She was in dancing, singing, exclaiming spirits.

-Emma

The Jane Austen Ball is back!

Jane Austen Ball Weekend

Saturday & Sunday, April 30-May1

Registration opens March 1

Visit here for more information.

Bath From Pump Room to Confectionary Shop

While walking in Bath ,Anne meets Admiral Croft
http://mollands.net/etexts/persuasion/prsillus.html

 Event:    JASNA CWNY (Virtual) February Meeting

Topic:    "'The Shops are Tastefully Laid Out; Capacious and Elegant':

                Shopping in Bath with Anne Elliot & Friends"

                A talk by Ann Buerman Wass, JASNA Maryland Member

When:    Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 1 pm EST 
Where:   Online through Zoom, pre-registration required

Registration: Click HERE to register

Two of Jane Austen's novel take place at least partially in Bath. Our speaker writes:

"Bath was second only to London as a place to shop. In Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Anne Elliot visits the city. Using quotes from the book, circa 1815-1816, as Anne and her friends walk the streets of Bath, Dr. Wass rounds out the picture–from the Pump Room to the baths, and a confectioner’s shop to a gunsmith. She does this using a compilation of newspaper advertisements from The Bath Chronicle; contemporaneous images, including views and a map of the city, fashion plates, and caricatures; and extant objects. So, ladies, strap on your pattens, and gentlemen, grab your umbrellas for this shopping tour of the city."

Please join us as Ann Bauerman Wass takes us on an exciting trip to Bath (virtually).

Jane Austen Birthday Celebration

 

Cuts off a Long Lock of Her Hair
C.E. Brock
http://mollands.net/etexts/senseandsensibility/snsillus.html

Event:    JASNA CWNY (Virtual) Jane Austen Birthday Celebration

Topic:    "A Young Lady of Spirit Happened to be at the Playhouse":

                Austen Re-Writes the Archetypal Coquette for Regency England

                A talk by Claudia Martin, Adjunct Associate Professor at 

               Binghamton University, and JASNA CWNY Member

When:    Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 1 pm EST 
Where:   Online through Zoom, pre-registration required

Notes:     Enjoy birthday cake and/or popovers at home

               Don't forget a suitable beverage on hand for the birthday toast!

Registration: Click HERE to register.

Once again we will celebrate Jane Austen's birthday with a virtual gathering. This year's meeting will feature Claudia Martin speaking on: "A Young Lady of Spirit Happened to be at the Playhouse": Austen Re-Writes the Archetypal Coquette for Regency England. Claudia gave this talk at the recent AGM and we are delighted to have her bring it to us in the Central and Western NY Region.

The speaker writes: The figure of the coquette, a woman publicly performing femininity in pursuit of pleasure and masculine attention, was an archetype that Austen knew well from plays and fictions of the 18th century. This presentation will look at theatrical influences on Austen’s flirts, using film clips to suggest why the coquette readily adapts to film and cross-cultural adaptations.

Claudia Martin is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Binghamton University in both the English Department and the Engineering School, teaching 18th and 19th century British Literature, Law and Literature, and Bad Girls and Wicked Women in Fiction. Her research focuses on the relationship between novels of the long 19th century and the network of laws and socio-legal practices that dispossessed women. 

Please join us for the Birthday Luncheon talk.

An Introduction to Martha Lloyd & Cooking at Chawton Cottage

 

Marie Sprayberry reveals her ultimate ambition

He was interrupted by a summons to dinner; and the girls smiled on each other. They were not the only objects of Mr. Collins's admiration. The hall, the dining-room, and all its furniture were examined and praised; … The dinner too, in its turn, was highly admired; and he begged to know to which of his fair cousins, the excellence of its cookery was owing. But here he was set right by Mrs. Bennet, who assured him with some asperity that they were very well able to keep a good cook, and that her daughters had nothing to do in the kitchen. Pride and Prejudice chapter 13

Event:    JASNA CWNY December Meeting

Topic:    "An Introduction to Martha Lloyd and Cooking at Chawton Cottage"

                 A talk by A. Marie Sprayberry, JASNA CWNY Member

When:    Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 1 pm EDT (2nd Saturday)
Where:   Online through Zoom, pre-registration required

Registration: Click HERE to register.

In December, A. Marie Sprayberry gives us "An Introduction to Martha Lloyd and Cooking at Chawton Cottage." Who was Martha Lloyd, and why was she so important to Jane Austen? This talk not only answers these questions, but discusses Martha's manuscript Household Book, which is now available in a facsimile edition published by the Bodleian Library. Martha's book provides a glimpse into the many ways Regency-era foodways and food preparation differed from our own--as well as some surprising similarities! The focus is on processes rather than modernized recipes, although sources for such recipes  will be provided.

Dinner was an important part of the Regency day. It was a time for families to gather, to show off their wealth and to spar with each other, as Mr. Bennet does with Mr. Collins.

[Mr. Collins] “…I have more than once observed to Lady Catherine that her charming daughter seemed born to be a duchess, and that the most elevated rank, instead of giving her consequence, would be adorned by her. -- These are the kind of little things which please her ladyship, and it is a sort of attention which I conceive myself peculiarly bound to pay."

"You judge very properly," said Mr. Bennet, "and it is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are the result of previous study?"

"They arise chiefly from what is passing at the time, and though I sometimes amuse myself with suggesting and arranging such little elegant compliments as may be adapted to ordinary occasions, I always wish to give them as unstudied an air as possible."

Mr. Bennet's expectations were fully answered. His cousin was as absurd as he had hoped, and he listened to him with the keenest enjoyment, maintaining at the same time the most resolute composure of countenance, and, except in an occasional glance at Elizabeth, requiring no partner in his pleasure.

Of course, Regency ladies and gentlemen would not have anything to do with the actual preparation of food, as seen in the quote at the top of the page. Nevertheless, food had to be cooked, and we will learn more at our meeting. Please join us on December 11 for Marie's presentation.

The Business of Marriage

Emma Plans a Match
http://mollands.net/etexts/images/emmaillus/emmabrockwc2.jpg

"Ever since the day—about four years ago—that Miss Taylor and I met with him in Broadway Lane, when, because it began to drizzle, he darted away with so much gallantry, and borrowed two umbrellas for us from Farmer Mitchell's, I made up my mind on the subject. I planned the match from that hour; and when such success has blessed me in this instance, dear papa, you cannot think that I shall leave off match-making." Emma chapter 1.

Event:   JASNA CWNY November Meeting

Topic:    "The Business of Marriage" 

                A talk by Alice Villaseñor, JASNA CWNY member

When:    Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 1 pm EDT
Where:   Online through Zoom, pre-registration required

 Registratrion:    Click HERE to register

In Jane Austen's Regency, marriage was a serious business. Financial concerns were often just as important as matters of the heart. In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor and Marianne discuss just how much wealth is necessary for a happy marriage.

"Elinor, for shame!" said Marianne, "money can only give happiness where there is nothing else to give it. Beyond a competence, it can afford no real satisfaction, as far as mere self is concerned."

"Perhaps," said Elinor, smiling, "we may come to the same point. Your competence and my wealth are very much alike, I dare say; and without them, as the world goes now, we shall both agree that every kind of external comfort must be wanting. Your ideas are only more noble than mine. Come, what is your competence?"

"About eighteen hundred or two thousand a year; not more than that."

Elinor laughed. "Two thousand a year! One is my wealth! I guessed how it would end." Sense and Sensibility chapter 17.

In Emma the plot revolves around Emma's attempts to arrange a marriage for her young friend Harriet. Of course Emma is totally inept at the business of marriage and fails spectacularly in her attempts to arrange an appropriate match.

At our November meeting, Dr. Alice Marie Villaseñor, Associate Professor of English at Medaille College, will explain the economic and social structures of Regency England that frame the marriage plot of Jane Austen’s Emma. Please join us by registering using the link above.

“Composed by an African”: Ignatius Sancho’s Country Dances Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 1 pm

Due to the high risk of Covid infection from the Delta variant, all of our Fall meetings will be held on Zoom.
Advance registration is required for all meetings.

Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 1:00 pm
“Composed by an African”: Ignatius Sancho’s Country Dances

Lisa Brown will give a test run of her AGM presentation. 

Ignatius Sancho was born on a slave ship during the long Middle Passage. He became an abolitionist, writer, and businessman; he was the first black person to vote in a British general election, and at his death in 1780, the first to have his obituary printed in British newspapers. He is well known in the U.K. today (though virtually unknown in the U.S.), but few British people have any idea he wrote exquisite country dances. After a brief biography, Sancho’s music, signature dance sequences, and a full dance will be demonstrated on video.

A decade ago, Lisa Brown moved to a new city for more frequent access to JASNA meetings and English country dances. She is Regional Coordinator of the Central and Western New York Region and is well known for her popular AGM workshops and fashion shows. During the pandemic, Lisa created Jane Austen Bingo and has been calling Zoom bingo for JASNA Regions across North America. She regularly gives presentations on the Georgian era and is proprietress of Regency Rentals, a costume rental business.

To register click here

 A Novel Weekend 

at Genesee Country Village & Museum 

featuring Emma

Saturday & Sunday, August 7 & 8

1813 - owned by the British Musem

Click here for more information.