Tag: By the Seaside with Sanditon

By the Seaside with Sanditon: Sea-Bathing, a match to every disorder in the 19th-century

Why would anyone want to go into freezing cold sea water? What medical benefits were they hoping to achieve?

In Jane Austen’s novel Sanditon an entire seaside community is in development to attract visitors to a new watering place for the therapeutic or curative benefit of sea-air and sea-bathing. This involved the process of immersing yourself in freezing cold water. However unpleasant this many sound to our 21st-century sensibilities, it was strongly believed in the 18th and 19th-centuries to have strong physical benefits to a wide range of maladies. Julie at Austenonly blog has graciously investigated the 19th-century medical mindset which instigated this belief and fueled the development of the seaside resorts such as Sanditon. Please visit her great blog and discover why Mr. Parker in the novel Sanditon believes “The Sea air and Sea Bathing together were nearly infallible, one or the other of them being a match for every Disorder” and Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice thinks a little sea-bathing will set her up forever!

Further reading

Upcoming event posts

Day 6 – March 20 Review: Sanditon (Hesperus)
Day 7 – March 21 Sanditon Completions
Day 8 – March 22 Event Wrap-up

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Sanditon Group Read Chapters 9-12: Summary, Musings & Discussion: Day Six Giveaway

It was impossible for Charlotte not to suspect a good deal of fancy in such an extraordinary state of health. Disorders and recoveries so very much out of the common way seemed more like the amusement of eager minds in want of employment than of actual afflictions and relief. The Narrator, Ch 9

Quick Synopsis

Charlotte believes the Parkers ailments are imaginary. Diana makes arrangements for Mrs. Griffiths even though not asked to do so. Charlotte meets Susan and Arthur Parker. One is worn by illness and medicine, the other does not look ill at all. Arthur is engrossed in eating buttered toast and cocoa. Mrs. Griffiths arrives in Sanditon bringing only three young ladies. One is a Miss Lambe a sickly heiress that Lady Denham thinks will do for Sir Edward. Charlotte and Mrs. Parker walk to Sanditon House. Charlotte sees Clara Brereton and Sir Edward secretly meeting. Lady Denham seems put out by their arrival. Clara returns and lies about her delay. Sir Edward arrives unaffected. Charlotte realizes that they deceive Lady Denham who would not approve of their match. Sir Edward extols upon the virtues of sea-bathing and encouraging both ladies to try it. Charlotte realizes that her first impression of Sir Edward and Lady Denham were not true. She and Mrs. Parker walk home. Talk of Sidney Parker catches her off guard.

Musings

Charlotte meets the two additional Parker siblings, Susan and Arthur. Visiting there lodgings is like entering a sick ward. The windows are closed and the fire is blazing even though it is a fine summer day. It does not take Charlotte long to conclude that their ailments are imagined fancy since there is a discrepancy with the activity they are about and their hypochondria talk. Diana is running all over town in preparation of Mrs. Griffiths’ arrival and Susan has relocated the three of them from the hotel to lodging moving heavy boxes herself. “It would seem that they must either be very busy for the good of others or else extremely ill themselves.” Arthur appears in good health, though he needs to sit by the fire to ward away damp sea air and his rheumatism. As Charlotte becomes better acquainted with the Parkers medical maladies we begin to really see Austen making fun of people attaching illness as an identity. This family revolves around illness or activity. Such a dichotomy! The bit with Arthur’s speech about toasting bread and sneaking butter behind his sisters was hysterical. This is truly burlesque comedy. Who does not know someone who secretly eats or has done so themselves? Ha!

Miss Lambe was beyond comparison the most important and precious, as she paid in proportion to her fortune. She was about seventeen, half mulatto, chilly and tender, had a maid of her own, was to have the best room in the lodgings, and was always of the first consequence in every plan of Mrs. Griffiths. The Narrator Ch 10

All the wheels of communication behind Diana’s efforts to bring two large families to Sanditon end in embarrassment for her. There is only one Mrs. Griffiths of Camberwell and the West Indians are one Miss Lambe, a sickly heiress that neatly fills Lady Denham’s requirements for a wife for Sir Edward. Her practical nature regrets the long journey from Hampshire, a brother disappointed, an expensive house for a week rented, “and worse than all the rest, the sensation of her knowing that she was not clear-sighted and infallible as she had believed herself.” It did not trouble her for long. Besides Miss Lambe, Mrs. Griffiths brings only two other young ladies with her. Austen describes the two Miss Beauforts as “common as any young ladies in the kingdom with tolerable complexions and showy figures, very accomplish and very ignorant.” This made me laugh out loud. She is mocking what young English ladies are raised to be by showing how shallow they are. Their true ambitions are only the pursuit of admiration by men and the accumulation of fashion in order to captivate some man of better fortune than their own. Ouch! Is Charlotte the only character of virtue in this novel? I do not think I have ever seen Austen dig so deep into human imperfections than in Sanditon!

Among other points of moralising reflection which the sight of this tete-a-tete produced, Charlotte could not but think of the extreme difficulty which secret lovers must have in finding a proper spot for their stolen interviews. The Narrator Ch 11

Charlotte plans to visit Lady Denham at Sanditon House for the first time with Mrs. Parker. Always the salesman, Mr. Parker wants his wife to turn the social call into business opportunity and solicit Lady Denham for a charity cause. His sister Diana, always churning alway at some activity for others has a long list of charities that she would like Mrs. Parker to ask her Ladyship to contribute to also. Now, Mrs. Parker is a very biddable sort of woman, but even she has her limits retorting that she “could no more mention these things to Lady Denham than I could fly.” I did not expect that reaction at all. I love it when Austen has characters react in the opposite of what we are expecting. This point is proved further when Charlotte sees a secret assignation between Clara Brereton and Sir Edward Denham. I expected this from Sir Edward who fancies himself in the “line of a Lovelace,” but not of Clara. What does she have to gain from their relationship? She is an impoverished cousin serving at Lady Denham’s whim. To endanger her relationship with her would be foolish. She seems smart. What does she see in him? Charlotte is puzzled also. “The connection between Clara and Sir Edward was as ambiguous in some respects as it was plain in others.” She seems to abhor their deceit yet sympathize with their plight. “To be continually at the mercy of such an old lady’s whims struck Charlotte as being particularly hard upon a young couple.” Is Austen being purposely ambiguous also?

Still extolling the pleasures of bathing, he sought to entertain them with his longest syllables and most edifying sentences. “To plunge into the refreshing wave and be wrapped round with the liquid element is indeed a most delightful sensation,” he assured them. “But health and pleasure may be equally consulted in these salutary ablutions; and to many a wan countenance can the blush of the rose be restored by an occasional dip in the purifying surge of the ocean.” Now, he hastened to add, trying to bow to them both at the same time, “that either of my fair listeners would need the rose restored to their lovely cheeks.” Sir Edward Denham, Ch 12

Well, there is definitely nothing ambiguous about Sir Edward and his continued foppery and nonsense speeches. His choice of sensual words to two young ladies is most inappropriate, oozing total seduction. How can any woman, no anyone take him seriously? In comparison to Austen’s other bounders, rakes and rattles, he is like a toady Mr. Collins preaching the efficacy of love instead of religion. Our heroine Charlotte sees right through him. The rest of the community, not so much. The only other person who has the potential to set things in balance with his honest opinions, neat equipage and fashionable air is Sidney Parker, who shall sadly remain the mystery hero of Austen’s oeuvre.

Favorite words

superfluity, circuitous, hitherto, efficacy, dross, perturbation, solicitude, importunate, assignation and assiduously.

Further reading

By the Seaside with Sanditon: Day 6 Giveaway

Enter a chance to win one copy of Sanditon: Jane Austen’s Unfinished Masterpiece Completed, by Jane Austen and Juliette Shapiro by leaving a comment stating what intrigues you about Sanditon, or who your favorite character is by midnight PDT Friday, March 26th, 2010. Winner to be announced on Saturday, March 27th. Shipment to continental US addresses only.

Upcoming event posts

Day 6 – March 20 Review: Sanditon (Hesperus)
Day 7 – March 21 Sanditon Completions
Day 8 – March 22 Event Wrap-up

© 2010 Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose

29

By the Seaside with Sanditon: Guest Blog with Mandy N. on Regency-era Seaside Fashions

Please welcome Mandy N. today as a guest blogger during ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’. Mandy is an avid collector of vintage fashion plates and has graciously offered to share some of her lovely images and chat about Regency-era fashion that I am quite certain Mr. Parker would think quite elegant enough for Sanditon.

During the Regency-era, seaside resorts were popular among fashionable society for both health cures and holidays. Jane Austen’s novels mention the resorts of Brighton, Scarborough, Cromer, Lyme and her fictional ‘Sandy ton’ or Sanditon. At resorts, fashionable visitors delighted in leisurely pleasures of promenading and seabathing amid sunshine and sea breezes. To partake of resort pleasures visitors required fashionable apparel to promenade, seabath, mingle and be seen by society. Seaside resorts also encouraged ladies to buy trinkets and shell ornaments at the circulating library similar to what Mr. Parker tries to establish at Sanditon. 

The basic seaside costume was a white muslin dress comfortable for a beach stroll and to ‘take a turn on the cliff’ (Ch.6), or dress up with accessories for a promenade. My impression is between the 1809 to 1815 seasons seaside fashion evolved. Accessories such as scarves, ribbons, shawls and reticules added blue, green or yellow colour to a white dress. Bonnets and parasols in matching colours added variety to seaside Regency costumes. ‘the most stylish girls in  the place.‘  (Ch. 11)

           

(Figure 1 left) Promenade Dress (Ackermann’s Repository 1809) shows a stylish frock for a stroll on the beach. A white muslin dress. Bonnet of plaited straw with ostrich feather, tied with ribbon. A Marine Scarf of purple silk and matching Chinese parasol of purple silk. Shoes and gloves of yellow kid. No doubt the perfect outfit to enjoy ‘the finest, purest seabreeze on the coast’ (Ch. 1) 

(Figure 2 right) Promenade or Sea Beach Costume (Ackerman’s Repository 1810). Take a turn around the cliff in natural surroundings near the resort in white muslin under an apple-green crape tunic coat with straw bonnet tied with ribbon. Chinese green silk parasol and green kid slippers. A versatile outfit to wear round the resort. 

(Figure 3) A sight to please Mr. Parker is the sight of a most fashionable young woman who knew to sit upon the seashore to enjoy sunshine and a breeze. Promenade Dress (Ackermann’s Repository 1815). A stripey pelisse with a full neck ruff and silk shawl over the shoulders. Fabric-covered bonnet with flowers. Her strapped slippers allow easier walking on a sandy shore. This Promenade Dress was fashionable in cool months. Regency society enjoyed visiting seaside resorts all year round. (Thanks Heather, for your elegant 1815 Promenade Dress)

 

(Figure 4)  Morning Dress (Ackermann’s Repository 1814). A lady sits on the beach looking out to sea.  Her robe is evening-primrose-coloured sarsanet with blonde lace. French hat of ribbons and flowers. A darker dress may not show dust or sand so much as a white dress. Fashion terms like evening primrose may’ve appealed to stylish ladies. This Morning Walking Dress has the addition of a telescope. Telescope gazing was a popular leisure with men and women at sea resorts. Like the Miss Beauforts, perhaps she- ‘looks at nothing through a telescope.‘ (Ch. 11)

         

(Figure 5 left) Walking Dress (Ackermann’s Repository 1811).  Muslin robe with a fuller sleeve and a square neckerchief in folds. Amber sarsenet coat. A mountain hat with flower, oranmented with white crape (her hair folds beneath the white crape). Half-boots of buff kid and a crimson reticule. This outfit for a seaside stroll appears more sophisticated than dresses of 1809-1810 seasons. Personally, I love the background and beach activity in this costume plate! 

(Figure 6 right) Walking Dress (Ackermann’s Repository 1815). Exemplifies a costume worn by the seashore at time of Sanditon. A high muslin dress of short waking length trimmed with treble flounces and full ruff of French style. Long sleeve with wristband over the hand. French bonnet of white satin edged with blue ribbon and a plume of feathers. Mantle of silk embroidered with silks. Silk stockings, gloves and slippers of blue kid. Blue shoes? Civilization indeed!  ‘Who would have expected such a sight at a shoemaker’s in old Sanditon!’ (Ch. 4)  But did she buy her large, large bonnet from Jebbs? 

         

(Figure 7 left) Promenade Half Full Dress (La Belle Assemblee 1810). An ensemble fit for an heiress to stroll upon the Terrace. A muslin dress with long sleeves and low neck. French scarf of yellow silk. Note the lace veil on the yellow silk bonnet to protect a lady’s complexion, or, if she is ill protection from unwanted public gaze upon the Terrace. Parasol of light yellow & white fringe. Gloves and shoes of yellow kid.  Likely, such fashion was seen at large, fashionable resorts. ‘the Terrace was the attraction to all; everybody who walked, must begin with the Terrace.’ (Ch. 7) 

(Figure 8 right) Promenade Costume (Ackermann’s Repository 1812). A muslin robe with long sleeves, simple collar and brooch. Amber sash, rosary and cross necklace. Gloves and shoes of yellow kid. Her hat is trimmed with white ribbons. I wonder if she reads a book of poetry? ‘Upon the Terrace with the Parkers and Denhams, sat Clara Brereton.’ She is known to wear white ribbons.

(Figure 9) ‘Two females in elegant white.’ (Ch. 4) Promenade or Sea Beach Costumes (Ackermann’s Repository 1810). First figure: White muslin gown, a tunic of pink sarsanet with cording up front. Straw hat tied with white ribbon. A founding lace cap with flowers. Muslin cloak and head-dress of square veil of French lace. Gloves and pink slippers. Second figure: A white muslin robe and cloak of fine muslin. Headdress with a square veil of lace accented with a brooch. Gloves and amber slippers. Lace veils probably protected a lady’s face from sun and wind on the beach. The outfits appear loose and comfortable for around the resort wear. ‘The sea air and sea bathing together were nearly infallible’ (Ch. 2)

(Figure 10) Sea Bathing Costume (La Belle Assemblee 1815). A pelisse of green-white silk with fringes. Leghorn hat with feathers. Green and white striped half boots. At seaside resorts, ladies could parade in style enjoying the purest seabreeze by the dancing sea. Yet, promenading was not the only leisure. Sea resorts were famed by society for the novelty of sea cures and seabathing. ‘Here began the descent to the beach, and to the bathing machines-and this was therefore the favourite spot for beauty and fashion.’ (Ch. 4) This fashion plate features a lady strolling in seabathing costume to the beach in to the seabathing machines to change and enter the water in privacy. Seabathing machines can be seen on the lower right side of the fashion plate. The advantage of this costume was a lady could quickly dress or undress. Does she carry a muslin slip in her bag? The most fastidious belle could not find a more becoming Bathing Costume. I wonder if this lady bathes for leisure or sea cure? In the novel, active hypochondriac Diana Parker appears a regular seabather, so presumably owns a Bathing Costume. She intends ‘to enourage Miss Lambe in taking her first dip…and go in the machine with her if he wishes it.‘ (Ch. 12)  

In the Regency-era seabathing was the motive to improve one’s health, but socializing and fashion appear as important as any sea cure. As we see in these fashion plates from the Ladies Journals of the era, it is apparent that they catered to the novelty of fashion by the sea. To realistically display Walking Dresses or a Sea Bathing Costumes, beach or cliff scenes were popular as background on fashion plates. To a fashionable lady, the picture may convey not only the infallible delights of finery but the delight of visiting a resort for ‘the sea, dancing and sparkling in sunshine and freshness.’ (Ch. 4)

For people not yet drowned by seaside images, you can check the wallpaper gallery at Solitary Elegance. The August wallpaper features two Regency seaside mother & child plates and a quote from Sanditon for your enjoyment.

Many thanks to Mandy N. for all her work scanning images and researching the text. Bravo!

Further reading

Upcoming event posts

Day 6 – March 20 Group Read Chapters 9-12
Day 6 – March 20 Review: Sanditon (Hesperus)
Day 7 – March 21 Sanditon Completions
Day 8 – March 22 Event Wrap-up

18

By the Seaside with Sanditon: Worthing, the inspiration for Sanditon?

Eastbourne vs. Worthing? As we continue to explore Jane Austen’s last unfinished novel Sanditon it is interesting to ponder what Jane Austen used to model her emerging seaside resort of Mr. Parker’s creation. Julie at Austenonly presents a strong argument for the resort for Worthing in Sussex, also an emerging seaside resort in the early 1800’s that Austen visited with her family.

“There has been much speculation about Jane Austen’s inspiration for the town of Sanditon: was the place completely  imaginary or did she base it on a resort with which she was familiar? Eastbourne in Sussex has been mooted as a candidate, though as far as I am aware, Jane Austen is not recorded as ever having visited that town.

But she is recorded as having visited Worthing, another Sussex resort, and this definitely has possibilities for being her template for the developing resort of Sanditon.”

Visit Austenonly, Julie’s excellent blog to discover the evidence in support of her theory and decide for yourself. 

Upcoming event posts

Day 6 – March 20 Group Read Chapters 9-12
Day 6 – March 20 Review: Sanditon (Hesperus)
Day 7 – March 21 Sanditon Completions
Day 8 – March 22 Events Wrap-up

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5

Sanditon Group Read Chapters 5-8: Summary, Musings & Discussion: Day Four Giveaway

“We have consulted physician after physician in vain, till we are quite convinced that they can do nothing for us and that we must trust to our own knowledge of our own wretched constitutions for any relief.” Diana Parker Chapter 5

Quick Synopsis

A letter from Diana Parker updates her brother on their ongoing health issues. She does not believe in doctors. She may have two possible large families for his resort. Charlotte meets Lady Denham and Miss Brereton. One is shrewd, the other a heroine. Lady Denham does not want a doctor in Sanditon. Her husband poor Mr. Hollis would still be alive today without them. Charlotte meets Sir Edward Denham and his sister. He runs on about the “terrific grandeur” of the sea and poets. She thinks him downright silly. Later he tells her he was born to be a seducer and plans to woo Clara by affection or carry her off. Mr. Parker’s three siblings arrive in Sanditon and update him on their health woes. Diana has arrived to make arrangements for the Camberwell Seminary who she has procured through a chain of friends. Charlotte thinks she is activity run mad.

Musings

Chapter four opens with a letter from Diana Parker read by her brother. We begin to learn about the extent of their medical maladies. Diana is suffering from “my old grievance, spasmodic bile.” She thanks her brother for his efforts to find a doctor for Sanditon, but she is entirely done with the whole tribe and they prefer to treat themselves! This is an interesting dichotomy. Mr. Parker is trying to establish a health spa and his sister does not believe in doctors for herself or her siblings but does for others? She understands that having a doctor at Sanditon will attract visitors and help her brother’s enterprise but she wants none of it. She will not visit Sanditon because the sea air would be the death of her, so evidently she does not believe in natural remidies either. Ten days of leeches applied to her sister Susan has not cured her headaches. Her solution is to advise her to have three teeth drawn! This is shocking to Charlotte who thinks it is extreme. Mr. Parker agrees with her. Interesting that the two siblings are not in agreement on medical philosophies. This set up is a great way for Austen to develop the pros and cons of medical treatment and praying upon the sick.

Lady Denham was of middle height, stout, upright and alert in her motions, with a shrewd eye and self-satisfied air but not an unagreeable countenance; and though her manner was rather downright and abrupt, as of a person who valued herself on being free-spoken, there was a good humour and cordiality about her — a civility and readiness to be acquainted. The Narrator Ch 6

Charlotte begins to tour the neighborhood and visits the circulating library where she finds all kinds of trinkets to buy. Among the books is a volume of Camilla. “She had not Camilla’s youth, and had no intention of having her distress.” Ha! Camilla: A Picture of Youth is Fanny Burney’s widely popular 1796 novel focused the matrimonial machination of a group of cousins. Austen had mentioned Camilla in her defence of a novel in Northanger Abbey.

“And what are you reading, Miss — ?” “Oh! It is only a novel!” replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. “It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda”; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best–chosen language.” Northanger Abbey, Ch 5

I found it quite amusing that her heroine Charlotte has heard of Camilla but dismisses it because of the heroine’s challenges. What we know of Charlotte’s life so far would not put her in the line of a romantic heroine. Quite the contrary. Just to mix things up, later we do see her interest in Clara Brereton, Lady Denham’s companion, who she thinks is a “bewitching heroine in a novel.” Obviously she does read novels and thought she fit the part, but sees no apparent persecution by Lady Denham to qualify her in the Gothic vein. “On one side it seemed protecting kindness, on the other grateful and affectionate respect.”

“I make no apologies for my heroine’s vanity. If there are young ladies in the world at her time of life more dull of fancy and more careless of pleasing, I know them not and never wish to know them.” The Narrator (speaking to the reader directly) Ch 7

More introductions bring Sir Edward Denham and his sister Esther into Charlotte’s new social circle. Esther is cold and indifferent, but her brother is all charm and affability and Charlotte is impressed until he starts spouting romantic nonsense about the “terrific grandeur of the ocean” to her and erroneously quoting poetry which she quickly calls him out on. She believes that Burns’ life had certain irregularities that prevented her from trusting his writing. “He felt and he wrote and he forgot.” Sir Edward passionately defends him, but she thinks Sir Edward overly sentimental and downright silly and changes the subject to the weather. Lady Denham has her own agenda too. She reveals that even though Sir Edward is the heir of her late husband’s estate, he depends upon her for support. He must marry for money. “if we could but get a young heiress to Sanditon! But heiresses are monstrous scarce!” She is giving Charlotte fair warning that even though he is handsome, charming and titled, she should look elsewhere.

“Sir Edward’s great object in life was to be seductive. With such personal advantages as he knew himself to possess, and such talents as he did also give himself credit for, he regarded it as his duty. He felt that he was formed to be a dangerous man, quite in the line of the Lovelaces Sir Edward’s great object in life was to be seductive.” The Narrator Ch 7

Charlotte’s suspicions of Sir Edward are soon solidified when he continues to rattle on about books. “I am no indiscriminate novel reader. The mere trash of the common circulating library I hold in the highest contempt. You will never hear me advocating those puerile emanations which detail nothing but discordant principles incapable of amalgamation, or those vapid tissues of ordinary occurrences from which no useful deductions can be drawn.” He has been influenced by Samuel Richardson and his followers. His “great object in life was to be seductive” and he regards it as his duty. “He felt that he was formed to be a dangerous man, quite in the line of the Lovelaces.” Lovelace refers to anti-hero Robert Lovelace in Samuel Richardson’s 1748 novel Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady. Sir Edward openly announces to Charlotte that he has designs on Clara who is young, dependent and his rival for Lady Denham’s fortune. Clara sees his game. He is oblivious and if he can not seduce her with affection, he would carry her off, just like his hero Roger Lovelace.

“Invalids indeed. I trust there are not three people in England who have so sad a right to that appellation! But my dear Miss Heywood, we are sent into this world to be as extensively useful as possible, and where some degree of strength of mind is given, it is not a feeble body which will excuse us — or incline us to excuse ourselves. The world is pretty much divided between the weak of mind and the strong; between those who can act and those who cannot; and it is the bounden duty of the capable to let no opportunity of being useful escape them. My sister’s complaints and mine are happily not often of a nature to threaten existence immediately.” Diana Parker Ch 8

Diana Parker arrives in Sanditon totally unannounced. Like her brother Mr. Parker, she has acted on impulse and brought her two siblings with her even though they are all very ill (in their minds?). Diana has a thousand fears for her sister Susan who bore the travel tolerably well. No hysterics until they reached Sanditon! While Diana talks a blue streak about her medical news and her lengthy chain of communication to procure Mrs. Griffiths and her Camberwell Seminary group to Sanditon, Charlotte is amazed at her energy in the face of her condition. “Unaccountable officiousness! Activity run mad!” Diana explains that the world is divided between the weak of mind and the strong and those who can act and those who cannot. “It is the bounden duty of the capable to let no opportunity of being useful escape them.” We hear Diana and her brother talk about her illnesses and how debilitating they are to her, but we have no evidence of it – yet!

Favorite words

Vouchsafed, beau monde, venturesome, watering-place, milch asses, chamber-horse, physic, verily, beseech, indubitable, vicissitudes, aberrations, coruscations, illimitable, sagacity, forbearance, puerile, emanations, amalgamation, alembic, sublimities, incipient, aberration, amelioration, indomitable, eleemosynary, sagacity, assiduity, alacrity, belles letters.

Further reading

By the Seaside with Sanditon: Day 4 Giveaway

Enter a chance to win one copy of Sanditon and Other Stories, by Jane Austen (Everyman’s Library) by leaving a comment stating what intrigues you about Sanditon, or who your favorite character is by midnight PDT  Friday, March 26th, 2010. Winner to be announced on Saturday, March 27th. Shipment to continental US addresses only.

Upcoming event posts

Day 5 – March 19 Regency seaside fashions
Day 6 – March 20 Group Read Chapters 9-12
Day 7 – March 21 Sanditon Completions
Day 8 – March 22 Event Wrap-up

© 2010 Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose

17

By the Seaside with Sanditon: Sir Edward Denham’s Sentimental Stirrings about the Sea & Seduction

He began, in a tone of great taste and feeling, to talk of the sea and the sea shore; and ran with energy through all the usual phrases employed in praise of their sublimity and descriptive of the undescribable emotions they excite in the mind of sensibility. The terrific grandeur of the ocean in a storm, its glass surface in a calm, its gulls and its samphire and the deep fathoms of its abysses, its quick vicissitudes, its direful deceptions, its mariners tempting it in sunshine and overwhelmed by the sudden tempest — all were eagerly and fluently touched; rather commonplace perhaps, but doing very well from the lips of a handsome Sir Edward, and she could not but think him a man of feeling, till he began to stagger her by the number of his quotations and the bewilderment of some of his sentences. Sanditon, Chapter 7

Jane Austen’s anti-hero in Sanditon, Sir Edward Denham, Baronet of Denham Park is a bit of rake and a rattle. He is prone to long inflated speeches in the most pompous and affected style all in an attempt to reinforce his own notion that he is a romantic character born to seduce women “quite in the line of Lovelaces.” Lovelace refers to the villain Robert Lovelace in Samuel Richardson’s 1748 novel Clarissa who rapes and ruins the young heroine. With Sir Edward, Austen is poking fun at the dramatic and sentimental heroes and villains of the novels of her times.  

During his speech to Charlotte Heywood, he rambles on about the sea describing in quite unoriginal phrases its “terrific grandeur” of glass surface, gulls and samphire. When I originally read the novel years ago, I had no idea what samphire was, what significance it had and why Jane Austen used as and example of describing the sea. Understanding the cultural context of Austen’s novels can be so enlightening and I asked Julie of Austenonly, a fellow Austen enthusiast and expert on the era to explain it all for me. She has graciously obliged and you can read her excellent post on samphire at her blog.

In addition to his rattling’s about the sea we are treated to his lengthy effusions on poets as he incorrectly attributes Scott to have written about the sea, which Charlotte quickly corrects him on.

“Do you remember”, said he, “Scott’s beautiful Lines on the Sea? — Oh! what a description they convey! — They are never out of my Thoughts when I walk here. — That Man who can read them unmoved must have the nerves of an Assassin! — Heaven defend me from meeting such a Man un-armed.”  

“What description do you mean?”, said Charlotte. “I remember none at this moment, of the Sea, in either of Scott’s Poems.”

“Do not you indeed? — Nor can I exactly recall the beginning at this moment.”  Ch 6

This blunder does not deter him in the least and he continues quoting other poets: Burns, Montgomery and Campbell. Our observant heroine is having none of it and calls him out again.

“I have read several of Burns’ Poems with great delight”, said Charlotte, as soon as she had time to speak, “but I am not poetic enough to separate a Man’s Poetry entirely from his Character; — & poor Burns’s known Irregularities greatly interrupt my enjoyment of his Lines. — I have difficulty in depending on the Truth of his Feelings as a Lover. I have not faith in the sincerity of the affections of a Man of his Description. He felt & he wrote & he forgot.” Ch 8

One wonders if Charlotte has learned that Sir Edward’s “known irregularities greatly interrupt” her enjoyment of his speech? She has difficulty believing the truth of Burns’ poetry because of his personal life. A man’s actions reflect upon his reputation and character. I love the parallel between what she describes as Burns’ faults, “He felt & he wrote & he forgot” with Sir Edward’s want of being a seducer, who we well know are all about the conquest and not the results or consequences!

More on the insincere and insalubrious Sir Edward Denham as he expounds upon “The mere Trash of the common Circulating Library” when ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’ continues this week.

Upcoming event posts

Day 4 – March 18 Group read Chapters 5-8
Day 5 – March 19 Regency seaside fashions
Day 6 – March 20 Group Read Chapters 9-12
Day 7 – March 21 Sanditon Completions

10

By the Seaside with Sanditon: Guest Blog with Julie of Austenonly on Regency-era Seaside Resorts

Joining us today to extend the Sanditon celebration across the Internet is a very special guest, Julie the very affable and talented blog mistress of Austenonly. Her expertise in Georgian and Regency era culture and history is astonishing. Her extensive library of resource books would make even Mr. Darcy envious. To tie into to our ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’ event this week, she will be blogging about the development of Regency-era seaside resorts similar to what our Mr. Parker and Lady Denham are attempting to create at Sanditon. Enjoy! 

Jane Austen’s unfinished fragment, Sanditon, is set in a small Sussex seaside resort, a place that is being ruthlessly and relentlessly “improved” by Mr Parker, a man obsessed with his creation and the money-making opportunities it affords: 

Mr. Parker`s character and history were soon unfolded. All that he understood of himself, he readily told, for he was very openhearted; and where he might be himself in the dark, his conversation was still giving information to such of the Heywoods as could observe. By such he was perceived to be an enthusiast — on the subject of Sanditon, a complete enthusiast. Sanditon, the success of Sanditon as a small, fashionable bathing place, was the object for which he seemed to live. A very few years ago, it had been a quiet village of no pretensions; but some natural advantages in its position and some accidental circumstances having suggested to himself and the other principal landholder the probability of its becoming a profitable speculation, they had engaged in it, and planned and built, and praised and puffed, and raised it to something of young renown; and Mr. Parker could now think of very little besides…  Sanditon, Chapter 2 

Sanditon is also under the patronage of Lady Denham, the wealthy widow of Mr Hollis and a baronet, a social climber though marriage and a woman rather in the mould of  Lady Catherine de Bourgh of Pride and Prejudice,. Here she is described by Mr Parker: 

“There is at times,” said he, “a little self-importance — but it is not offensive — and there are moments, there are points, when her love of money is carried greatly too far. But she is a good-natured woman, a very good-natured woman — a very obliging, friendly neighbour; a cheerful, independent, valuable character — and her faults may be entirely imputed to her want of education. She has good natural sense, but quite uncultivated. She has a fine active mind as well as a fine healthy frame for a woman of seventy, and enters into the improvement of Sanditon with a spirit truly admirable. Though now and then, a littleness will appear. She cannot look forward quite as I would have her and takes alarm at a trifling present expense without considering what returns it will make her in a year or two. That is, we think differently. We now and then see things differently, Miss Heywood. Those who tell their own story, you know, must be listened to with caution. When you see us in contact, you will judge for yourself.” Lady Denham was indeed a great lady beyond the common wants of society, for she had many thousands a year to bequeath, and three distinct sets of people to be courted by: her own relations, who might very reasonably wish for her original thirty thousand pounds among them; the legal heirs of Mr. Hollis, who must hope to be more indebted to her sense of justice than he had allowed them to be to his… Sanditon, Chapter 3 

In this satire on developing seaside resorts, commercial greed, hypochondria and the type of people these place attracted, it is perhaps no mere coincidence that Jane Austen ensures that Mr Holllis, the first husband of Lady Denham, shares the name of the man who began the development of Lyme Regis from small fishing village to a seaside resort. 

Lyme Regis from A Guide to all the Watering and
Sea-Bathing  Places etc (1803) by John Feltham

Thomas Hollis (1720-1774) was an interesting character. He was a political propagandist and a radical but also a supporter of the house of Hanover. He was a benefactor, amongst other institutions, of Harvard University and owned an estate of 3000 acres at Corscombe near Beauminster. He kept, however, a suite of rooms in the Three Cups Hotel at Lyme and bought up much of the slums and derelict property in Lyme in order to demolish them and improve the town. He created the first public promenade by purchasing land on the shore to create what Jane Austen would have referred to as The Walk ( it is now part of Marine Parade). He knocked down a series of warehouses to clear a site for the building of Lyme’s Assembly Rooms complex and these were completed in 1775 just after Hollis’s death. These are the Rooms that Jane Austen visited in 1804. 

Continue to full post 

Upcoming event posts

Day 4 – March 18 Group Read Chapters 5-8
Day 5 – March 19 Regency seaside fashions
Day 6 – March 20 Group Read Chapters 9-12
Day 7 – March 21 Sanditon Completions

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Sanditon Group Read Chapters 1-4: Summary, Musings & Discussion: Day Two Giveaway

“But Sanditon itself – everybody has heard of Sanditon. The favourite – for a young and rising bathing-place – certainly the favourite spot of all that are to be found along the coast of Sussex; the most favoured by nature, and promising to be the most chosen by man.” Mr. Parker, Chapter 1

Quick Synopsis

While traveling through Sussex Mr. & Mrs. Parker have a carriage accident on a steep road. Mr. Parker exits the carriage and sprains his foot. Mr. Heywood, a local gentleman farmer and his family take them in and they stay a fortnight. They depart for home with Mr. Heywood’s daughter Charlotte to Sanditon, a seaside resort community that Mr. Parker is developing in partnership with Lady Denham. She is old, rich, shrewd widow who has buried two husbands. Her companion is her young cousin Clara Brereton. Her deceased husband’s nephew is Sir Edward Denham. Her family, Clara and Edward all vie for her fortune. They enter old Sanditon village and Mr. Parker is excited over shop merchandise and improvements. Civilization! They pass his former residence and climb the hill to his new home Trafalgar House. The Terrace, shopping Mall and sea bathing machines are visible from Charlotte’s rooms.

Musings

The story opens with a carriage accident that is brought about by Mr. Parker’s impetuous nature. On a whim and without investigation he has altered his route home and taken a treacherous and steep road in pursuit of a doctor he read about in the morning newspaper. When his carriage overturns he and his wife are not injured. Only after he steps from the carriage onto the firm ground is he injured by twisting his ankle. This made me smile. Here is Jane Austen beginning with an irony, and then doubling it for us when he discovers that he is in the wrong town and that there are two Willingden’s. Mr. Heywood a local gentleman farmer comes to their rescue and offers aid and refreshments. They stay a fortnight! What hospitality! The two gentlemen could not be farther in temperament or personality: Mr. Parker is all about change and progress and the ‘modern’ life and Mr. Heywood is content to never leave home or change anything about his life. Mr. Parker is seeking a doctor and Mr. Heywood has no need of them! Mr. Parker enthusiastically describes Sanditon, a seaside community he is developing and Mr. Heywood thinks that resorts are “Bad things for a country — sure to raise the of provisions and make the poor good for nothing.” Amazingly, even though they are polar opposites they enjoy each others company and Mr. Heywood trusts him enough to allow his daughter Charlotte to return with them to Sanditon for a holiday. The way Mr. Parker enthusiastically defends the need of another seaside resort reminds me of a modern-day time-share salesman. He rattles off a list of amenities off the top of his head without any effort.

“Such a place as Sanditon, sir, I may say was wanted, was called for. Nature had marked it out, had spoken in most intelligible characters. The finest, purest sea breeze on the coast – acknowledged to be so – excellent bathing – fine hard sand – deep water ten yards from the shore – no mud – no weeds – no slimy rocks. Never was there a place more palpably designed by nature for the resort of the invalid – the very spot which thousands seemed in need of!” Mr. Parker, Chapter 1

His colleague in speculation in this development scheme is piece of work. She is the great lady of Sanditon, Lady Denham. She is old, rich, shrewd and has buried two husbands: Mr. Hollis she had married for his money and Lord Denham for his title. She has no children of her own, but Clara Brereton, a poor young cousin is her companion. Her three sets of relations court her for her fortune. The Hollis’ were not in favor with her husband and were passed over in the will. She got everything. They want it back. Sir Edward Denham of nearby Denham Park was the nephew to her last husband and is her most likely heir. When Clara Brereton enters the scene, she is in competition with Sir Edward and has a fair chance of inheriting the fortune too. Money always makes the plot churn!

“One other hill brings us to Sanditon – modern Sanditon – a beautiful spot. Our ancestors, you know, always built in a hole, Here were we, pent down in this little contracted nook, without air or view, only one mile and three quarters from the noblest expanse of ocean between the South Foreland and Land’s End, and without the smallest advantage from it.” Mr. Parker, Chapter 4.

And then their carriage reaches Sanditon and we begin to learn more about the area, the town and the people. As they pass Mr. Parker’s former home, “the house of my forefathers” now occupied by a tenant, we begin to understand Mr. Parker’s ideals of a modern community and see how Austen plays off the old vs. new Sanditon. Mr. Parker has built a new home on the hill in an unprotected spot, opposite of what his ancestors would have chosen. He has named it Trafalgar House in honor of the famous 1805 battle, but now regrets his choice and favors the more trendy Waterloo in honor of the 1815 battle! He is a man of the moment. Ironically, his wife Mary is not. Mrs. Parker looks at their former home with regret and fondness missing its gardens and shade trees “But you know,” still looking back, “one loves to look at an old friend at a place where one has been happy.” This does not faze Mr. Parker in the least. He is immediately distracted when they pass the church and the neat village of old Sanditon with its fishermen’s cottages all tidied up with curtains for “Lodgings to let,” two females in elegant white with books and harp music coming from a home. “Such sights and sounds were highly blissful to Mr. Parker.” He had no hand in the improvements, but it was “valuable proof of the increasing fashion of the place altogether.” After seeing blue shoes in the shoemaker’s window he is certain that civilization has indeed entered the town.

“Civilization, civilization indeed!” cried Mr. Parker, delighted. “Look, my dear Mary, look at William Heeley’s windows. Blue shoes, and nankin boots! Who would have expected such a sight at a shoemaker”s in old Sanditon! This is new within the month. There was no blue shoes when we passed this way a month ago. Glorious indeed!” Mr. Parker, Chapter 4

They begin ascending the hill and pass Sandition House, the last bastion of the former days of the parish and climb to the modern area. (More old vs. new civilization examples by Austen) Charlotte Heywood has been a silent observer so far. No wonder since this is her first experience traveling to another town, and compared to her parent’s staid existence in Willingden this is awe inspiring new scenery. When they reach Trafalgar House and she is installed in her apartments, she looks out her Venetian windows (what luxury) that face the ocean and sees The Terrace where people take the air, the Mall with its shops and library and the descent to the beach and the bathing machines.

And this was therefore the favourite spot for beauty and fashion. The Narrator, Ch 4

I think our young heroine is dumbfounded.

Favorite words: portentous, remonstrances, effluvia, insalubrious, sanguine, coadjutor, perturbation, pecuniary.

Further reading

By the Seaside with Sanditon: Day 2 Giveaway

Enter a chance to win one copy of Oxford World’s Classics edition of Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sandition, by Jane Austen by leaving a comment stating what intrigues you about Sanditon, or who your favorite character is by 12:00 pm PDT  Friday, March 26th, 2010. Winner to be announced on Saturday, March 27th. Shipment to continental US addresses only.

Upcoming event posts

Day 3 – March 17 Regency seaside resorts
Day 4 – March 18 Group Read Chapters 5-8
Day 5 – March 19 Regency seaside fashions

© 2010 Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose

 

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By the Seaside with Sanditon: Introduction & List of Characters: Day 1

Welcome

Over the next week will be delving into Jane Austen’s last work, her uncompleted novel Sanditon. Considered one of her minor works, Sanditon has not received much attention in comparison to her major novels since it was first published in 1925. Because it has not been adapted to the screen, most of the general reading public is not aware of it. Some classify it as a scholarly tidbit, but I know that if you have not read it before that it might surprise you. You may be asking yourself why you should read a fragment of a novel that leaves the story unresolved. Two words. Jane Austen. Nuff said.

On the 27th January, 1817 Jane Austen began work on a novel that is now known as Sanditon. It was never completed. Her declining health robbed her of what she dearly loved most, writing, and on the 18th of March 1817 after penning 22,000 words she wrote the last lines of chapter twelve and put down her pen. Four months later at age 41 she would succumb to what is generally believed to have been Addison’s disease.

Set in the emerging seaside village of Sanditon on the Sussex coast we are introduced to a large cast of characters dominated by the two minions of the community: Mr. Parker a local landowner with grand designs to turn a fishing village into a fashionable seabathing spa for the invalid and his partner Lady Denham, the local great lady who has ‘a shrewd eye & self satisfying air’ and cares little about the community and only her pocketbook. There are several young people to add a spark of romance, character foibles galore, plot ironies to raise an eyebrow at business speculation, hypochondria, and a sharp jab at the effluvia of novels and poetry to keep the narrative whizzing along until an abrupt halt just when we are hooked.

The uncompleted novel is a great loss to literature but also to the characters who after a bright and comical beginning are left with uncertain futures. What does remain is more than a novelty of Austenalia. Sanditon’s levity despite the author’s failing health when it was written is quite remarkable. On my first reading years ago I thought it quite energetic and satirical, similar to the burlesque humor of Northanger Abbey. I then put it aside and did not reflect on it further. On my second reading after twenty five years, of what I hope has been a period of enlightenment and appreciate of the author and the era, brought an entirely new reaction. Austen has taken a new and fresh direction from her usual 3 or 4 families in a country village and sets her novel not about an individuals struggle but an entire community. Money is still the fuel that powers the plot, but her physical descriptions of the landscape and town are entirely new in her cannon foreshadowing what may have been an evolution in her style.

I hope that you can join us as we discover the delights of seabathing and leeches during ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’ event this week. You can check out the event schedule and join in the group read of the novel fragment which begins tomorrow, March 16th. Bring your green parasol.

Laurel Ann

Main Characters in Sanditon

Mr. Thomas Parker: of Trafalgar House, Sussex. Age about 35. No profession. Eldest son and succeeded to family property. In partnership with Lady Denham in developing Sanditon. Brother to Mary, Diana, Arthur and Sidney. Married 7 years to Mary, father of four children. An amiable man with more enthusiasm than judgment.

Mrs. Mary Parker: wife of Thomas Parker, mother of four children, Mary & 3 other siblings. Regrets the changes her husband’s enthusiasm produces.

Mr. Sidney Parker: Age about 27. Single. Younger brother of Thomas Parker. Witty, fashionable, young man possibly to emerge as the hero.

Miss Susan Parker: Single. Elder of two Parker sisters. Hypochondriac

Miss Diana Parker: Age about 34. Single. Younger of two Parker sisters. Hypochondriac. Active organizer.

Mr. Arthur Parker: Age about 20. Youngest Parker brother. Stout, broad made with a lusty appetite for hot chocolate and buttered toast. Cosseted into believing himself to be of delicate health.

Lady Denham: of Sanditon House, Sussex. Age 70. Née Brereton with £30,000 dowry. In partnership with Mr. Parker in developing Sanditon. Twice widowed: first husband Mr. Hollis, second Sir Harry Denham of Denham Park. Rich old lady with ‘many thousands a year’. Has ‘a shrewd eye, & self satisfying air’ She knows the value of money.

Miss Clara Brereton: of Sanditon House, Sussex. Poor cousin and companion to Lady Denham. Elegantly tall, regularly handsome, with great delicacy of complexion, soft blue eyes, sweet modest and yet graceful address.

Sir Edward Denham, Baronet: of Denham Park, Sussex. Single. Nephew of Sir Harry Denham (dec), brother of Esther. Handsome, but a rake and a rattle. Thinks that he was born to be a villain ‘quite in the line of Lovelaces’.

Miss Esther Denham: of Denham Park, Sussex. Single. Sister of Sir Edward, niece of Sir Harry Denham (dec). A fine young woman, but cold, reserved and superficial.

Mr. Heywood: of Willingden, Sussex. Age 57. Well looking, hale, gentleman farmer. Married with 14 children including Charlotte, and at least one son. Never leaves home unless to collect his dividends in London.

Mr. Heywood: Age 31. Son of Mr. & Mrs. Heywood of Willingden. Brother of Charlotte and 12 other siblings.

Miss Charlotte Heywood: of Willingden, Sussex. Age 22. Single. Eldest daughter at home of Mr. & Mrs. Heywood. Quiet, perceptive, observing heroine. Sensible and level headed.

Mrs. Griffiths: of Camberwell. Proprietress of a Ladies Seminary. Brings her three changes to Sanditon for the cure. Visitor to Sanditon.

Miss Beaufort: of Camberwell. Elder of two sisters. ‘just such young ladies as may be met with, in at least one family out of three, throughout the Kingdom’ Visitor to Sanditon.

Miss. Letitia Beaufort: of Camberwell. Younger of two sisters. Visitor to Sanditon

Miss Lambe: of Camberwell. About age 17. A young West Indian of large fortune in delicate health. Half mulatto, ‘chilly and tender’. Visitor to Sanditon.

Minor Characters in Sanditon

Merchants, tenants and servants:

Andrew: gardener at Sanditon House, William Heely: shoemaker in Sanditon, Hillier: tenant in Thomas Parker’s old house, Jebb: shopkeeper of Jebb’s in Sanditon, Morgan: Butler to the Parkers, Mullins: ‘Mullins’s, the poor’, Sam: old servant at Sanditon Hotel, Stringer: market-gardeners. There are two Stringers, referred to as ‘old Stringer’ and ‘young Stringer’. One is a shopkeeper in Sandition, Mrs. Whitby: librarian of Circulating Library. Has a ‘Miss W.’ and also ‘a young W.’ and Woodcock: hotel-keeper in Sanditon.

Sanditon visitors:

Mr. Beard: of Gray’s Inn, Dr. and Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Jane Fisher & daughter, Rev. Hanking, Capt Little: of Limehouse, Matthews family, Miss. Merryweather, Richard Pratt, Miss. Scroggs and Lt. R.N. Smith.

By the Seaside with Sanditon: Giveaway Day 1

Enter a chance to win one copy of Penguin Classics Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon by leaving a comment stating what intrigues you about Sanditon, or who your favorite character is by 12:00 pm PDT  Friday, March 26th, 2010. Winner to be announced on Saturday, March 27th. Shipment to continental US addresses only.

Upcoming event posts 

Day 2 – March 16 Group Read Chapters 1-4
Day 3 – March 17 Regency seaside resorts
Day 4 – March 18 Group Read Chapters 5-8

© 2010 Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose.com

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Welcome to ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’ a Celebration of Jane Austen’s Last Novel

“Sanditon…The finest, purest Sea Breeze on the Coast—acknowledged to be so—Excellent Bathing—fine hard Sand—Deep Water ten yards from the Shore—no Mud—no Weeds—no slimey rocks—Never was there a place more palpably designed by Nature” 

Welcome, to ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’, an in depth look at Jane Austen’s last unfinished novel set in the Sussex seaside village of Sanditon. Included will be a group read and discussion, guest bloggers, and plenty of great giveaways.

Leeches at three. Bring your green parasol!

 Introduction   List of Characters   Reading resources

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‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’ begins next Monday, March 15th

 

Put on your best seabathing costume Janeites

the Sanditon event starts next Monday 

 

Our next Austen novel-athon ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’ begins here at Austenprose next Monday, March 15th, 2010.  Here is the schedule for the event: 

Day 1 – Monday March 15th:  Introduction to Sanditon and character list

Day 2 – Tuesday March 16th: Discussion of Sanditon chapters 1-4

Review of The Watsons and Sandition, by Jane Austen (Naxos AudioBooks)

Day 3 – Wednesday March 17th: Guest blog on Regency-era seaside resorts by Julie of AustenOnly

Day 4 – Thursday March 18th: Discussion of Sanditon chapters 5-8

On the Trail of Sanditon: The History of the Manuscript

Day 5 – Friday March 19th: Guest blog by Mandy N. on Regency-era seaside fashions

Day 6 – Saturday March 20th: Discussion of Sanditon chapters 9-12

Review of Sanditon, by Jane Austen (Hesperus Press)

Day 7 – Sunday March 21st: Sanditon continuation resources

Day 8 – Monday March 22nd: Event wrap-up

Saturday March 27th – Event giveaway announcements 

For all those participating in the group read (and I hope it will be well attended) discussion on chapters 1-4 begins Tuesday.  Reading resources are listed here.

Don’t miss out on all the great reading, discussion

and fun giveaways starting March 15th 

 Leeches at three. Bring your green parasol! 

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By the Seaside with Sanditon Group Reading Schedule & Resources

By the Seaside with Sanditon begins right here on Austenprose on March 15th with an introduction and list of characters. To prime readers for the group read that starts the next day, Tuesday, March 16th, here is the group reading schedule and some great reading and listening sources for participants. 

Group Reading Schedule 16th – 20th of March 2010 

Sanditon, by Jane Austen 

Tuesday, March 16th – Chapters 1-4

Thursday March 18th – Chapters 5-8

Saturday March 20th – Chapters 9-12 

Online e-text: 

University of Virginia Library 

Print editions:  

Sanditon, by Jane Austen 

Unlike most editions of Sanditon in print, this edition of Jane Austen’s last unfinished novel is entirely in the spotlight and a book unto itself. Just the right size to slip in your handbag, briefcase or backpack, the portability of this slim volume means you never need be without the convenience of quick reference. Publisher’s description: Following a chance meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Parker, Charlotte Heywood accompanies them to their home in Sanditon, which her excitable hosts promise will be the future epicenter of society summers. On arrival, our heroine finds herself confronted with a very new and all but deserted town that nevertheless begins to fill with holidaymakers. Austen assembles a cast of characters of varying degrees of absurdity and sense, and sets about describing their relations with her characteristic insight and ingenuity. 

Hesperus Press (2009)
Trade paperback (112) pages
ISBN: 978-1843911845 

Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon (Penguin Classics), by Jane Austen, introduction by Margaret Drabble 

If the convenience of three of Austen’s minor works in one edition does not convince you to snap up this classic edition, then Margaret Drabble’s excellent introduction will. Publisher’s description: These three short works show Austen experimenting with a variety of different literary styles, from melodrama to satire, and exploring a range of social classes and settings. The early epistolary novel “Lady Susan” depicts an unscrupulous coquette, toying with the affections of several men. In contrast, “The Watsons” is a delightful fragment, whose spirited heroine – Emma – finds her marriage opportunities limited by poverty and pride. Meanwhile “Sanditon”, set in a seaside resort, offers a glorious cast of hypochondriacs and spectators, treated by Austen with both amusement and scepticism. 

Penguin Classics (1975)
Trade paperback (224) pages
ISBN: 978-0140431025 

Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon (Oxford World’s Classics), by Jane Austen, introduction by Claudia L. Johnson 

Northanger Abbey might get top billing in this edition, but the other minor works make this a unique combination that are often hard to find in such a great value. Claudia L. Johnson’s introduction is stellar. Publisher’s description: Northanger Abbey depicts the misadventures of Catherine Morland, young, ingenuous, and mettlesome, and an indefatigable reader of gothic novels. Their romantic excess and dark overstatement feed her imagination, as tyrannical fathers and diabolical villains work their evil on forlorn heroines in isolated settings. What could be more remote from the uneventful securities of life in the midland counties of England? Yet as Austen brilliantly contrasts fiction with reality, ordinary life takes a more sinister turn, and edginess and circumspection are reaffirmed alongside comedy and literary burlesque. Also including Austen’s other short fictions, Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sanditon, this valuable new edition shows her to be as innovative at the start of her career as at its close. 

Oxford University Press USA (2008)
Trade paperback (432) pages
ISBN: 978-0199535545 

The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen: Volume VI: Minor Works (The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen), by Jane Austen, edited, preface and notes by R. W. Chapman 

The recommended choice of The Jane Austen Society of North America, this edition of Jane Austen’s Minor Works is part of a set of six volumes and was first published in 1926. It still stands as the best available today. In addition to Lady Susan, readers will enjoy The Watsons, Sandition, Juvenilia, Plan of a Novel, Opinions of Mansfield Park and Emma, Verses and Prayers and editor R. W. Chapmans’s excellent preface, notes, appendixes and some select black and white period illustrations. 

Oxford University Press (1988) reprint of 1954 edition
Hardcover (486) pages
ISBN: 978-0192547064 

Audio Books: 

The Watsons and Sanditon (Naxos AudioBooks), by Jane Austen (Author) 

Amusingly read by Anna Bentinck, the acclaimed BBC Radio personality, this new recording includes two of Jane Austen’s unfinished works that deserve more recognition and wider readership. Publishers description: One abandoned, one unfinished, these short works show Austen equally at home with romance (a widowed clergyman with four daughters must needs be in search of a husband or two in The Watsons) and with social change (a new, commercial seaside resort in Sanditon). Typically touching, funny, charming and sharp. 

Naxos Audiobooks US (2010)
Audio unabridged (4) CD’s 4hr 29m
ISBN: 978–9626342817 

Ebooks: 

Sandition and other Stories, by Jane Austen 

The Austen elves at Girlebooks have assembled an excellent selection of Jane Austen’s Minor Works, Juvenilia and Letters is their usual thoughtful and well formatted layout for your desk top or eReader, all free for your reading enjoyment. Publisher’s description: Also known as Sand and Sanditon, this unfinished novel was written in 1817, the last year of Jane Austen’s life. The novel ends at Chapter 11, after a promising introduction of the seaside village of Sanditon, a few major characters, and several intriguing minor characters. Also included are The Watsons, Lady Susan, Frederic and Elfrida, Love and Freindship, Lesley Castle, The History of England, A Collection of Letters, and Scraps. 

Girlebooks.com
ebook

Ready your seabathing costumes ladies and gentlemen and take the plunge ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’. See everyone on Monday, March 15. Bring your parasols!

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