Father knows best
Although Jane Austen’s novels never commanded huge print runs – the biggest, for Emma, totaled only two thousand copies -- Austen first...
top of page
Journalist and author
Blog
Search
Deborah Yaffe
- Oct 10, 2022
Expensive thrills
For Janeites, the Austen First Edition Thrill-o-Meter is calibrated something like this: Biggest Thrill: Austen novel first edition owned...
Deborah Yaffe
- Jun 23, 2022
Regency striptease
When I was a kid, I – or perhaps my sister -- owned a novelty pen bearing an image of Botticelli’s Venus in a bathing suit. (Or was it a...
Deborah Yaffe
- May 23, 2022
Many happy returns
The return of spring brings many pleasures. Flowers! Baby birds! And, of course, a new Jane Austen bobblehead! Back in 2020, the North...
Deborah Yaffe
- Dec 2, 2021
Jane and the feathered friend
Jane Austen assuredly never saw a penguin: According to the Zoological Society of London, it wasn’t until 1865, nearly fifty years after...
Deborah Yaffe
- Sep 20, 2021
Pricey, and priceless
It’s always nice to know that other people value Our Jane the way we do. Like, value her in dollars. Last week, as blog readers will...
Deborah Yaffe
- Sep 13, 2021
Austens with a pedigree
Owning first editions of Jane Austen’s novels – ideally, as I’ve noted before, of all Jane Austen’s novels – must be . . . pretty cool....
Deborah Yaffe
- Aug 2, 2021
Another side of Austen
Jane Austen’s silhouette – or, at least, a silhouette that has come to be identified with her – is ubiquitous. Despite its uncertain...
Deborah Yaffe
- Apr 8, 2021
All the Janes
Janeites have a curious affinity for images of Our Author – even though, as I’ve noted before, we’ll never really know what she looked...
Deborah Yaffe
- Dec 14, 2020
Radical dish-drying, Austen style
How radical was Jane Austen? It's a topic of continuing debate: She’s been embraced as an icon of both traditional family values and...
Deborah Yaffe
- Nov 30, 2020
In the 'hood
The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers have been consumed. Wreaths and tinsel are filling the stores. It must be time to shop for holiday...
Deborah Yaffe
- Nov 12, 2020
Another chance at completion
Less than a year ago, a rich person with excellent taste snapped up a complete set of Jane Austen first editions at a New York auction....
bottom of page