There are lots of sequels to Pride and Prejudice and they are of widely varying quality; Pemberley Shades: Pride and Prejudice continues by Dorothy Bonavia-Hunt is my favorite due to its witty dialogue and faithful portrayals of Jane Austen's beloved…
Last month, Jane Austen Today posted a short piece on Regency era jewelry, including a link to The Three Graces, a retailer selling vintage jewelry, including an impressive selection of gorgeous Georgian Era jewelry which inspired me to do some…
In 1753 "An Act for the better preventing of clandestine Marriages" set forth the rules for being married by the reading of the banns or by a common license, including the method of procuring either of these licenses. Most of…
One of my favorite parts of the latest Pride and Prejudice adaptation was when Charlotte Lucas told Elizabeth that she was marrying Mr. Collins. Elizabeth is sitting on a swing when Charlotte comes up. After establishing that engaged to be…
In Jane Austen's day there were three types of marriage licenses available in England; the reading of the banns, a common license, and a special license. The reading of the banns had the advantage of being free and consisted of…
As an addendum to yesterday's post, I am just going to say that under the English common law, a husband had an absolute right to custody of all children born into his marriage. This did not change until 1839 when…
Or, Why George Wickham wanted to elope with Georgiana Darcy. The basic answer is: when a man and woman married, the law considered the wife's legal identity to be absorbed into her husband's, this meant that everything a woman owned…
Northanger Abbey is supposed to be a parody of the Gothic Romances that were popular in Jane Austen's day, and I can say that A Sicilian Romance does lend itself to parody. I picked up my copy of Ann Radcliffe's…
Today Miss Manners's column discusses an early 20th century calling card that one of her readers discovered in an antique book, inspiring me to write about calling cards in early nineteenth century England. At that time a call was a…
In Part II of Mr. Bennet and the Entailment I mentioned the fact that the Bennet girls do not have any familiarity with household tasks such as cooking (and presumably cleaning). After further consideration of that point, I have a…