top of page
Journalist and author
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
Search
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
Sep 13, 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
Aug 2, 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
Apr 8, 2021
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
Dec 14, 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 30, 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....
Deborah Yaffe
Nov 12, 2020
Breaking news!
Mark your calendars, Janeites! The day we’ve barely dared to imagine in our most fervid fantasies is nearly here! On October 28, we’ll...
Deborah Yaffe
Sep 30, 2020
Beautiful books, glamorous provenance
When valuable editions of Jane Austen’s novels come up for auction, the selling point is usually something about the books themselves:...
Deborah Yaffe
Sep 9, 2020
Masked and Austentatious
The proliferation of face masks in every conceivable style, color, fabric, and design is either an encouraging sign of inexhaustible...
Deborah Yaffe
Aug 2, 2020
Completist completes
Apparently, I’m not the only Jane Austen completist out there. Last week, as blog readers will recall, the New York auction house Swann...
Deborah Yaffe
Feb 27, 2020
The price of perfection
I was born with a completist gene. I like to finish things up – books, TV series, leftovers. I like to own full sets of things. I abhor...
Deborah Yaffe
Feb 13, 2020
Midwinter diversion
“I have just learnt to love a hyacinth.” “. . . . So much the better. You have gained a new source of enjoyment, and it is well to have...
Deborah Yaffe
Jan 20, 2020
bottom of page