Category: Northanger Abbey (novel)

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.

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.

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.

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.

EP80: The Thing About the Pump-Room

11/30/2023

There's nothing like a refreshing drink of mineral water under the watchful gaze of Beau Nash to get your day off to the right start. This episode we're headed to the pump-room in Bath to partake of the finest water on offer. And we promise that we actually do wash our glasses. Please exit on the left, and don't forget to tip your pumper.

Also, we have merch! Check out www.redbubble.com/people/aboutausten/shop to see the current offerings.

Selected Source

Eighteenth-Century Political Participation & Electoral Culture. “Bath: Constituency (Borough).” ECPPEC. Accessed November 18, 2023. ecppec.ncl.ac.uk/case-study-constituencies/bath/.
Haddon, John. Bath. London: Batsford, 1973.
Historic England. “Grand Pump Room, Non Civil Parish - 1394019.” Accessed November 18, 2023. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1394019.
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.
Lynch, Deidre. “Notes.” In Persuasion, by Jane Austen, edited by James Kinsley. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Murray, Venetia. An Elegant Madness: High Society in Regency England. New York: Penguin, 2000.
Nicolson, Nigel. The World of Jane Austen. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991.
Savage, J. The Original Bath Guide, Considerably Enlarged and Improved, Comprehending Every Species of Information That Can Be Required by the Visitor and Inhabitant, Etc. J. Savage; Meyler & Son, 1811.
The Historic & Local New Bath Guide: Forming a Complete Pocket History of Bath (with a Map). J. Browne, 1802.
The Improved Bath Guide; Or, Picture of Bath and Its Environs. Wood & Cunningham, 1809.
Thicknesse, Philip. The Valetudinarians Bath Guide: Or, the Means of Obtaining Long Life and Health. 2nd ed. London: Dodsley, Brown, Pratt, and Clinch, 1780.

Ep78: The Thing About Catherine and Isabella's Horrid Novels with guest Dr. Hannah Doherty Hudson

10/30/2023

Catherine and Isabella are forming a very specific book club, and we've been given a sneak peek at their reading list. This episode we are joined by Dr. Hannah Doherty Hudson as we delve into the terrifying pages of the Minerva Press and uncover the many chilling secrets hidden within the so-called "horrid novels." If you have ever wished for more dramatic storytelling in your book marketing, this episode is for you.
Thank you so much to Hannah for joining us for this episode! You can find her on Twitter, Bluesky, and Mastodon by searching for Hannah Doherty Hudson, and you can sign up for her Ask a Georgian Magazine Substack at https://hannahdohertyhudson.substack.com/

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.

Ep59: The Thing about the Bath Assembly Rooms

1/21/2023

Catherine Morland has arrived in Bath, and she is ready to be introduced to a man with a keen knowledge of muslin. This episode we explore both the Upper and Lower Assembly Rooms, including breaking down the role of the Master of Ceremonies, aka Bath's best matchmaker.

Selected Sources

Berg, Maxine. Luxury and Pleasure in Eighteenth-Century Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Byrne, Paula. “‘The Unmeaning Luxuries of Bath’: Urban Pleasures in Jane Austen’s World.” Persuasions 26 (2004): 13–26.
Chambers, Ephraim. Cyclopedia: Or, an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Vol. 1. London, 1728.
Kingsbury, Pamela D. “Assembly Rooms.” In Oxford Art Online, by Pamela D. Kingsbury. Oxford University Press, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T004633.
Lane, Maggie. A Charming Place: Bath in the Life and Times of Jane Austen. Bath: Millstream Books, 1988.
New Bath Guide or Useful Pocket Companion for All Persons Residing at or Resorting to This Ancient City. Bath: R. Cruttwell, 1791. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_New_Bath_Guide_Or_Useful_Pocket_Comp/y65ayAEACAAJ?hl=en.
Stabler, Jane. “Cities.” In Jane Austen in Context, edited by Janet Todd, 204–14. Cambridge University Press, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316036525.020.
Thompson, Allison. “The Rules of the Assembly: Dancing at Bath and Other Spas in the Eighteenth Century.” Persuasions On-Line 31, no. 1 (2010). https://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol31no1/thompson.html.

Ep54: The Thing About The Monk

11/9/2022

It's almost Halloween and what could be scarier than being trapped in conversation with John Thorpe? This episode we are taking a look at The Monk and discussing Thorpe's taste in literature. If you have ever been to a bad book club meeting, this episode is for you.

Selected Sources:

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “From Review of the Monk by Matthew Lewis.” In The Norton Anthology of English Literature. D: The Romantic Period, edited by Jack Stillinger and Deidre Lynch, 8. ed., 602–6. New York: Norton, 2006.
Groom, Nick. “Introduction.” In The Monk, by M. G. Lewis, vii–xxxviii. edited by Howard Anderson. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/6mrQCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1.
MacLachlan, Christopher. “Introduction.” In The Monk, by Matthew Lewis, vii-xxv. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books, 1998.
Peck, Louis F. A Life of Matthew G. Lewis: Harvard University Press, 1961. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674423855.
“The Monk by Matthew Lewis.” The British Library. Accessed October 21, 2022. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-monk-by-matthew-lewis.

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Episodes

Ep104: The Thing About The Crescent

Ep98: The Thing About Northanger Abbey's Bell System

Ep96: The Thing About John Thorpe's Gig

EP85: The Thing About Henry's Great Coat

EP80: The Thing About the Pump-Room

Ep78: The Thing About Catherine and Isabella's Horrid Novels with guest Dr. Hannah Doherty Hudson

Ep68: The Thing About Catherine's Love of Hyacinths

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

Ep59: The Thing about the Bath Assembly Rooms

Ep54: The Thing About The Monk

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