QuinnTessence

What a newsy letter we have to read today from 27th December 1808 (and continued on 28th December 1808 for which the link is also included here) written from Southampton.  Plans are afoot for a move to Chawton in the summer, but there’s also there’s much else to discuss as well — such as who is marrying for love (reference the post title quote)?  Or a recent spate of company and why they all spent an hour “yawning & shivering in a wide circle round the fire” which “was dull enough–but the Tray had admirable success.”  Or perhaps you are curious as to why on another visit, Jane Austen felt want of a cannon and to whom she talked “a little with my fingers, which was funny enough.”  Or who is well behaved and Genteel, and who is well behaved “without being at all Genteel.”  What has Mrs Austen been adding to her Plate? And who does a silver tea ladle make Jane Austen think of even as it contributes to making their “sideboard border on the magnificent”?  Enjoy this quick but diverting read as you wind down from your holiday celebrations… 🙂

27th December 1808

28th December 1808 (continuation from previous day)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY today, to Jane Austen — my favorite author, a woman of talent, wit, great understanding — and longevity!!!  Though today’s post title quotation was not made in reference to its being her birthday (it was written to her sister Cassandra on the occasion of attending a ball in a location where they had attended one several years before) I would certainly like to think that Jane Austen would, were she still living today (at a ripe old age! 😉   ) would indeed be quite happy now with the acclaim she achieved and the warmth of feeling so many people feel for her… not to mention, of course, with the continued success of her books!

We have several letters today from the past week or so — today’s post title came from one to her sister on 9 December 1808, and contains also many conjectures on their planned move from Southampton to Chawton some months hence.  There are also notes to her publisher John Murray and to James Stanier Clarke, with reference to Emma, soon to be published in 1815.  And one I particularly enjoyed, written on 16-17 December 1816 to her nephew James Edward on the occasion of his having finished school in Winchester.  In this one you will find one of the most famous of her quotations, concerning “the little bit (two inches wide) of Ivory” on which she worked… and so much more to intimate the caring relationship she had with that young gentleman.

So, raise a glass (virtual or otherwise) with me for a toast to Jane Austen — and then sit back and enjoy this handful of letters that serve as wonderful reminders of just why we love her so!

6th December 1814

9th December 1808

11th December 1815

14th December 1815

16th December 1816

17th December 1816

Lots of good snippets in a handful of letters for this week (I have given up on daily postings, I think, for a lack of time to get them done, but will post the remaining letters once a week hereon.)  There’s one letter from 25 November 1798, and the rest hark from 1814 and 1815.  Interesting the change in the tenor of Jane Austen’s ‘voice’ over the years when read on the same dates but over the spread of years.

I had trouble choosing a title post today as there were many I could have done — but I love the tantalizing mentions of Mr Haden that appear in these letters from 1815.  What are you waiting for?… click on the links below to read the letters for yourself and find out what else Miss Austen has to say about the charming Mr Haden… and Miss Debary’s “pot hat” and an “Oxford smack” and proofs for Emma, and any number of other oddities and people!!!

22nd November 1814 – to niece Anna Lefroy

23rd November 1815 – to John Murray, publisher

24th November 1814 – to niece Anna Lefroy

24th November 1815

25th November 1798

26th November 1815

I can commiserate with the feeling — had a late and ‘winey’ evening myself with friends last night and hoping my typing does not show the same effects that Jane Austen’s handwriting purportedly did in her letter to Cassandra of 20 November 1800, LOL.  Several letters today, including short continuations from either previous or following days — and chock full of scrumptious details with which to curl up on a cold day in November.  Balls, brothers, lovers, neighbours, houses and gardens — they all receive nods within these letters, as well as many other topics and quotables.

19th November 1814 (short continuation from 18th)

20th November 1814 (continuation from 18-19th)

20th November 1800

21st November 1800 (very brief continuation from 20th)

20th November 1808