Mansfield Park First Edition

Look at what I had my hands on today!

It’s a three volume first edition of my favorite novel, Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. Anne Repass from the Seattle Public Library brought the books, part of her personal collection, to the meeting of our local chapter of the Jane Austen Society and led the discussion. I was super excited for the discussion so seeing, actually HOLDING the books was just icing on the cake. I have seen Jane Austen first editions under glass before, but never got to touch, to hold, the books, and for a book lover that is the best.

These books were from 1814, in lovely condition and beautifully bound. At the time these books were printed, most novels were produced in three volumes. The books would have been purchased unfinished almost like a paperback, and then you would take them to be bound to match your library, taste and budget. These books are quarto size, which, though hard bound, is smaller than a little modern paperback. I wish I would have set something on the table so you could see the size of these darling little books.

-Lynnae

My England Trip- London

I am in England. It is my second day and this is really a dream come true for me. I am staying with my sister Julianna and her kind husband, who have a sweet little cottage style home in Reading. There are so many little nooks and Crannies! My daughter and I are sleeping in a little upstairs room that is so sweet it’s like being in a treehouse. I have an angled window right above my bed. Julianna also had some gifts for us when we arrived.

This is a one hundred year old copy of Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, my favorite novel, that she gave me as a birthday present. Isn’t it beautiful!

Today we went out to London, But we started the day with Breakfast at a charming and very yummy restaurant in Reading called Bill’s.. My daughter was excited to see the tower of London, so that was our main destination.

London Bridge.

We also went out to see Big Ben. OK, OK, I’ll post this picture, even though I’m not too happy about what is going on with my hair by this point! Jordan looks fabulous as always!

My sister Julianna and I with the London Eye in the background.

As you can see I’m having a great time and feeling totally spoiled here in the UK. I wish I could write about everything. But right now I’m feeling about as tired as this little girl…..

More to come….

-Lynnae

Defending Jane

The following is my response to a Dartmouth Press article which attempts to guess why people like Jane Austen.

 Austen’s Power By Peter Blair

Did the author ever READ a Jane Austen Novel? There were many other novelists at the same time whose writings exhibited the similar cultural aspects. Austen stands out now for the same reason she did then, for those clever enough to read her properly. She is funny, hilarious even, but in ways that sneak up on you. Her insight into human nature is shrewd, sometimes painfully shrewd. Her writings show me that despite a vastly different code of conduct in society, human nature does not change at all. As you get to know the characters in an Austen book you recognize them as people you know and understand.
Jane herself said she did not write for 'dull elves'. In humor she is a forerunner to Oscar Wilde more than anyone. Her imagery is delightful, her symbolism is clever, and her sense of irony rewards the reader at every turn. For example, I find it fascinating that Mrs. Norris, arguably the most evil person in Austen's literary world, has many of the juiciest, most ironic lines aimed at her. It's as if Fanny is defenseless but Jane is not, and jabs that mean Aunt with a pen now and then.
  So when some see bonnets and costumes and romance, I see that and more. I see a wonderful balance between an incisive humor and a morality deeper than the social customs that define it outwardly.

-Lynnae

One Of The Few

It’s not very often I get a post that fits in both the Jane Austen category and my conservative politics blog, but my husband, who’s been gone with the Army Reserve, provided me with one today with this message….

One of the few……

...M16s in the world being dismantled and cleaned accompanied by the Mansfield Park soundtrack.

This task, combined with that vibrantly luscious classical music score must have been a beautiful thing.

-Lynnae

 

 

You can hear a sample of the beauty here.

How Much of a Janeite Am I?

I am here to report my official score from the esteemed and reputable facebook application quiz “How Much of a Janeite Are You?'”.

I had 21 correct out of 23. My final score, which seems to factor in the time needed, was 2612.  I don’t know how many have taken the quiz so far, But I ranked in the global top ten at the time of completion. Now to hunt down the other nine……..

-Lynnae

Three Things Very Dull Indeed?

Last Saturday I ran 5k at the Fall City Days celebration. I got my second best time, at 35:14. I know for runners it’s not super fast, but for me it’s great. I want to work up to a 10k this summer, so I was looking at local races and found the website for Railroad Days in Snoqualmie. This is a fun celebration anyway, but look at the cute race shirt logo!

I may be shallow, but if I’m gonna run it’s all about the shirt. It’s like when I used to get ribbons on the swim team. I usually come home from a race , shower, and put on my new race shirt and sweats for lounging around or napping with a sense of superiority accomplishment.

In more local news, my little town of North Bend is 100 years old and having a fun block party on Main Street this weekend. And then later this summer is The Festival at Mount Si. We have a parade, booths, and music and food. But this year they are adding something new. It’s something I have wanted to blog about but I’ve been afraid…..

They want to add an art element to the festival, since this is a pretty artsy place for a small town, so they want to have a live art exhibit. I have been so excited to try this and scared at the same time, that I didn’t want to mention it on the blog because I know everyone will be encouraging but I don’t want to commit myself because it’s scary. The plan is to have live models posing in costume and then people around sketching and painting. Look at the cool concept drawings!

But do I want to commit to that? Do I have the experience (no) to sit in front of people and paint? What if there’s not enough time for me to do anything, or what if my art is no good and people are around me staring! Eeek. So I’m laying out my doubts and fears before you now.

….And another thing. I am rapidly approaching my 100th post, and my Birthday, July 11th, which, for those of you who haven’t followed for long, I have also given to Fanny Price of Mansfield Park to be her honorary birthday. We know her birthday is sometime in July, plus I love Miss Price, and it fits astrologically, even though I don’t believe in that. So I am trying to prepare something for a birthday/100th post giveaway. Stay tuned.

Three things very dull indeed? You tell me!

Why It's Called "The Little White Attic"

In Jane Austen's novel, Mansfield Park, the heroine, Fanny Price, is given the attic to be her bedroom, by her cruel Aunt, Mrs. Norris. Far from the luxurious chambers of her cousins, her small unwanted room was beyond even the servant's quarters. The room is referred to as "The Little White Attic".
Mansfield Park is a novel brimming with symbolism, particularly when it comes to locations and their inhabitants. The name 'little white attic' is symbolic of the heroine, Fanny price. The attic is small, plain and unwanted, like Fanny herself. However the color white denotes purity, and the location of the attic above the rest of the household represents Fanny's superior moral values in a household full of selfishness and unprincipled motives.
So welcome to The Little White Attic, my tribute to my favorite Austen Heroine, a model of sweetness, perserverance, and above all, the determination to do right, come what may.

Mansfield is Home

Portsmouth is Portsmouth and Mansfield is home. That is what Fanny Price realizes after a month back in her Mother and Fathers house.This last month I've been so busy....graduation, recitals, children traveling here and there, and on top of that a 9 day cold/flu that was like something out of the middle ages....that I haven't had much inclination for posting. Life was too busy for me, to hectic for my naturally slow pace. So what did I do? Retreat into Mansfield Park. Mansfield Park is my home in a sense too. It's my home away from home, when the stress here seems too much. I collect those two or three families in a country village that I know so well. I adore Fanny Price. She is the sister of my heart. I follow her through her trials and injustices. I honor her for her self control and self awareness. I stash my novel and read a chapter whenever I get a spare moment, and before I know it, I'm feeling better, I've watched the progress of spring, and our calandar is all but cleared for the summer months.

Open Air Dancing

I have a few more thoughts to add about the ITT/ Masterpiece adaptation of Mansfield Park. After watching this show again, and already over my initial disappointment, I wanted to add a few things about the outdoor dancing.
Why was Fanny Price’s ‘coming out ball’ replaced with a picnic? It is our of character because I don’t think she would have stood up to Sir Thomas to object to his suggestion. But Fanny’s character is changed in this movie, so I guess she could have had a ball, picnic, or gone skydiving and it wouldn’t matter that much as far as being out of character. My guess is that budgetary restrictions were the guiding factor. The costs of using a real room in a great house, and the work involved in fitting it up and then restoring it back for the owner was probably prohibitive, though as far as I’m concerned they could have saved money by hiring a lesser known actress who may have actually read the novel.
And then why through in the second dance after the wedding? It was out of place and Fanny would never have been the one to introduce the waltz to the local society.
In my opinion Fanny is one of the best creatures ever written up and a credit to Jane Austen that no one can touch her. No one has come close to the sweetness and the sadness and the complexity. I still hope to see the real Fanny on screen someday.

Opinion About Mansfield Park

This was in reply to a thread but I thought I'd post it here. Some people get turned off of Mansfield Park because it doesn't suit everyone, But maybe a few positive accounts will encourage more people to give it a try. I also like to think of Jane Austen at this time in her life being more willing to experiment with different combinations of character traits. For example, Mary Crawford at first appearance is a lot like Elizabeth Bennett. They are both quick witted, lively, and fun loving. But on further study they are quite different. Elizabeth has sense of right and wrong and an appreciation for goodness, while Mary's underlying values are seriously flawed and corrupt. Yet look how they each attracted the hero of the novel with their outward charm. Mr. Darcy was almost immediately attracted to Elizabeth, but he didn't take it seriously until he had learned her true worth and goodness. Edmund was almost as instantly attracted to Mary, but eventually, and only through many painful revelations, was he able to see past the veneer to her dark character. Here are my earlier posted comments: Mansfield Park is my Favorite Jane Austen Novel, and I read all of them often.I adore Fanny Price. Maybe because she is the one I identify with the most, though I could never be as good as she is. I feel so strongly for her. I beleive Fanny is extremely powerful. It is only her health and constitution that is weak. She is submissive not because of weakness, but out of self control and her extreme belief in doing what is right at all costs. The only time she wavers is when it is not quite clear exactly what is the morally correct thing to do. Furthermore, though Edmund gets the credit for shaping Fanny's mind, I believe it is her pure goodness that has influenced Edmund as he matured, raising him above the petty selfishness of his siblings. I've written an essay on this and I should find it and post it.And about the irony, it is abundant in this novel. Almost every cruel remark Mrs. Norris makes is laced with irony for the reader. And there's a wonderful scene where Tom neglects Fanny at a dance until Mrs. Norris asks him to join a card table, and he quickly jumps up and grabs Fanny's hand, saying they were just about to dance. Then he comments on Mrs, Norris selfishly trying to use him to form the card table without consulting his feelings, and how lucky it was of him to think of Dancing with Fanny at that moment.There is so much symbolism in Mansfield Park, the garden gate scene, the necklace and chain, one of my particular favorites is the idea of improving land in general and how each man's thoughts on land improvement reflect his actions in the marital arena, complete with poor Mr. Rushworth's not knowing what to do with his fabulous new property and Henry Crawford stepping in to make a mark on it himself.My true heart's wish is for someone to make an accurate adaptation of this lovely novel.

Get the Dress Done

I had a phone chat with Mom Thursday and she has already read and finished Persuasion, which she loved. We talked a little more about Mansfield Park, and she was telling me what she plans to read next. When someone is first discovering or rediscovering Jane Austen novels, I get a little jealous of them having all the joy ahead of them. I dream of browsing through a bookstore and all of a sudden finding a new Jane Austen book. How wonderful that would be.

Yesterday I was thinking as long as I’m making myself a dress I should make a little Barbie dress as well and fix up a little regency / Emma Barbie to put on my dash while I drive to Vancouver. I got pretty carried away thinking how fun it would be, then she’d need a room or maybe a little dollhouse……

I have to stick with my FIRST priority this month, which is getting my dress done. Then maybe I can play around with that other idea a little more.

As far as today goes, I’m hoping to work on the dress a bit, maybe get it cut out at least. I am doing my teenager’s Saturday chore for her because she took the ACT test this morning. Fall is definitely in the air today. I made banana-chocolate chip bread, and listened to soft rock oldies till my husband came home and made fun of me. OK, he accepted the music for a while without saying anything, but I swear the corner of his eye was twitching.