Victoria Hinshaw – Page 32 – Number One London

Report from Fort Worth: The JASNA AGM 2011

Victoria here, back from five wonderful days at the Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America, held this year in Ft. Worth, Texas. Many thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who organized the meeting, led by Dr. Cheryl Kinney and Rosalie Sternberg.

The topic was, of course, Sense & Sensibility, marking the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s first published novel. The festivities started on Thursday with a few special presentations, including mine on “The Sensible Regency Wedding.”

Above, I am posing on the stage with Jinger Heath who spoke on “Regency Cosmetics and Esthetics: A Look to Die For” immediately preceding my talk on Thursday night, October 13. Jinger told the audience about some of the dreadful facial concoctions used by regency-era women to whiten their skin, substances containing lead and other poisons. She also told us how some of their formulas — such as rosewater and various oils — were quite beneficial.

Kathy Yank (left, above) introduced me. Using power point, I talked about the usual simplicity and low-key nature of regency weddings, using particularly the examples of Jane Austen’s niece Anna’s wedding to Ben Lefroy in 1814, as described by Anna’s half-sister Caroline Austen, and Annabella Milbanke’s wedding to Lord Byron in 1815, the latter recounted by John Cam Houbhouse (later Lord Broughton).

I also talked about royal weddings (and one non-wedding of the Prince of Wales to Maria Fitzherbert), including the ceremony that united Princess Charlotte of Wales to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. I covered a number of other topics, like courtship, the weddings in Jane Austen’s family and in her novels, the laws governing marriage, the ceremony itself, and so on. I concluded by speculating on whether Jane Austen yearned for a wedding of her own.

Musing on the remark made by Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice, “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance,” I asked: “Was Jane Austen’s happiness a result of chance? Happiness in her literary success was the result of talent, wit, hard labor, and perseverance. Jane Austen’s satisfaction with her accomplishments left nothing to chance.”

On Friday, Dr. Elisabeth Lenckos (above) of Chicago led us in an examination of whether our dispositions are more like Elinor’s or Marianne’s. I seemed to hear about a 50-50 split among those sitting near me.

Dr. Joan Ray presented the North American Scholar Lecture at the opening plenary session. She analyzed “Sense & Sensibility as Austen’s Problem Novel,” citing various difficulties readers, particularly her students, have with the characters and plot. Perhaps most obvious among these problems is whether or not Marianne will find happiness as the wife of Col. Brandon. Dr. Ray, in her charming and humorous manner, convinced us by reading from the text some perhaps-overlooked aspects of Marianne’s and the Colonel’s behavior and opinions that emphasized the empathetic nature of their personalities. Their essential compatibility, she assured us, would bring them happiness.

As always at JASNA AGMs, it is difficult to chose among the wonderful break-out sessions offered by dozens of well-spoken presenters with a variety of intriguing topics.

My good friend Elizabeth Philosophos Cooper of Madison talked about “Jane Austen, Publisher: Writing Herself Into Money and Longing for More.” Liz documented the publication process for each of Austen’s novels, from early unsuccessful attempts through her various methods of reaching publication to the actual funds she received for some of her work, some during her lifetime, and more after her death.

Jeffrey Nigro, Chicago Regional Coordinator, spoke on “The Iconography of Sensibility,” illustrating how artists and poets extoll
ed the beauty and drama of the emotional expressionism of the era.

William Phillips, also of Chicago, counted down from the least egregious of the nasties to the worst of the examples in Sense & Sensibility in his talk “Meaner than a Texas Pole-cat: Present day Perspectives on Austen’s Largest Cast of Nasties.” It wasn’t easy to chose the worst among some of the revolting people in S&S, like John and Fanny Dashwood, Mrs. Ferrars and her son Robert — but of course the nastiest of all was the vindictive and sly Lucy Steele.

I will report further on the activities at Fort Worth — from an exciting book launch, to the brilliant ball, to the outstanding talks by Andrew Davies and Deirdre Le Faye — in my next posts.

Stay tuned for much, much more.

Visiting Corsham Court with Victoria

Corsham Court is near Chippenham in Wiltshire. The website is here.

Corsham Court, which I photographed in 2009 on a visit to Hampshire and Wiltshire, was a Royal manor in the time of Saxon Kings. The core of the present house was built in the late 16^th century by Thomas Smyth. In the 1740’s, the estate was purchased by a member of the Methuen family and eventually altered to house Sir Paul Methuen’s excellent collection of paintings. Almost two centuries later, more fine pictures were added when the family inherited the collection of a relative who had resided in Italy where he acquired many old masters. The initial impression of the house exterior reminded me of a previous visit to the Biltmore estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina

Biltmore, the home of George Vanderbilt in North Carolina, opened in 1895, the creation of architect William Morris Hunt; he based his designs on the style of three 16th C French chateaux.

A closer look at the entrance of Corsham Court.

At Corsham Court, the Elizabethan house was altered significantly several times. In 1798, architect John Nash followed in Capability Brown’s footsteps (see below) but could not keep up! Sadly, Nash’s work was poorly executed and needed significant repair within a few decades. So in the 1840’s, parts of the house were rebuilt again, giving it the look it now has by architect Thomas Bellamy. I find both the Court and Biltmore rather forbidding in appearance. However, the interior of Corsham Court could not be more different from Biltmore. I felt Biltmore was dark, dreary, and altogether uninviting as a place to live (to visit, quite fascinating).

An angled view of one wing.

Corsham Court is lovely, beginning with a handsome hall, that I would call a combination of neo-classic and baroque, as interpreted by Bellamy in the Victorian Age.

The Picture Gallery, a triple cube room, 72 feet long, was designed by Lancelot Capability Brown in the 1760’s. Brown is renowned for his hundreds of landscape garden designs, but he is also responsible for a number of country houses, some fully, others remodeling projects.

Brilliant works by Van Dyke, Strozzi, Dolci, Reni, del Sarto, Rosa, and others fill the walls in the state rooms – an astonishing collection, mostly still owned by the Methuen family. According to the Blue Guide to English Country Houses, “The pictures themselves, still hung much as they were in the 18C, many of them in their original frames, offer an almost unparalleled insight into 18C artistic taste.”

From the house guide book, “In 1765 Morris & Young of Spitalfields supplied 700 yards at 13 s. 6d. a yard, and four years later a further 478 1/2 yards at 14 s. the latter amount for covering the furniture. As time went by, the damask on the chairs got worn, and so sections were cut from behind the paintings to patch them.”

Among the most renowned paintings in the collection is Van Dyke’s Betrayal of Christ, above, now actually owned by the City of Brisol Art Gallery.

Lady Boston, nee Christiana Methuen by George Romney

I love to look at the family portraits as well as the Old Masters since knowing the stories of the families who lived in the great stately homes is a big part of the fun. Christian Methuen died in 1832.

The Cabinet Room

Almost as renowned as the art collections at Corsham Court are the gardens, some dating from the days of Capability Brown and others developed in the last decades.

I had my usual luck with peacocks. Despite my begging, they just weren’t interested in display!

In fact, this fellow just stalked away with a haughty expression. “Don’t bother me,” he seemed to say.

This charming structure leads to the bathhouse, originally designed by Brown but altered by others to its present neo-Gothic look.

Below is another view which shows the now-empty plunge bath, once a popular feature of country houses — and probably useful too.

It must have been lovely on a warm day to soak in the bath and gaze out on the beautiful garden blooms.

Corsham Court is as great country house, well worth visiting.

For a detailed history of the house:

http://www.corsham-court.co.uk/Court%20history/Commentary.html

More information on the collections and reproductions of the paintings can be seen here:

http://www.corsham-court.co.uk/Pictures/Commentary.html

Regency Reflections: Pitshanger Manor and Dulwich Picture Gallery

Sir John Soane (1784-1837) was a distinguished architect in Georgian England whose works have received at great deal of attention from 20th and 21st century architects. His work was unique for his time and appealing to the contemporary sensibility, both then and now. For information on his London home and museum, see the blog post of 9/24/11. This post will discuss two more of his buildings, Pitshanger Manor and the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Pitshanger Manor, Ealing, Greater London

Soane had a well established practice and had completed most work on his own London home in Lincoln’s Inn Fields by 1800. He wanted a villa west of the city where he, his wife and two sons could enjoy country life. He purchased 28 acres for £ 4,500 including an existing house and outbuildings, known as Pitshanger Manor. Eventually, he demolished most of the existing structures, saving only a wing designed by his mentor, architect George Dance, in the 1770’s for previous owners. Over the next few years, Soane and his students worked on the house. Almost all of the drawings and receipts for the construction, decoration and furnishing of the house have been preserved in Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Library, Pitshanger Manor

London has spread out quite a bit and Pitshanger Manor is now in a park in the suburb of Ealing, reachable by the Underground, amidst an affluent bedroom community. In the early 20th century, the building had become the local library, with an addition for additional space. Since the mid-80’s, it has been opened to the public and carefully restored to the look of Soane’s day, except for the addition which is used for small art exhibitions.

Breakfast Room., Pitshanger Manor

The interiors are clearly neo-classic, but have a distinctly contemporary feel. One can easily see why post-modernists are attracted to Soane’s work. The breakfast room has walls with marbled effects, a popular technique used by today’s designers.

Dulwich Picture Gallery

In another section of suburban London, the Dulwich Picture Gallery attracts many visitors to its collection of Old Masters. It is Britain’s first purpose-built public picture gallery, and Soane’s design set the standard for every art museum since. The Picture Gallery is located on the campus of Dulwich College, established in the early 17th century in the village of Dulwich, where it today serves about 1600 boys, ages 7 to 18.

The Picture Gallery came about as a result of several coincidences A London art dealer Noel Desenfans (1745-1807) was asked by the King of Poland to assemble paintings for a national collection in 1790. However, within a few years, Poland had been divided up among Austria, Prussia and Russia. Desenfans tried to sell the collection but met with no success. Therefore he decided, with the help of his friend, Francis

Bourgeois, to set up a public gallery. After his death, Bourgeois willed the collection to Dulwich College. His friend Sir John Soane designed the building, which also includes a mausoleum for Mr. and Mrs. Desenfans and Bourgeois.

Soane’s design was unique, using extensive skylights to bring in natural light. Building began on October 12, 1811. Originally there were five galleries on either side of the mausoleum and flanked by almshouses, which were later converted to additional galleries. Further additions have been kept in sympathy with the original designs.

Girl Leaning on a Window-sill, Rembrandt

The collection contains many gems, some dating from the establishment of the original college, many from the Desenfans collection, others from more recent acquisitions. The Gallery’s website is here.

The Madonna of the Rosary: Murillo

Thomas Linley (1732-95) and his son, also Thomas (1756-98) were famous composers and musical performers in Georgian England, along with Elizabeth and Mary, the elder Thomas’s daughters. They were good friends of the renowned portraitist Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) who painted all of them. Gainsborough’s portrait of the Linley Sisters, below, was part of a bequest of Linley family portraits to the

Gallery. Elizabeth Linley (in blue) was painted just before she eloped and eventually married Richard Brinsley Sheridan, playwright and politician.

The Linley Sisters by Gainsborough

Two hundred years after its establishment, the Dulwich Picture Gallery is thriving; it has won many awards for its extensive educational programs. It stands as a tribute to its founders and to the designer of its trail-blazing building, Sir John Soane.

400th Anniversary of the King James Bible and Hatfield House

The year 2011 marks 400 years since the Bible was translated into the English language in the Authorized Version, aka the King James Bible. After a labor of more than seven years by 47 or more scholars, this third version in English was printed and has, ever since, been one of the most influential books in the English speaking world.

So, friends, eat drink and be merry, for in the fullness of time, you may have to become my brother’s keeper, for he fell flat on his face, though he is clearly the salt of the earth and only occasionally acts holier than thou. He is as old as the hills, but has had his fall from grace due to his feet of clay and his taste for forbidden fruit. In the twinkling of an eye, the powers that be could reach the root of the matter. As we sometimes say, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. So will you cast the first stone? Be a fly in the ointment? Or will you gird your loins, put your house in order and find your heart’s desire? Remember, we reap what we sow.

Okay, so that paragraph is a bit lame, but it illustrates how many familiar phrases — cliches really — come from the KJV.

Numerous celebrations, conferences, services, choral events and exhibitions have been going on all year. For upcoming events and more information, click here for the King James Bible Trust website with further information. Of special interest is the website’s video on life in 1611.

King James

Images courtesy of King James Bible Online; for more, click here.

Many of the stories about the anniversary mention the coincidence of this Bible being written at roughly the same time Shakespeare’s works were performed and published. William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the English language’s most famous poet and playwright, must have known and seen the new bible. I wish I could find out what his reaction was, but so far I haven’t found any comments from Will.

The Chandos Portrait of Shakespeare, National Portrait Gallery

The period of the English Renaissance which brought us both the King James Bible and Shakespeare was part of great changes in all aspects of life. But even today, we recognize the timelessness of these great works. And celebrate them!

Another 400th anniversary marked in 2011 is for Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, home of the Marquess of Salisbury. Here is their website. And for my blog post on a Hatfield visit in 2010, see 8/13/10. I visited again last June (2011) and took a few more pictures.

Above is a shot I took from the staff and business entrance to the House, which is a big working enterprise. I was there to do some research in the Archive.

From near the same spot, one can gaze across the gardens to the Old Palace, where Elizabeth I lived as a child and young woman. Just to the left of the Palace roof is the tower of the parish church, St. Etheldreda’s.
Below, the church in 2009. Here is their website.

Below, one of the handsome lamps that grace the park.

And finally, some of Lady Salisbury’s beautiful old roses.

2011 is a good year in many ways — and so apparently was 1611.

Moats, Five of 6,000

Victoria here. The Summer 2011 issue of the National Trust Magazine has a page of facts and figures with several fun items:

43 is the number of pubs owned by the NT; 200 bicycles are available to hire in Cumber Park Nottinghamshire; and 6,000 is the number of MOATS in the UK, “making them one of our nation’s most common medieval monuments.”

Bodiam Castle

I went to my picture collection to see how many moats I could account for. A recent one, though now a dry garden, was at Walmer Castle in Kent, which you can read about on this blog of 7/24/11.

Perhaps my favorite is the moat at Scotney Castle, also in Kent. The website is here.

Be sure to click on the photo gallery for lovely pictures, though none quite so atmospheric as the ones I took on a visit in late October mist. The gardens have been planted for special beauty in the spring and autumn.

In the 19^th century, the gardens were designed in the picturesque manner by William Sawrey Gilpin for the Hussey family; Gilpin’s uncle, the Rev. William Gilpin, had criticized the style of his contemporary Capability Brown as too smooth and tame.

The old castle, dating from the 14^th century, was “selectively ruined” to provide a focal point for the garden, leaving only one round tower of the original four.

In 1970, the garden was left to the National Trust. The moat acts as a perfect mirror in the above romantic view.

In one of my several visits to Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, it was January and the moat was frozen.

After a snowstorm, the site was deserted, silent and ghostly in the fog, shared only with the sheep who were bundled up against the wind in their finest fleece. My husband and I made our lonely way around the ruins, reading all the labels and trying to imagine how it would have looked when it was the lively center of a great community.

Another visit was in October, in bright sunshine. There were many more visitors, although I managed to take my snaps in between them!

Bodiam Castle was constructed in the late 14th century and though ruined during the Civil War when attacked by Parliamentary forces who eventually removed its roofs, it is relatively intact. George Curzon, 1^st Marquess Curzon (1859-1925), purchased Bodiam in 1916 and managed a number of preservation and restoration projects there before presenting it to the National Trust in 1925, which has continued to protect the popular site.

The sheep were happier, it seemed, but you will note they had a good October start on
their winter coats.

Bodiam was used as the Exterior of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey
in the 1986 BBC version, even though it was never an abbey nor does it resemble the Northanger Austen describes. Bodiam has also appeared in episodes of Dr. Who and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, among many other films and tv programs.

Both Bodiam and Scotney are NT sites easily accessible from London. Two other popular tourist sites with lovely moats are Leeds Castle and Hever Castle, also not far from the City.