Letters 9/11

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 1817. . .

Twenty-third in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. By May 1817, Jane Austen was gravely ill, just surfacing...

Deborah Yaffe

May 22, 2017

On this day in 1817. . .

Twenty-second in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Devotees of the Victorian novel are familiar with the Will...

Deborah Yaffe

Apr 6, 2017

On this day in 1817. . .

Twenty-first in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Jane Austen: realist or romantic? Cynic or softie? You’ll...

Deborah Yaffe

Mar 13, 2017

On this day in 1807. . .

Twentieth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Jane Austen came from a large and close-knit tribe of siblings...

Deborah Yaffe

Feb 9, 2017

On this day in 1796. . .

Nineteenth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. If Cassandra Austen had known how much speculation would be...

Deborah Yaffe

Jan 9, 2017

On this day in 1798. . .

Eighteenth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Reading has its hierarchies. We prefer acquaintances to catch...

Deborah Yaffe

Dec 19, 2016

On this day in 1800. . .

Seventeenth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. In 1884, when Jane Austen’s great-nephew Lord Brabourne...

Deborah Yaffe

Nov 21, 2016

On this day in 1798. . .

Sixteenth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Two hundred and eighteen years ago today, on October 27, 1798,...

Deborah Yaffe

Oct 27, 2016

On this day in 1816. . .

Fifteenth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen’s letters. “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to...

Deborah Yaffe

Sep 8, 2016

A Dear Jane letter

Every Janeite has probably fantasized about meeting the woman herself. What would we say? What would we ask her? Would we babble...

Deborah Yaffe

Jul 18, 2016

On this day in 1814. . .

Fourteenth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen’s letters. Jane Austen’s circle of real friends seems to have been...

Deborah Yaffe

Jun 23, 2016

More Austen networking

About fourteen months ago, as loyal readers may remember, I blogged about an online effort to launch something called the Jane Austen...

Deborah Yaffe

Jun 13, 2016