafford, Fiona J. “Introduction and Notes.” In Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, edited by James Kinsley. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

EP90: The Thing About Captain Wentworth's Letter with Margaret H. Willison

5/21/2024

Anne Elliot has just received a very important letter, and we are all overcome. This episode we're joined by guest Margaret H. Willison of Not Sorry Productions as we unpack Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne, aka the letter to end all letters. If you have ever been half agony, half hope, this episode is for you.

Thank you so much to Margaret for joining us for this discussion! You can follow her on Instagram @MrsFridayNext and subscribe to her newsletter at twobossydames.substack.com. You can learn more about everything mentioned by Margaret at the following links:

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Episodes

Ep99: The Thing About White Soup

Ep98: The Thing About Northanger Abbey's Bell System

EP97: The Thing About Molland's

Ep96: The Thing About John Thorpe's Gig

Ep95: The Thing About Mary's Concerto with Dr. Lidia Chang

EP94: The Thing About Anne Steele's Beaux

EP93: The Thing About Austen's Teenage Writings with Dr. Kathryn Sutherland

EP92: The Thing About Mr. Knightley's Strawberries

EP91: The Thing About the Lakes

EP90: The Thing About Captain Wentworth's Letter with Margaret H. Willison

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