Blog Archives

EP25: The Thing About Anne's Newspapers with guest Katherine Cowley

1/28/2022

How did one keep tabs on a crush or former romance in a time before social media? In the case of Anne Elliot, you turn to newspapers and navy lists for the word on Wentworth. This week we're all about the role of naval news in Persuasion, with the help of our guest Katherine Cowley. If you have ever pined for a lost love through scrapbooking, this episode is for you.

Thank you so much to Katherine for joining us for this episode! You can find her online at www.KatherineCowley.com.

EP24: The Thing About Fordyce's Sermons

1/20/2022

Mr. Collins is preparing to read aloud to all of us, and the chosen volume is Fordyce's Sermons. We discuss the rise and fall of Fordyce's popularity, and take a look at how Austen's reference to Fordyce in Pride and Prejudice serves as both cultural commentary and comedy.

Selected episode sources

Collins, Irene. Jane Austen and the Clergy. London: Hambledon Press, 2002.
Ford, Susan Allen. “Mr. Collins Interrupted: Reading Fordyce’s Sermons with Pride and Prejudice.” Persuasions On-Line34, no. 1 (2013). https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol34no1/ford.html.
Grundy, Isobel. “Jane Austen and Literary Traditions.” In The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, edited by Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster, 2nd ed., 189–210. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Harris, Muriel. “‘Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers.’” In A Tutor’s Guide: Helping Writers One to One, edited by Bennett A. Rafoth, 2nd ed., 24–34. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers, 2005.
The British Library. “Sermons to Young Women.” Accessed January 28, 2022. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/sermons-to-young-women.
Sprayberry, Marie A. “Fanny Price as Fordyce’s Ideal Woman? And Why?” Persuasions On-Line 35, no. 1 (2014). https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol35no1/sprayberry.html.
Vickery, Amanda. The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2003.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and A Vindication of the Rights of Men. Edited by Janet M. Todd. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2008.
Worsley, Lucy. Jane Austen at Home. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2017.
Yeazell, Ruth Bernard. Fictions of Modesty: Women and Courtship in the English Novel. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

EP23: The Thing About Circulating Libraries

1/20/2022

This episode we cover the history of circulating libraries in the UK with a little help from our Northanger Abbey friends. We also discuss the reputation of novels in Austen's time and offer up at least one excellent hiding place for your most scandalous books. If you have ever hidden your novel behind a decoy dust jacket, this episode is for you.

Selected episode sources

Austen, Jane. Jane Austen’s Letters. Edited by Deirdre Le Faye. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Byrne, Paula. The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. New York: Harper Perennial, 2014.
Erickson, Lee. “The Economy of Novel Reading: Jane Austen and the Circulating Library.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 30, no. 4 (1990): 573. https://doi.org/10.2307/450560.
Jacobs, Edward. “Circulating Libraries.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Oxford University Press, 2006. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195169218.001.0001/acref-9780195169218-e-0102.
Nettleton, George Henry. “The Books of Lydia Languish’s Circulating Library.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 5, no. 4 (1905): 492–500.

EP22: The Thing About Regency Birthdays

1/20/2022

Happy birthday, Jane! It's Jane Austen's birthday, and we're marking the occasion with an episode on Regency birthday celebrations. If you have ever had countless fans celebrate your 246th birthday, this episode is especially for you.

Selected episode sources

Austen, Jane. Jane Austen’s Letters. Edited by Deirdre Le Faye. 4th ed. Oxford [England] ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Burns, Maggie. “Jane Austen and Birthdays.” Persuasions 28 (2006): 233–37.
Pinsker, Joe. “The Strange Origins of American Birthday Celebrations.” The Atlantic, November 2, 2021. https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/11/history-birthday-celebrations/620585/.
Stice, Joel. “The Real Reason We Put Candles On A Birthday Cake.” Mashed.com, August 19, 2019. https://www.mashed.com/162731/the-real-reason-we-put-candles-on-a-birthday-cake/.
Jane Austen Centre. “The Breeching Ceremony of a Young Boy and His Rite of Passage.” Accessed January 28, 2022. https://janeausten.co.uk/blogs/fashion-for-children/breeching-ceremony-young-boy-rite-passage.
Tieken-Boon Van Ostade, Ingrid. “Birthday Letters from Jane Austen.” OUP (blog), December 16, 2015. https://blog.oup.com/2015/12/birthday-letters-jane-austen/.

Episodes

EP25: The Thing About Anne's Newspapers with guest Katherine Cowley

EP24: The Thing About Fordyce's Sermons

EP23: The Thing About Circulating Libraries

EP22: The Thing About Regency Birthdays

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