Reading about Northanger Abbey

The theme of JASNA’s 2010 AGM is “Jane Austen and The Abbey: Mystery, Mayhem, and Muslin in Portland.” JASNA member Janine Barchas’s groundbreaking essay is recommended reading in preparation for the AGM: “Mapping Northanger Abbey: or, Why Austen’s Bath of 1803 Resembles Joyce’s Dublin of 1904. The essay appeared last year in The Review of English Studies, a leading scholarly journal published by Oxford University Press, and has recently been selected by the editors of the journal for public release.

Dr. Barchas, who is on the English faculty of the University of Texas-Austin, will be a speaker at the Portland AGM. Her intriguing presentation is titled “The Real Bluebeard of Bath: A Historical Model for Northanger Abbey.” Essays by Dr. Barchas also appear in JASNA’s journal Persuasions Nos. 30 and 31.

Additional reading about Northanger Abbey is available in Persuasions On-Line, JASNA’s electronic journal:
“Of Course You can Trust Me!”: Jane Austen’s Narrator in Northanger Abbey, Henry N. Rogers III

Reading by the Book in Northanger Abbey, Barbara Benedict

“Willy-Nilly” and Other Tales of Male-Tails: Rightful and Wrongful Laws of Landed Property in Northanger Abbey and Beyond, Deirdre E. Gilbert

The Invention of Civility in Northanger Abbey, Joseph Wiesenfarth

Celebrate Jane Austen with CNJ-JASNA!

Please join JASNA Central New Jersey for a birthday toast to Jane Austen at the Cranbury Inn, 21 South Main Street, Cranbury, New Jersey on Saturday, December 5, 2009 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

We will celebrate Austen’s 234th birthday, plan and discuss the year’s upcoming programs together, and share our love of all things Austen.

Should you be so inclined, please feel free to bring a short reading selection of your choice to get us all in the spirit. Please RSVP by Dec. 1 to centraljerseyJASNA@yahoo.com. Thank you!

A short history of the Cranbury Inn: In the mid 1600's in the center of the colony of New Jersey by Cranberry Creek, a mill town began to develop along an old Indian trail that had widened into a road. This road connected the colonies and was becoming a main thoroughfare for colonial travelers. In 1697 Cranberry Towne received its charter from England. With increasing development, a need arose in central New Jersey for a place to eat and drink, get fresh horses, and spend the night; thus in the mid 1700's our taverns were built to meet these needs of the travelers passing through this area. After the colonies declared their independence from the motherland this business officially established itself in 1780. What is now The Cranbury Inn has been functioning as a place to eat and drink since the mid 1700's.

More Jane Austen at the Morgan!

Here is a link for an interesting slideshow of the Morgan exhibit: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/11/06/arts/20091107-austen-ss_index.html Courtesy of the New York Times

Jane Austen Exhibit at the Morgan

New York Times reports in the ARTS / ART & DESIGN in the November 07, 2009 edition on the Jane Austen exhibit at the Morgan Library. Follow this link: Exhibition Review 'A Woman: At the Morgan, the Jane Austen Her Family Knew for the article by EDWARD ROTHSTEIN "A Woman's Wit: Jane Austen's Life and Legacy," a new exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum, includes many personal letters and early manuscripts by the author.