Letters 2/10

The Line of Thought

. . . to dream over books and loiter at street corners and let the line of thought dip deep into the stream.

--Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

On this day in 1813. . .

Ninety-fourth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Only about two years of Jane Austen’s childhood were spent...

Deborah Yaffe

May 20, 2024

On this day in 1816. . .

Ninety-third in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the water. . ....

Deborah Yaffe

Apr 1, 2024

On this day in 1814. . .

Ninety-second in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Those of us who spend a lot of time thinking about Jane...

Deborah Yaffe

Mar 21, 2024

On this day in 1801. . .

Ninety-first in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. A curious—and curiously contemporary--passage appears in the...

Deborah Yaffe

Jan 25, 2024

On this day in 1808. . .

Ninetieth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Jane Austen had six brothers, but one of them—George, the...

Deborah Yaffe

Dec 28, 2023

On this day in 1808. . .

Eighty-ninth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Novelists are a ruthless bunch. They find grist for their...

Deborah Yaffe

Oct 16, 2023

On this day in 1796. . .

Eighty-eighth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. The British have a well-documented penchant for discussing...

Deborah Yaffe

Sep 18, 2023

On this day in 1806. . .

Eighty-seventh in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. I’ve noted before that, as a poet, Jane Austen was a great...

Deborah Yaffe

Jul 24, 2023

On this day in 1808. . .

Eighty-sixth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. The letter Jane Austen wrote to her sister, Cassandra,...

Deborah Yaffe

Jun 26, 2023

On this day in 1811. . .

Eighty-fifth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Nowadays, when a new acquaintance turns out to be the...

Deborah Yaffe

May 29, 2023

On this day in 1811. . .

Eighty-fourth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. It’s traditional to envision Jane Austen as a homebody, and...

Deborah Yaffe

Apr 20, 2023

A controversial rarity

Because Jane Austen’s letters are such rare and precious gems, it’s semi-big news whenever one of the extant 160(ish) turns up on...

Deborah Yaffe

Apr 10, 2023