Jane Austen In Early 1816

Early in 1816, Jane Austen's brother Henry retrieved her manuscript 'Susan', an early version of Northanger Abbey, from a publisher named Crosby, who had bought it from Jane for £10 thirteen years earlier but never published it. It's thought that Jane revised it during this year, and gave her heroine a new name - Catherine Morland. However, Jane may have felt that her novel was now rather out of date, because although she wrote an advertisement for the work, it was not published until after her death. 

The second edition of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park was published by John Murray sometime in February 1816. (There are some fascinating documents relating to Austen in the John Murray Archive at the National Library of Scotland). The first edition, published by Egerton, had sold out fairly quickly but had not been reprinted, so Jane must have been hopeful that a more well-known publisher would help 'puff' her book. 

However, in the event, Mansfield Park did not sell at all well, and Murray had to reduce the price. You can see some readers' opinions of Mansfield Park and Emma (published in December 1815) collected by Jane Austen here. 

Image from the author's collection: a 'carriage dress' or 'morning dress' made from 'finest dark blue ladies' cloth' and head-dress 'a la mode de Paris', Ackermann's Repository, January 1816. 

Emma 2020: A Review

I went to see the new adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma with some trepidation, as I was very disappointed by the recent TV series 'Sanditon' (and I know that many other Austen fans were, too).

Well fear not, ladies (and gentlemen), you can visit your local cinema and watch Emma, safe in the knowledge that the movie is true to the spirit of Austen's novel.

This is not to say that it gives a completely faithful recreation of the novel - it doesn't - but I hope to whet your appetite without too many spoilers.

As you would expect, the movie opens with the marriage of Emma's governess Miss Taylor, and Emma's 'gentle sorrow' at losing her friend.

Then we have Mr Knightley's first appearance! I was initially worried by Mr Knightley's 'artistically necessary' scene - I thought, please no, not another Sanditon - but once our leading man dons his breeches, the movie soon hits its stride.

Johnny Flynn gives Mr Knightley a less stately air than in the novel - more the Romantic hero - but none the worse for that! He still acts as Emma's moral guide as she arrogantly rearranges everyone's love-lives. 

Emma Woodhouse is played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who does a good job of conveying Emma's snobbiness and the high-handedness of her dealings with Harriet Smith. Bill Nighy plays a surprisingly sprightly Mr Woodhouse, but there are some good gags re his fussiness which I won't spoil for you.

Before seeing the movie, I'd had qualms when I heard that Miranda Hart was playing Miss Bates. (I feared a reprise of Alison Steadman's immensely irritating Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice). But her performance is very nicely judged, and we feel her genuine shock when Emma is rude to her at Box Hill.

Mr and Mrs Elton are cringe-worthy, as they should be - Mr Elton does seem to be channeling Mr Collins at times.

The 'detective story' bits of Emma are rather underplayed. Frank Churchill is primarily the focus of Mr Knightley's jealousy, of course, but I felt we do not see enough of Jane Fairfax. 

There are some nicely stroppy female characters. Isabella Knightley is quite pushy, and by the end of the movie, Harriet Smith upbraids Emma very spiritedly for pushing her into refusing Robert Martin.

John Knightley does not feature quite as much as I would have liked, but perhaps this was to keep the main focus on George Knightley and Emma.

The costumes are gorgeous - and as far as I can tell very accurate - for the ladies' and men's fashions and hairstyles. Emma's frocks and bonnets in particular look as if they were copied straight from a fashion print from any of the contemporary magazines.

The sets and locations are beautifully shot and presented.  A couple of caveats - why was the Bates' supposedly humble home hung with Flemish-style tapestries? And - perhaps because of the cinema's sound system? - sometimes the 'background' farmyard noises were so loud, one wonders if Regency sheep carried megaphones!

The movie has lots of very funny comic visual touches - although in my view one was rather out of place during Knightley's proposal to Emma (!) - but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Anyway, do go and see it, and judge for yourself. I feel this is the best Austen adaptation I've seen for some time.

Mr Darcy Is Coming! Planning A Special Dinner

Mrs Elton with her housekeeper.

When planning a dinner or card party, hostesses set aside part of the day to organise menus with their housekeeper or cook. Emma’s new bride, Mrs Elton, complained: ‘I believe I was half an hour this morning shut up with my housekeeper.’ 

Mrs Elton and her pearls.

If only one course was served, the company was told ‘You see your dinner’ when they sat down to dine. But for a special dinner party, at least two courses were provided. When Pride and Prejudice’s Mrs Bennet invited Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy to a family dinner at Longbourn, she, ‘did not think anything less than two courses could be good enough for a man on whom she had such anxious designs, or satisfy the appetite and pride of one who had ten thousand a year.’

Perkins, 'Every Woman Her Own Housekeeper'.

All the dishes for the first course were placed on the table at the same time. Then the serving dishes were ‘removed’ for the second course, which was arranged in a similar fashion. Guests ate a little of what they fancy from the dishes closest to them, perhaps asking a servant to pass them a favourite dish, if wanted, from the far end of the table.

'The gentlemen did approach'.

Genteel hostesses dressed smartly though not over-grand, so that their guests did not feel inferior if only modestly attired; but for dinner parties, ladies and gentlemen normally wore full evening dress.

Images:

Charles Brock coloured illustrations for Emma, and black and white illustration for Pride and Prejudice, courtesy of Mollands.

A sample 3 course dinner for the month of March. John Perkins, Every Woman Her Own House-keeper, (London, 1796). Courtesy Google Books.

Birmingham Treasures

Charity

Mrs Elton (Emma) famously said that she thought 'there is

Justice

something direful in the sound' of Birmingham, but if you explore Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, you'll discover some wonderful treasures from the world of Jane Austen's England. 
Much of the stained glass in Britain's churches is of Victorian date, some of which is splendid, but some is of rather dubious taste. Apparently many Georgian-era stained glass windows were removed by Gothic revivalists, but the museum holds some extremely rare survivals.
These two windows, 'Charity' and 'Justice', date about 1816, were painted by William Eginton, and I think they are really beautiful.

Birmingham toys.

 

 

Wine glass.

Birmingham was famous for its 'toys' or trinkets, and Matthew Boulton began his early career as a 'toy'-maker.This little 'taperstick' would have held a candle; the fish was a spicebox or vinaigrette. 
This wine glass (right) is hand-blown, and typical of the period. 
And what Georgian home would be complete without some beautiful china?
This is a Meissen coffee-cup and tea-cup from the 1750s (too early, I know for Jane Austen, but they are really pretty. Maybe Mr Woodhouse had an old set for when his friends and neighbours came for tea). 

Meissen ware.

This vase (right) is a copy of the famous Portland vase, and is one of the masterpieces which made Josiah Wedgwood famous.

 Last, but not least, we have some Birmingham-made pearl and metal buttons, dated 1780-1820s, and another product which the city was famous for.

'A Tooth Amiss'

Charles Brock illustration for Emma.

A London dentist in the 18th century. 

If you had a ‘tooth amiss’, like Harriet Smith in Emma (published 200 years ago this year), you would consult a dentist (if in staying in town) or a ‘tooth-drawer’. Local barbers would pull out rotting teeth, too. 

But if living in the countryside, you may have had to resort to the local blacksmith to have your teeth extracted.

If you required new teeth, you could buy a set of the new ‘mineral’ (porcelain) teeth from France.

Or your dentist might equip you with ‘Waterloo teeth’ - dentures of human teeth extracted from the soldiers’ bodies strewn across the battlefield. 

Teeth were also harvested from corpses (the fresher the better) supplied by the ‘resurrection men’, as grave-robbers were jocularly known.

‘Resurrection men’ illegally dug up freshly buried corpses from graveyards to supply surgeons with bodies so that they could practise their dissection skills. Their depredations were so notorious that watchmen were employed to guard churchyards overnight. 

Watchtower, Eyemouth, Scotland.

To keep their teeth clean, Regency ladies used tooth-powder made from charcoal or coconut shells.‘Ashes of tobacco’ were said to ‘make the teeth white’, but were deemed ‘too indelicate’ for ladies’ use (Lady’s Magazine, September 1775).  

Toothpicks made from goose quills, or ivory, or precious metals like gold and silver helped to keep teeth clean after meals. In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwood sisters were detained for some time at Gray’s (the jeweller’s) in Sackville St while gentleman Robert Ferrars hesitated over choosing a toothpick case: ‘At last the affair was decided.  The ivory, the gold, and the pearls, all received their appointment; and the gentleman having named the last day on which his existence could be continued without the possession of the toothpick-case, drew on his gloves with leisurely care and … walked off with a happy air of real conceit and affected indifference’. 

Images:

Charles Brock illustration courtesy of Mollands. 'A London Dentist' courtesy Library of Congress.

Photo of Eyemouth watch tower © Sue Wilkes.

Going To Church

St Nicholas's Church, Chawton.

Sunday was the quietest day of the week in Jane Austen’s England. Church-going played a far more central role in daily life than today's more secular times. Card-playing was frowned upon, and the theatres were closed in towns. 

Most respectable folk attended church, unless they were unwell or the weather was especially inclement. Important local families had their own pew, like the Tilneys in Northanger Abbey, and their family crest would adorn the door or gate at the end of the pew. 

Regency-era pews, St Oswald's church, Malpas, Cheshire.

As Jane's father George was a clergyman, she was brought up in the Anglican church, and she seems to have been happy and secure in her religion - she even composed her own prayers.   

Another Regency-era pew at Malpas, Cheshire.

The more active clergymen gave twice-daily Sunday services, like the ones held at St Nicholas’s church in Chawton, which Jane Austen attended. (Her mother and sister Cassandra are buried there, and there are several Austen and Knight family monuments inside the church). But many small churches held just a morning or evening service.

Cassandra Austen's monument, Chawton.

Young ladies who found a clergyman’s sermons particularly inspiring wrote them down in a pocket-book or stitched some choice phrases into a sampler. In Emma, Miss Nash, a fan of Mr Elton, ‘put down all the texts he has ever preached from since he came to Highbury’.