KW writes: For all of us Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte fans, this tiny book is a rare find! Written when Bronte was only 14 years old, it is a brilliant piece of satire. Bronte created this tiny work in the format of a men’s magazine. It includes a witty ad (see below), which observes economics and social justice in her usually insightful, though aloof, manner. It’s a kind of Mad Magazine for the 19th century. And, it contains a hint into her future sociological writing, such as her reflections on charity schools in Jane Eyre, and her novel, Shirley.

Bronte manuscript. Image from: i.dailymail.co.uk

(excerpt from) The Telegraph & Argus
[Brontë] Parsonage Museum in Haworth [England] is eager to ensure ‘national treasure’ is not lost to the public
UK/November 14, 2011

An appeal has been launched to help fund the purchase of a rare Charlotte Brontë manuscript.

The Brontë Parsonage Museum is appealing for financial support from the public and funding bodies.

It needs to raise up to £300,000 to cover the expected cost of buying the work at an auction next month.

The unpublished manuscript contains three works written by Charlotte – author of Jane Eyre – when she was 14.

Charlotte’s Young Men’s Magazine Number 2 contains 4,000 words set in a fictional world created by the famous literary siblings.

The book, until now in private ownership, is believed to have never before been seen by scholars.

The Parsonage Museum, in Haworth, hopes to buy the 19-page book when it is auctioned at Sotheby’s in London on December 15. The manuscript is expected to fetch between £200,000 and £300,000, and the museum wants to ensure it becomes available to the public…

More about the manuscript…

(excerpt from) Daily Mail UK
It’s all in the small print: Tiny Bronte manuscript that introduces world to Jane Eyre character Bertha goes up for auction
By Dalya Alberge / November 9, 2011

…With hand-cut pages, she replicated the format of printed periodicals of the day, complete with table of contents, articles, poetry and classified advertisements, one of which reads: ‘Six young men wish to let themselves all a hire for the purpose of cleaning out pockets they are in reduced CIRCUMSTANCES [sic].’

Inspired by Blackwood’s Magazine, to which her father subscribed, she called hers The Young Men’s Magazine, Number 2, and dated it August 1830. It is the missing second volume of a series of six…

Overall, I am not a great fan of the monarchy and royalty. I enjoy meditating on more democratic, egalitarian, and feminist ways to shape society. Though, I felt like the news about Jane Austen and Kate Middleton gave me entree to post a few pieces of royal watching interest. See more below the Jezebel story…

(excerpt from)Jezebel

Kate Middleton and Jane Austen Are Related

Ancestry.com has discovered that Kate Middleton, Duchess Of Cambridge…and Jane Austen are are eleventh cousins, six times removed… “Finding this connection between the Duchess of Cambridge and Jane Austen is very exciting since, in many ways, Catherine is the modern Jane Austen heroine: a middle-class girl marrying the future King of England.”

More Royal Watching News:

My husband and I have started a new project. It is a website called
Peace Couple. The first project on Peace Couple is a royal tour by The Duke and Duchess of Peace. Their tour of America happens to coincide with the North American tour of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Duchess Catherine. The Duke and Duchess of Peace have very different ideas of what it means to be royal.

More Royal Watching (and a Georgiana mention):

With all that dismissing of royalty aside, I have to confess something. I love Princess Diana. And, while I was Princess Diana watching, I became interested in the life of Sarah, Duchess of York (Sarah Ferguson). And, Sarah Ferguson is related to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire — Sarah Ferguson is a descendent of Georgiana’s love child, Eliza.

So, my mom asked me to take her to meet Sarah Ferguson at a local book signing, and I couldn’t say no. Below are some fun photos of Sarah, Duchess of York, who was on Long Island yesterday, June 28th:

June 28, 2011: Sarah, Duchess of York and fans

Sign at Book Revue announcing Sarah Ferguson

Sarah, Duchess of York signing her new book

Georgiana's Feathers

Princess Beatrice’s Famous Royal Wedding Hat
(see video at bottom of this post)

If you are a fan of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire — born 1757, died 1806, glorified in the movie “The Duchess” — then you probably know that Sarah Ferguson and her daughters are descendents of Georgiana. Their family tree extends from Eliza, the love child of Georgiana and Sir Charles Grey.

Georgiana was known for known for her trend-setting fashions, and also, for her ability to use fashion to send a message and garnish attention. So, it is not surprising that Princess Beatrice’s daring wedding hat has inspired a FaceBook page which is at 115,000 hits (As of Sunday evening, 5/1/2011) and climbing. Georgiana’s hat choices were often shocking or problematic. So, it is not out of the family tradition for Princess Beatrice’s hat’s most popular page to be a critique. In fact, it is called, “Princess-Beatrices-Ridiculous-Royal-Wedding-Hat FaceBook Page”.

If you would like to defend Princess Beatrice, and the artistic leap of faith she took, you might consider joining, “Royal Wedding Hats – In Defense of Princess Beatrice and Her Lovely Hat FaceBook Page”. Which, I am sorry to say, stands at only 407 members.

You can learn more about Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, and her hats, by reading the book “Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire” by Amanda Foreman. It’s a great read. Below is an excerpt from Ms. Foreman’s comments on another Georgiana book:

Georgiana’s extraordinary influence on fashion first became noticeable during the ‘feather headdress affair’. These were three-foot ostrich feather headdress which she imported from Paris…The following year, in 1775,  Georgiana initiated the craze for extravagant hair towers of preposterous designs. One day she would appear sporting a pastoral tableau, complete with miniature wooden sheep; the next she might wear a nautical theme with storm-tossed ships and sailors artfully placed among the curls. Later on, she introduced the ‘picture hat’…

A youtube posted at the Princess-Beatrices-Ridiculous-Royal-Wedding-Hat FaceBook Page:

One of my friends has dived in on FaceBook. She noted (quite emphactically) that a lot of England’s wealth and tradition are related to colonizing and exploiting other parts of the world. And, having lots of wars. Seeing all the military uniforms as part of a religious ceremony was one of the things that didn’t sit well with me. Also, the fact that so many people are distracted by the hoopla, when they have their own lives, responsibilities, and countries to take care of.

Hope you might make your own comments — good and bad — in the comments. And, here is a poem I had written reflecting on Princess Diana’s wedding. It was written after she died…

The Bluish Light, 1997

Flat and singular like the images on the screen,
I am bathed in the sick blue light;
receptive to the barrage of
pronouncements, sentiments, and persuasions
launched from a two-dimensional, television universe.

Hypnotized by the sparkle of some sequined dress
(so revealing of the human form I could never wear it myself)
I am mesmerized by the beautiful, blue-light people.
Like a member of a wolfish pack,
I respond hypnotically to their bare-teethed smiles,
searching them like tiny mirrors for some
polished, framed, (distorted) image of myself.

Subtly, they infiltrate my heart.
They are a hum in my home,
a schedule I can fall into,
instead of going to real events with real people.

It is easy to worship these steady, blue-light people.
I wrap them around me,
hoard information, clues on how they live.
Clipping magazines, buying souvenirs,
I gather pictures to me like a war widow.

Only occasionally do I glimpse their disgust
leak out in some intellectual treatise on the middle class.
I hardly ever notice that the only pieces of themselves they offer me
are sound-bites, photo mugs, and glossy pictures of their good sides.

At age fourteen, though,
one of these blue-light beings really captures me.
She was first a Lady, and then a Princess,
but always in pictures poking umbrellas
at the ones who disdain me.
So that I came to love her, sincerely,
(in my bare-teethed way.)

Sometimes, she made me laugh out loud.
I cried for her when her husband put her away,
even prayed for her at times.
But not enough…
because…

I killed her. Killed Diana.
Not just me, but all the blue-light people –
the ones projected and projecting,
vultures clamoring after her image.

I learned to master another blue light in my attempt at redemption.
At the library, on a borrowed computer, e-mailing condolences,
skipping across hateful postings about the crowd’s foolish grief.

There was only enough time for a little scolding and insult, though,
before we washed it away with masses of flowers,
gathered in love and power
at the castle where she used to live.

So, it is only a mild pang, this mockery I feel,
for having attended her funeral,
like her wedding,
in my pajamas,
flat and singular.

-

poem by Kimberly Wilder of onthewilderside.com

Kimberly Wilder and Barbara Hellering

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to attend a Jane Austen tea in nearby Port Jefferson. It was a lot of fun. And, I met another local Jane Austen fan who does media and blogging projects. Her name is Erin Coughlin, and her article is excerpted and linked below. I was late to the event. Though, I was in time for the slideshow and tea. I enjoyed hearing Barbara Hellering, give her list of favorite “Mr. Darcies” and speak about the importance of irony in Jane Eyre. My Flicrk photos are: here.

(excerpt from) The Patch
Library Hosts Literary Tea Party To Celebrate Favorite Author
Barbara Hellering of the Jane Austen Society of North America delights fans at The Port Jefferson Library
Erin Coughlin 4/21/2011

On April 14, the Port Jefferson Library hosted it’s highly successful, Annual Jane Austen Tea Party to celebrate National Library Week.

Vice President Barbara Hellering of The Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) was on hand to discuss both the British author’s life and times, as well as her influence on modern society…

Hellering, a resident of Riverhead who has previously appeared on such hit shows as Good Morning America, continues to conduct group discussions on both Jane Austen and her growing iconic presence in modern times.

Aside from providing a lot of personal, biographical information about Austen, Hellering presented a slide show of images representing what England was like during Austen’s time.

Among the slides were photographs and drawings of other popular destinations mentioned in Austen’s novels as well as the other celebrities that frequented them. She then continued to give modern examples of how Austen’s work has not only influenced society, but remains visible in aspects of our everyday lives.

Audience members then watched three completely different versions of the famous “marriage proposal sequence” from Pride and Prejudice, in order to get an understanding of how different filmmakers interpreted Austen’s work.

Hellering explained how accurate the productions were in regards to both dialogue and art direction…

JASNA hosts regular meetings at rotating locations on Long Island as well as in the city. Fans under the age of 40 are encouraged to join JASNA’s younger group, Juvenilia.

“People should join if they like Jane Austen, because they can get together with other people that share their interest,” said Hellering…

Emma, Lady Hamilton. By Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun

Emma, Lady Hamilton, was a contemporary of Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire. Georgiana knew and liked Lady Hamilton.

If you like Lady Hamilton, or want to learn more about her, there is currently an exhibit at a book club in New York city. More info about “The Enchantress: Emma, Lady Hamilton”, at the Grolier Club until April 30, 2011, can be found at their link, and at the “read more” below.

I have become fascinated with Lady Hamilton party because of the movie “That Hamilton Woman”, with Vivien Leigh as Lady Hamilton, and with Leigh’s then husband, Laurence Olivier, as Lord Horatio Nelson. The movie is exquisite.

My favorite part of the movie is the way it explores the relationships between men and women, caught in a sexist society, where divorce is more of a shame than affairs, courtesans, or cruelty. And, I love the line uttered by the character of Lord Nelson, “That’s the way people look at these things. They do not believe in a friendship between a man and a woman.” I think that the tension that occurs — partly by nature, partly by a skeptical, sexist society — when a man and a woman try to be friends or colleagues is a large part of the energy that keeps women from succeeding in business, or fairly taking part in governing.

For an excellent review of the Grolier Club exhibit, see the Scandalous Women article: here. A quick biography of Emma, Lady Hamilton can be found at one of my favorite history blogs, The Duchess of Devonshire’s Gossip Guide to the 18th Century: here.

Info on the exhibit:Link to description of event:
http://www.grolierclub.org/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=289912&ssid=169182&vnf=1

Grolier Club in NYC presents…
The Enchantress: Emma, Lady Hamilton
Curated by Jean Kislak & Arthur Dunkelman

In the ground floor gallery
February 16-April 30, 2011
The exhibit will be open to the public free of charge,
Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

An exhibition on the extraordinary life and legacy of Emma, Lady Hamilton will be on display at the Grolier Club in New York from February 16 through April 30, 2011. The exhibition, The Enchantress: Emma, Lady Hamilton, will feature the Jean Kislak collection of manuscripts, books and art related to Lady Hamilton and her era, including the events that shaped her life and the men she helped shape – most prominently Sir William Hamilton and Admiral Horatio Nelson, Britain’s greatest naval hero.

Among many exceptional items in the exhibit are oil portraits of Emma Hamilton by famed British painters George Romney and Sir Thomas Lawrence as well as the earliest known letter from Lord Nelson to Emma, 13 June 1798, written aboard HMS Vanguard just before the decisive Battle of the Nile, when the English destroyed the French fleet.

“That Hamilton Woman”

Loved, celebrated and abandoned, Emma Hamilton was among the most colorful characters in English history. She refused to accept the norms of her society; instead, she used her beauty and charisma to cross the boundaries of class, sex, geography and wealth. Her sphere of influence spanned theater, art and music; as well as international society and diplomacy.

Born Amy Lyon, daughter of a poor country blacksmith, she reinvented herself as the glamorous Emma Hart while still in her teens, and by 26 had become Emma, Lady Hamilton, wife of Sir William Hamilton, the 61-year-old British envoy to the court of Naples. Her beauty was legendary; her portrait was painted repeatedly by famous artists of her day, most notably by Romney, whose obsession with her led him to create at least 60 portraits and historic allegories inspired by Emma’s image.

The Kislak collection includes three outstanding Romney portraits of Emma, as well as a Romney painting of Charles Greville, Emma’s early paramour, and a portrait of Sir William Hamilton by William Beechey.

Emma is best known for her love affair with Admiral Nelson, the brilliant naval commander [who fought to stop Napoleon Bonaparte] whose statue stands today atop a 185-foot-tall column in London’s Trafalgar Square. Their scandalous affair – both were married to others – was one of the most famous in history and remains a subject of fascination. More than two hundred years later, newspaper articles, books and movies continue to be written. Emma Hamilton is even a popular topic on the Internet.

Emma’s life is revealed touchingly through the Kislak collection, a rich historic trove of letters, books, art works and personal effects. The collection also includes an array of 20th century works inspired by her romantic and tragic story – including novels, biographies, a theater program from a 1920s London play, a movie poster for Alexander Korda’s 1941 historical drama, That Hamilton Woman, starring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, and the first draft of a television screenplay, A Bequest to the Nation, by Terence Rattigan.

During their lifetimes, Nelson and Emma made a pact to destroy the letters received from one another. Nelson kept his promise and destroyed Emma’s letters, but Emma broke her word, so many of Nelson’s letters to her still exist. The Kislak collection includes 11 of them.

Jean Kislak, collector and connoisseur, has studied Emma’s history for more than 25 years, assembling a collection that reveals the scope and depth of Emma’s colorful life. In addition to original letters spanning the period from 1765 to 1807, the collection also includes a diversity of art and objects – such as a portfolio of prints of Emma in theatrical poses, sheet music signed by Emma, an 1805 commemorative silver pill box with Nelson’s portrait in cameo, a collection of Emma’s financial papers, and an account book in which a youthful Emma Hart documented her spending on everyday items such as sugar, coffee and thread.

The Grolier Club exhibition will include one of the larger and more personal objects in the Kislak collection, the wooden cradle that held baby Horatia, the daughter born to Emma and Nelson in 1801.

LOCATION AND TIME: The Enchantress: Emma, Lady Hamilton will be on view at the Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, from February 16 through April 30, 2011. The exhibit will be open to the public free of charge, Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additional information and directions are available under the “Exhibitions” tab of the navigation menu at left.

CATALOGUE: An illustrated catalog of The Enchantress: Emma, Lady Hamilton will be available at the Grolier Club and from the Jay I. Kislak Foundation, Miami Lakes, Florida, www.kislakfoundation.org.

(excerpt from) The Jewish Daily Forward/the sisterhood
Esther vs. Vashti, Austen vs. Brontës
By Sarah Seltzer

As I prepared for the beginning of the perennial Purim question of “Esther vs. Vashti” at the same time as I delved into Jane Eyre-mania, I began to think about how women are always pushed into dichotomies. I wondered cynically how soon someone would write about the new Brontë films by declaring Jane Austen passé…

It always seems to me that when it comes to women who take different paths there’s a meme out there that there’s only room for one. Virgin or whore, Esther or Vashti, Austen or Brontë. Yes, the two most famous Brontë sisters, Charlotte and Emily, and Jane Austen took divergent approaches to writing about the “woman question.” Austen was sort of an Esther, using her brilliant wit to dazzle readers but containing steely critique of the system under her perfect prose, while the Brontës, Vashti-like , seethe with rage at women’s unfortunate lot and churn with a desperate desire for escape…

About the video:Jane Eyre, the movie, 2011, is now showing.

My friend Stephanie and I took the took the big trip from Long Island to New York City to see opening night at Landmark Sunshine Cinema.

This video includes: Images of one of Jane Eyre’s gray dresses from the wardrobe, as displayed at the Landmark; movie reviews by Stephanie and by Kimberly Wilder; performance ratings for Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, and Jamie Bell.

If you like Jane Eyre, please check out my video tribute to Charlotte Bronte’s book, below:

Note! The Jane Eyre movie is coming out in select theaters. More to follow over the next few weeks. See list: here.

While author Jane Austen, and the character Jane Eyre, both lived after the time of Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Circle readers may know I love works by Jane Austen, and works based on Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte’s character) very much.  My favorite Jane Eyre so far has been the 2006 BBC miniseries. And, I am so excited to hear that the new movie, with Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre, is coming to American theaters in March 2011. And, the movie trailer has just come out…

Link to 2o11 Jane Eyre movie trailer:
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/11/10/jane-eyre-trailer-charlotte-brontemia-wasikowska-michael-fassbender/?xrs=share_twitter

And, here is my new video on the subject of Jane Eyre:

MTV is interested in Jane Eyre! Hope that gets young women reading the novel, and then thinking about independence, adventure and/or writing their own stories!

…The trailer for the film, though, seems to play the whole story off as a horror-thriller — which, I guess, we could argue that it is…

The film stars [Mia] Wasikowska as Jane Eyre, [Michael] Fassbender as Mr. Rochester, Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax and Imogen Poots as Blanche Ingram, and is directed by Cary Fukunaga…  -MTV Movies Blog

Den of Geek points out that, with the style of this movie, there is a chance that Geeks and science fiction fans will be interested…

…Playing up the horror/thriller undertones of the 19th century story, this is Jane Eyre filtered through the mind of Alejandro Amenábar or Dario Argento, and therefore makes it more than worthy of geek attention…  -Den of Geek

____________________________________

Princess Jessica of Chile

He, being first thought dead
and now weary from the long ordeal

She, having transformed her worries
into curling hair, polished lips,
and the desire to become
a symbol of welcome and life to him

He, stepped out from the cage that
pulled him up from underground

She, sending their child ahead
as an emissary of hope
with the first hug

He, slightly disoriented
then remembers he has her
Has this treasure of life
this alliance he formed and nourished
this partnership and comfort he can return to

She sees it is time to step towards him
with her beauty, and compassion,
and jewels of grace.

They remake their union
in a long, slow
in a long, slow nearly forever embrace

Her crown topples to the ground

For a moment, no one sees
it is a hard hat in place of royal jewels
a miner’s helmet falling to the earth,
bearing witness, bringing attention

a miner’s life falling to the earth
with the eyes of the world

poem by Kimberly Wilder