Jane Austen News - Issue 74
What's the Jane Austen News this week?
Austen Holy Grail Worth Half A Million
"“Although there are attractive editions of her novels published in the later 19th and early 20th centuries, the greatest value is, of course, in the first editions,” says Mark Wiltshire, a specialist in valuable books and manuscripts at Christie’s."
A new article published by The Times this week has extolled the benefits of investing in books, and in early editions of Jane Austen's books in particular. It's easy to see why considering the fact that rare bookseller Peter Harrington is in the process of selling a first edition of Mansfield Park— of which there are only 1,250 — and the price it is expected to go for is around £17,500! This is a hefty sum, but not when compared to the auction record for a Jane Austen; in 2008 a first edition of Emma was sold by Bonhams auction house for £180,000. It was a presentation copy to Austen’s friend and governess, Anne Sharp, which was inscribed “from the author” by a publisher or clerk on Austen’s behalf.
However, the best price would, the article says, go to a signed edition.
“It is hard to say what a copy inscribed by Austen would fetch [the holy grail in terms of Austen — such a thing may not exist], but I am pretty sure it would be a record for a 19th-century book, and it could easily fetch as much as half a million pounds.”
It may not exist...but we can dream!
The Bank of England in Literature
literary connections.
Stories from the City will feature various artefacts on display which highlight over 300 years of literary connections to the Bank. These include a Charles Dickens £10 note - with the original hand-drawn artwork that goes with it, and a One Thousand Pound Note signed by George Eliot.
Some of the other authors referenced in the exhibition include Jules Verne and John Brophy, who are just some of the authors who have mentioned the Bank of England in their work. (Others, including P.G. Wodehouse, T.S. Eliot and Charles Lamb, worked nearby and drew inspiration from it.)
The exhibition is on at the Bank of England Museum from July 19th 2017 until summer 2018.
"Like A Modern Day Austen"
At one time it seemed as though you couldn't pick up a romantic book which was set in the Regency era without it saying somewhere on the back cover something like; "the best thing since Austen", "with tones of Austen", "the new Jane Austen". What we didn't know was that one author was so sick of this kind of comment that a rare interview which she gave to The Observer back in 2001 was called 'Just don't mention Jane Austen'!
Anita Brookner went on to say in the interview she gave that "I've been talked about in the same context as Jane Austen. I didn't stick that label on myself, other people did. Quite inaccurate. I've never got on very well with Jane Austen."
We feel she makes a good point. Just because an author writes Regency romances, it should not automatically affiliate them with Austen. We say this not because another Jane Austen would be a bad thing, or because the comparison is in any way a slight, but rather because it would be nice to think that modern-day authors' work is good enough to get recognition and praise in its own right... So we can see why Brookner might have said what she said.
The book is called "Do I Make Myself Clear?" and is written by Harold Evans, who aims to show the contemptuousness of politicians, C.E.O.s, and marketers who use “words not for communicating ideas but concealing them”.
However, among the health-insurance policies and governmental reports on terrorism which he has rewritten and included in his book, he has decided to go further and show that even Jane Austen didn't always choose to use language which would make her own or her character's meaning clear.
We don't know about you, but at the Jane Austen News we're rather curious to find out what changes Mr Evans felt to be necessary in order to demonstrate the virtues of concision and clarity in Austen's work...
Authors On Austen
We came across these reviews of Austen by famous authors this week and, since they are rather charming, thought we would share them with you in case you also hadn't seen them before.
‘One of my most vivid memories of reading any book is standing at a bus stop completely engrossed in the last chapters of Persuasion. I was so tied up in the story, I let two buses go by. Jane Austen was a supreme storyteller and, as E. M. Forster lamented in a sort of drooping, regretful voice: “Yes–oh dear, yes–the novel tells a story.” Few have ever done it better ’
Philip Pullman
‘Jane Austen is the greatest ever romantic novelist, who, in Mr Darcy and Mr Knightley, created ultimately desirable heroes. She is also one of the funniest writers because, like Proust, she has perfect pitch class-wise and has affection for even the most ludicrous characters, such as Mrs Elton and Mr Collins. As one of her most endearing characters, Mr Bennet, points out: “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?” ’
Jilly Cooper
‘I adore Jane Austen’s novels. She has been my favourite writer since I read Mansfield Park when I was 14. Reading her novels is like sipping a warm, comforting brandy – with just a hint of pepper and spice ’ Paula Byrne
Jane Austen News is our weekly compilation of stories about or related to Jane Austen. Here we will feature a variety of items, including craft tutorials, reviews, news stories, articles and photos from around the world. If you’d like to include your story, please contact us with a press release or summary, along with a link. You can also submit unique articles for publication in our Jane Austen Online Magazine.
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Behind the Scenes of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra's Persuasion Musical
Barbara Landis, artistic director of Chamber Opera Tours, found Jane Austen’s language so perfect that it begged to be adapted to theatrical lyrics. She felt that the text would be most appropr...
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3 comments
[…] Jane Austen News – Issue 74 – Jane Austen Centre […]
Austentatious Links: August 6, 2017 | Excessively Diverting
Aha, the dangers of reading something out of context! I had wondered from the shin-bone quote if Mark Twain disliked Jane for the same reason she vowed not to enjoy Scott’s Waverley…but reading the preceding portion of the quote it does seem pretty definitive – if you think no books at all is better than even one of hers in a full-to-bursting library, that’s definitely a negative review! But as you say, he does keep rereading it…doth the gentleman protest too much?!
Anonymous
Not all authors are quite so complimentary of Austen, Mark Twain for example had some pretty trenchant opinions.
“Jane Austen’s books, too, are absent from this library. Just that one omission alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn’t a book in it.”
“I haven’t any right to criticise books, and I don’t do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticise Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can’t conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Everytime I read ‘Pride and Prejudice’ I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”
Though there is a clue in the last sentence that perhaps Twain did not really hate Austen quite so much as it seems if he keeps reading ‘Pride and Prejudice’ over and over.
Anonymous
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