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JANE AUSTEN
(by Samuel Stillman Conant) (1870).
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This title produces no results when searched for on Goodreads or even Amazon, but does when searched on Google; there seem several sites, beginning with one called Holland's, familiar with the title.
But the author of this biographical work on Jane Austen, Samuel Stillman Conant, must have been a known name in his time. How Time obliterated temporary names, while others little known in their time, rise as Himaalayan ranges rising through the ocean now stand taller than the world, still rising!
Or so one thought, before reading the next work included in this collection,
MEMOIR OF JANE AUSTEN
(by James Edward Austen-Leigh) (1871)
Then it became clear, to one's surprise, that this piece by Conant seems to be extracted, almost entirely, from various chapters of the memoir by her nephew!
Almost the only original contribution made by Conant to this collection of excerpts, not necessarily following the order from the original book, is the observation he makes about the brothers being all married - some more than once - and having children, while the two sisters never married.
The memoir he draws from, on the other hand - and the one previous to this one (in this collection of works of Jane Austen), BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE (by Henry Austen) (1816), for that matter - assert the devout, religious, specifically, Christian values, and firm faith, of the sisters, repeatedly.
Since the father and two of the brothers were clergymen, it all makes one wonder, did that affect the daughters into remaining unmarried, and was it their being virginal through their lives that made the brothers retain respect for them, in addition to which they - the sisters - being the ones to care for the parents? And if so, what does that say about their attitude towards women who married, and had large families, such as their mother and wives? Or were those women supposed, firmly, to be merely carrying a duty, unpleasant to them since they were virtuous, Christian women, who couldn't possibly be imagined to feel anything but suffering in course of such duty?
Did this free them, and others like them, to have comfort in their roles in empire building as merely carrying out an unpleasant duty, in not only killings of hapless "natives", but very associating with them, in any way?
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Conant gives interesting facts, interesting especially to those unfamiliar with them.
"A few years ago, a gentleman visiting the beautiful cathedral of Winchester, England, desired to be shown the grave of Jane Austen. The verger, as he pointed it out, asked, "Pray, Sir, can you tell me whether there was anything particular about that lady; so many people want to know where she was buried?" We fancy the ignorance of the honest verger is shared by most American readers of the present day, respecting the life and character of a lady whose novels commanded the admiration of Scott, of Mackintosh, of Macaulay, of Coleridge, of Southey, and others of equal eminence in the world of letters. Even during her lifetime she was known only through her novels. Unlike her gifted contemporary, Miss Mitford, she lived in entire seclusion from the literary world; neither by correspondence nor by personal intercourse was she known to any contemporary authors. It is probable that she never was in company with any person whose talents or whose celebrity equalled her own; so that her powers never could have been sharpened by collision with superior intellects, nor her imagination aided by their casual suggestions. Even during the last two or three years of her life, when her works were rising in the estimation of the public, they did not enlarge the circle of her acquaintance. ... "
Does bring a smile. But then he says
"Few of her readers knew even her name, and none knew more of her than her name. It would scarcely he possible to mention any other author of note, whose personal obscurity was so complete."
Once again - for her brother Henry said something similar, in her biographical notice - why didn't her readers know her name? Weren't names of authors mentioned on their published works? And she wasn't, isn't, known to have hidden her own, as did more than one of women writers of the times, using a male pen name! Or did she, too, use one, perforce?
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Interesting, about fame!
"Fanny Burney, afterward Madame d'Arblay, was at an early age petted by Dr. Johnson, and introduced to the wits and scholars of the day at the tables of Mrs. Thrale and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Anna Seward, in her self-constituted shrine at Litchfield, would have been miserable, had she not trusted that the eyes of all lovers of poetry were devoutly fixed on her. Joanna Baillie and Maria Edgeworth were far from courting publicity; they loved the privacy of their own families, one with her brother and sister in their Hampstead villa, the other in her more distant retreat in Ireland; but fame pursued them, and they were the favourite correspondents of Sir Walter Scott."
And now, tables have turned and how! How many know those names now?
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"The chief part of Charlotte Bronte's life was spent in a wild solitude compared with which Steventon and Chawton might be considered to be in the gay world; and yet she attained to personal distinction which never fell to Miss Austen's lot. When she visited her kind publisher in London, literary men and women were invited purposely to meet her: Thackeray bestowed upon her the honour of his notice; and once in Willis's Rooms, she had to walk shy and trembling through an avenue of lords and ladies, drawn up for the purpose of gazing at the author of "Jane Eyre.""
Conant doesn't mention the now known bit about the same Thackeray - or was it another great man of letters of the day? - who said to her publisher, when referring to the work of her then much less known, not so much esteemed sister Emily Bronte, that as time goes, Emily would rise in esteem and her work be far more known, dwarfing that of the then more famous Charlotte and her far more copious work.
" ... Miss Mitford, too, lived quietly in "Our Village," devoting her time and talents to the benefit of a father scarcely worthy of her; but she did not live there unknown. Her tragedies gave her a name in London. She numbered Milman and Talfourd among her correspondents; and her works were a passport to the society of many who would not otherwise have sought her. Hundreds admired Miss Mitford on account of her writings for one who ever connected the idea of Miss Austen with the press."
Again, how times change! Atlantis become mythical, once long ago known and now so completely unknown; Himaalayan ranges rising changes landscapes of continents, and one ocean expands at the ridge in middle even as the ring of fire surrounding the other brings tsunamis threatening to drown lands.
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"It was not till toward the close of her life, when the last of the works that she saw published was in the press that she received the only mark of distinction that was ever bestowed upon her; and that was remarkable for the high quarter whence it emanated rather than for any actual increase of fame that it conferred. It happened thus. In the autumn of 1815 she nursed her brother Henry through a dangerous fever and slow convalescence at his house in Hans Place. He was attended by one of the Prince Regent's physicians. All attempts to keep her name secret had at this time ceased, and though it had never appeared on a title-page, yet it was pretty well known; and the friendly physician was aware that his patient's nurse was the author of "Pride and Prejudice." ... "
Her name "had never appeared on a title-page"??? Didn't authors' names appear on title page, then, generally?
How then was the doctor, incidentally, aware of her being the author?
"Accordingly he informed her one day that the prince was a great admirer of her novels; that he read them often, and kept a set in every one of his residences; that he himself therefore had thought it right to inform his Royal Highness that Miss Austen was staying in London, and that the prince had desired Mr. Clarke, the librarian of Carlton House, to wait upon her. The next day Mr. Clarke made his appearance, and invited her to Carlton House, saying that he had the prince's instructions to show her the library and other apartments, and to pay her every possible attention. The invitation was of course accepted, and during the visit to Carlton House Mr. Clarke declared himself commissioned to say that if Miss Austen had any other novel forthcoming she was at liberty to dedicate it to the prince. Accordingly such a dedication was immediately prefixed to "Emma," which was at that time in the press."
This would be before Queen Victoria.
" ... After a long period of undeserved neglect her novels are again coming into vogue with readers of quiet and refined tastes; and many may take an interest in a delineation of her mind and character. Many may care to know whether the moral rectitude, the correct taste, and the warm affections with which she invested her ideal characters were really existing in the native source whence those ideas flowed, and were actually exhibited by her in the various relations of life. "I can indeed hear witness," writes her nephew, "that there was scarcely a charm in her most delightful characters that was not a true reflection of her own sweet temper and loving heart. I was young when we lost her; but the impressions made on the young are deep, and though in the course of fifty years I have forgotten much, I have not forgotten that 'Aunt Jane' was the delight of all her nephews and nieces. We did not think of her as being clever, still less as being famous; but we valued her as one always kind, sympathizing, and amusing.""
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"Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, at the parsonage house of Steventon, in Hampshire, England. Her father, the Rev. George Austen, was of an old family. At the time of his daughter's birth he held the two adjoining rectories of Deane and Steventon. The two villages were little more than a mile apart, and their united populations scarcely amounted to three hundred, so that this was not considered a very gross case of plurality. At this time the grandfather of Mary Russell Mitford, Dr. Russell, was rector of the adjoining parish of Ashe; so that the parents of two popular female authors must have been intimately acquainted with each other."
Was this the same Milford family who were known for society glamour in early twentieth century, until one daughter, and a son-in-law Mosley, brought infamy due to their adherence to an infamous cause, even in face of war, so much so the said daughter attempted suicide rather than return from Germany when England declared war, even though she was alone in Germany and could only hope to see the object of her worship once in a while?
" ... Cassandra's was the colder and calmer disposition; she was always prudent and well judging, but with less outward demonstration of feeling and less sunniness of temper than Jane possessed. It was remarked in her family that "Cassandra had the merit of having her temper always under command, but that Jane had the happiness of a temper that never required to be commanded.""
" ... She was always very careful not to meddle with matters which she did not thoroughly understand. She never touched upon politics, law, or medicine; but with ships and sailors she felt herself at home, or at least could always trust to a brotherly critic to keep her right. It is said that no flaw has ever been found in her seamanship either in "Mansfield Park" or in "Persuasion.""
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In describing the family life at Steventon, Conant says-
" ... Their situation had some peculiar advantages beyond those of ordinary rectories. Steventon was a family living. Mr. Knight, the patron, was also proprietor of nearly the whole parish. He never resided there, and consequently the rector and his children came to be regarded in the neighbourhood as in some sort representatives of the family. They shared with the principal tenant the command of an excellent manor, and enjoyed, in this reflected way, some of the consideration usually awarded to landed proprietors. They were not rich, but, aided by Mr. Austen's powers of teaching, they had enough to afford a good education to their sons and daughters, to mix in the best society of the neighbourhood, and to exercise a liberal hospitality to their own relations and friends. ... "
It's unclear what exactly "They shared with the principal tenant the command of an excellent manor" means - did they live in the manor? Also, what does "they had enough to afford a good education to their sons and daughters" mean, other than possibly the sons being sent to good public schools, possibly also universities? Did the daughters have governesses, or more?
" ... A carriage and a pair of horses were kept. This might imply a higher style of living in our days than it did in theirs. There were then no assessed taxes. The carriage, once bought, entailed little further expense; and the horses, probably, were often employed in farm work. Moreover, it should be remembered that a pair of horses in those days was almost necessary, if ladies were to move about at all; for neither the condition of the roads nor the style of carriage-building admitted of any comfortable vehicle being drawn by a single horse. When one looks at the few specimens still remaining of coach-building in the last century, it strikes one that the chief object of the builders must have been to combine the greatest possible weight with the least possible amount of accommodation."
Perhaps that was necessary to keep the carriage steady despite the bad roads?
" ... Potatoes were used, but not so abundantly as now; and there was an idea that they were to be eaten only with roast meat. They were novelties to a tenant's wife who was entertained at Steventon parsonage, certainly less than a hundred years ago; when Mrs. Austen advised her to plant them in her own garden she replied, "No, no; they are very well for you gentry, but they must be terribly costly to raise.""
How times change! Chief example of German grievances post WWI has always been summed up in having to survive on potatoes!
"But a still greater difference would be found in the furniture of the rooms, which would appear to us lamentably scanty. There was a general deficiency of carpeting in sitting-rooms, bedrooms, and passages. A piano-forte, or rather a spinnet or harpsichord, was by no means a necessary appendage. It was to be found only where there was a decided taste for music, not so common then as now, or in such great houses as would probably contain a billiard-table. There would often be but one sofa in the house, and that a stiff, angular, uncomfortable article. There were no deep easy-chairs, nor other appliances for lounging; for to lie down, or even to lie back, was a luxury permitted only to old persons or invalids. ... "
And yet, as Jane Austen describes social life in her work, and her letters as well, people visited one another copiously, had tea or lunch or dinner together often enough with visitors, and balls were very common centre of social life. They must have sat together, in drawing rooms, a great deal.
" ... But perhaps we should he most struck with the total absence of those elegant little articles which now embellish and encumber our drawing-room tables. We should miss the sliding book-cases and picture-stands, the letter-weighing machines and envelope-cases, the periodicals and illustrated newspapers—above all, the countless swarm of photograph books which now threaten to swallow up all space. ... "
Most of which tells much more about the times of thus author, Conant.
" ... A small writing-desk, with a smaller work-box or netting-case, was all that each young lady contributed to occupy the table; for the large family work-basket, though often produced in the parlour, lived in the closet."
Which changed long before the electronics and internet era!
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"It was, however, at Steventon that the real foundations of her fame were laid. There some of her most successful writing was composed, at such an early age as to make it surprising that so young a woman could have acquired the insight into character and the nice observation of manners which they display. "Pride and Prejudice," which some consider the most brilliant of her novels, was the first finished, if not the first begun. She began it in October, 1796, before she was twenty-one years old, and completed it in about ten months, in August, 1897. The title then intended for it was "First Impressions." "Sense and Sensibility" was begun, in its present form, immediately after the completion of the former, in November, 1797; but something similar in story and character had been written earlier under the title of "Elinor and Marianne ;" and if as is probable, a good deal of this earlier production was retained, it must form the earliest specimen of her writing that has been given to the world. "Northanger Abbey," though not prepared for the press till 1803, was certainly first composed in 1798."
Wasn't "Sense and Sensibility"published first?
"At the time of her removal to Chawton Cottage, Jane Austen was very attractive in person: her figure was rather tall and slender, her step light and firm, and her whole appearance expressive of health and animation. In complexion she was a clear brunette with a rich colour; she had full round cheeks, with mouth and nose small and well formed, bright hazel eyes, and brown hair forming natural curls close round her face. If not so regularly handsome as her sister, yet her countenance had a peculiar charm of its own to the eyes of most beholders. ... "
This supports the impression about the two elder Bennet sisters, of Pride and Prejudice, being modelled after Jane Austen's sister and herself, with perhaps an unconscious desire about wishing she was the more beautiful elder sister, reflected in choice of names.
" ... She was not highly accomplished according to the present standard. Her sister drew well, and it is from a drawing of hers that the likeness prefixed to this article has been taken. ... "
That must be the source of the image used on most of the Jane Austen works.
" ... Jane herself was fond of music, and had a sweet voice, both in singing and in conversation; in her youth she had received some instruction on the piano-forte; and at Chawton she practiced daily, chiefly before breakfast. In the evening she would sometimes sing, to her own accompaniment, some simple old songs, the words and airs of which, now rarely heard, still linger in the memory of old people. ... "
That has gone into the Elizabeth Bennet image, certainly.
" ... She read French with facility, and knew something of Italian. ... "
Reminds of the scene in the Bingley drawing room, where Miss Bingley provokes Darcy to speak regarding his expectations of a young woman's accomplishments before he could call her accomplished.
" ... In those days German was no more thought of than Hindostanee, as part of a lady's education. ... "
On one hand, that tells us of the disdain of an ignorant Brit, and most Europeans at that, about the treasure they were looting and attempting destruction thereof - India. On the other, one has to wonder if any of them, including those enamoured of India due to realising just how rich and enormous the treasure India was and is, could quite learn an Indian language, much less be good at it? Including Goethe or Maxmuller or a Hesse? Brits would, of course, have a problem of attitude, although the missionaries had to let go of one attitude to support another, in attemptin learning a local language in India so as to be able to convert people, thus remaining blind to the far deeper, far faster treasure.
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"The fascination which she exercised over children cannot be better described than by quoting the words of one of her nieces. She says:
""As a very little girl I was always creeping up to Aunt Jane and following her whenever I could, in the house and out of it. I might not have remembered this but for the recollection of my mother's telling me privately that I must not be troublesome to my aunt. Her first charm to children was great sweetness of manner. She seemed to love you, and you loved her in return. This, as well as I can now recollect, was what I felt in my early days before I was old enough to be amused by her cleverness. But soon came the delight of her playful talk. She could make everything amusing to a child. Then, as I got older, when cousins came to share the entertainment, she would tell us the most delightful stories, chiefly of Fairy-land, and her fairies had all characters of their own. The tale was invented, I am sure, at the moment, and was continued for two or three days if occasion served.""
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"The first year of Jane Austen's residence at Chawton seems to have been devoted to revising and preparing for the press "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice;" but between February, 1811, and August, 1816, she began and completed "Mansfield Park." "Emma," and "Persuasion," so that the last five years of her life produced the same number of novels with those which had been written in her early youth. How she was able to effect all this is surprising; for she had no separate study to retire to, and most of the work must have been done in the general sitting-room, subject to all kinds of casual interruptions. So much having been prepared beforehand, when once she began to publish, her works came out in quick succession. "Sense and Sensibility" was published in 1811, "Pride and Prejudice" at the beginning of 1813, "Mansfield Park" in 1814, "Emma" early in 1816; "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" did not appear till after her death, in 1818. The profits of those which had been printed before her death had not at that time amounted to seven hundred pounds. Her first attempts at publication were discouraging. The manuscript of "Pride and Prejudice" was declined without a reading; and that of "Northanger Abbey," after being sold for ten pounds, lay for many years in the publisher's drawer, until it was gladly relinquished for the original purchase-money."
"The most interesting as well as the most hearty testimony to the merits of Miss Austen's novels came from the pen of Sir Walter Scott, who wrote as follows, in his diary for March 14, 1826:
""Read again, for the third time at least, Miss Austen's finely written novel of 'Pride and Prejudice.' That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The big bow-wow strain I can do myself like any now going; but the exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me. What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!""
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August 28, 2021 - August 28, 2021.
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