Category: Henry Tilney

Ep104: The Thing About The Crescent

5/9/2025

Henry Tilney has mysteriously disappeared, and Catherine will not rest until she finds him. Next up in her investigation? The Crescent. Join us as we cover the history and architecture of this notable landmark.

If you have ever been desperately hoping to casually bump into someone, this episode is for you.

Thank you to PBS for sponsoring this episode! Miss Austen will be released on Masterpiece on May 4, 9pm/8c.

Selected Sources

Edwards, Anne-Marie. In the Steps of Jane Austen. Madison, Wis: Jones Books, 2003.
Egan, Pierce. Walks Through Bath, Describing Everything Worthy of Interest. Bath: Sherwood, Neely and Jones, 1819.
Forsyth, Michael. Bath. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
Haddon, John. Bath. London: Batsford, 1973.
Lane, Maggie. A Charming Place: Bath in the Life and Times of Jane Austen. Bath: Millstream Books, 1988.
———. Jane Austen’s England. London: Hale, 1996.
Lowndes, William. The Royal Crescent in Bath: A Fragment of English Life. Bristol: Redcliffe Press, 1981. http://archive.org/details/royalcrescentinb0000lown.

EP85: The Thing About Henry's Great Coat

3/13/2024

Transcript

If Catherine is now riding with Henry after stopping at Petty-France for two hours and there are X number of capes on Henry's great coat and Y number of inches separating Catherine from Henry in the curricle (and WOW does Henry's hat sit so well), exactly how blissfully happy is Catherine in this moment?
The answer is innumerable, friends.

Selected Sources

Cunnington, C. Willett, and Philis Cunnington. Handbook of English Costume in the Nineteenth Century. 3rd ed. Boston: Plays, Inc, 1971. http://archive.org/details/handbookofenglis0000cunn.
Davidson, Hilary. Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion. New Haven ; London: Yale University Press, 2019.
Derry, Stephen. “Freud, The Gothic, and Coat Symbolism in Northanger Abbey.” Persuasions 18 (1996): 48–53.
Henderson, Robert. “‘Not Merely an Article of Comfort’: British Infantry Greatcoats During the War of 1812.” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 75, no. 301 (1997): 23–36.
Le Bourhis, Katell , ed. The Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789-1815. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989.
Somerset, Henry Charles FitzRoy. Driving. London: Longmans, Green, 1889.
Waugh, Norah. The Cut of Men’s Clothes: 1600-1900. Reissued. New York: Routledge, 1987.

Ep68: The Thing About Catherine's Love of Hyacinths

5/31/2023

Catherine has finally arrived at Northanger Abbey, and she and Henry are engaging in a bit of botanical discourse. This episode we dig into some horticultural history and try to get to the root of Catherine and Henry's chat about hyacinths.

Selected Sources

Edgeworth, Maria. Early Lessons: In Two Volumes. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. London: R. Hunter, 1803. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/Stg_AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0.
Hanson, Kristan M. “Plant of the Month: Hyacinth.” JSTOR Daily, March 30, 2022. https://daily.jstor.org/plant-of-the-month-hyacinth/.
Lynch, Diedre. “‘Young Ladies Are Delicate Plants’: Jane Austen and Greenhouse Romanticism.” LHH 77, no. 3 (2010): 689–729.
McMaster, Juliet. “‘A Surmise of Such Horror’: Catherine Morland’s Imagination.” Persuasions 32 (2010): 15–27.
Nakagawa, Tomoko. “Roses, Hyacinths, and Pineapples: Historical and Ecocritical Concerns in Northanger Abbey and The Mysteries of Udolpho.” Persuasions 41 (January 1, 2019): 138–49.
Roberts, W. “The Voorhelms of Haarlem.” Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 60, no. 3 (1935): 199–208.
Voorhelm, George. A Treatise on the Hyacinth, Containing the Manner of Cultivating That Flower. Bartholomew Rocque, 1753. https://books.google.com/books?id=04xxMwAACAAJ.
Wenner, Barbara Britton. “‘I Have Just Learnt to Love a Hyacinth’: Jane Austen’s Heroines in Their Novelistic Landscape.” Persuasions 24 (2002).

Ep65: The Thing About Mrs. Allen's Muslin with guest Dr. Hilary Davidson

4/12/2023

Henry Tilney is discussing muslin with Mrs. Allen and Catherine Morland, and the ladies are impressed. This episode we're joined by fashion historian Dr. Hilary Davidson for an examination of muslin as both a textile and a fashion statement in Austen's time. There's also some busting of popular Regency fashion myths. If you have ever lost sleep worrying over your sartorial choices, this episode is for you.

Thank you so much to Hilary for joining us for this episode! You can learn more about Hilary and her work at http://www.hilarydavidson.net and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @FourRedShoes.

Ep37: The Thing About Petty-France

5/5/2022

If General Tilney's chaise leaves Bath at 10 am and Henry's curricle also leaves Bath at 10 am and there are x postilions and y outriders and Catherine really, really, really just wants to get to the abbey, how many capes are on Henry's greatcoat?

This episode we're all about schedules and mileage (and Henry's greatcoat), as we journey along with Catherine and stopover at Petty-France.

Selected Sources

Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. Edited by James Kinsley and John Davie. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008.
Cantrell, Dean. “Yes, There Is a Petty France.” Persuasions 9 (1987): 36.
Jones, Hazel. Jane Austen’s Journeys. London: Hale, 2014.
Lane, Maggie. Jane Austen’s England. London: Hale, 1996.
Le Faye, Deirdre. Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels. London: Frances Lincoln, 2003.
Mogg, Edward. Mogg’s Pocket Itinerary of the Direct and Cross Roads of England and Wales, with Part of the Roads of Scotland. London, 1828.
The Bodkin. “Stay.” Accessed April 30, 2022. https://thebodkin.co.uk/.

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.

Episodes

Ep104: The Thing About The Crescent

EP85: The Thing About Henry's Great Coat

Ep68: The Thing About Catherine's Love of Hyacinths

Ep65: The Thing About Mrs. Allen's Muslin with guest Dr. Hilary Davidson

Ep37: The Thing About Petty-France

EP23: The Thing About Circulating Libraries

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