You can grab a copy of the magazine or a cover poster via Magcloud, and use code BF25 to get a discount (on these or any Magcloud publication) through 11/28/2022 (the actual discount varies by publisher and issue, btw). Note that I don’t make any money off of purchases direct from Magcloud, just the Tiki issue and posters (I have one mag copy left and a handful of posters if you want to help feed my pinup addiction. I mean, support me as I pursue this noble hobby! Ha!).
This one’s kinda meta, because my nom-de-pinup is Catherine Morland and I’m actually portraying Jane Austen’s heroine from Northanger Abbey, Catherine Morland, in the photo set. As she’s into gothic romances and horrid novels of all kinds, we have Catherine reading novels by candlelight in a spooky forestscape of her imagination. Eat your heart out, Emily St. Aubert!
I cosplay as Northanger Abbey’s Catherine Morland…my pinup namesake!
So apparently, Anne Sharp’s presentation copy of Emma recently re-sold for a record-setting £375,000. It’s now the “most expensive” Jane Austen work to date. The new owner is from the U.S., but has decided to loan it indefinitely for display at Chawton House (Jane Austen’s brother Edward’s home in Hampshire, which is now a center dedicated to research on women writers). Jane Austen’s most famous home, Chawton Cottage, is located on the estate and serves as a museum dedicated to the author’s life and works.
More on this sale, Jane Austen’s Emma, and early editions of and reactions to the work:
A looooong time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I wrote a fanfic from Jane Fairfax’s and Frank Churchill’s perspectives, filling in the plot gaps in Emma by Jane Austen. Obviously, that negates the “mystery story” element of the novel, but I don’t care. It was a fun exercise to try to get into their heads and figure out what they were thinking, and what kinds of people they really were.
Frank fixes Mrs. Bates’ spectacles.
I came to the conclusion that Jane Fairfax really was a superior creature. One who was desperate to find love…and also desperate to not work for a living. Not judging – I totally understand where she was coming from. Here’s a beautiful woman with loads of talent and tons of accomplishments, and she’s on the cusp of spending the rest of her life (? – I mean, Mr. Weston sprung Miss Taylor out of Governess Jail at Hartfield…) as a glorified servant. For a woman who is the granddaughter and daughter of gentlemen (her grandfather was clergy and her father an army officer, two of the gentlemanly professions), it isn’t so unreasonable to expect she’ll be able to live a life that befits a gentlewoman. Obviously, genteel poverty was a thing (cases in point: Mrs. and Miss Bates), but as a young woman, Jane should have had a fighting chance at a decent marriage and living. Maybe not big-inheritance level like Frank ended up giving her, but something better than working for friends of Mrs. Elton for a pittance.
In Jane’s shoes, I probably would’ve let Frank talk me into falling in love with him, too. Maybe. As for Frank Churchill, I decided he’s a self-centered ass, but not the villain some people make him out to be. He really, really does love her. I mean, here’s a guy with the looks, charm, and money to basically marry just about any well-bred girl he wants, and he picks the poor one. And not just for messing around. He proposes marriage to lock her down. Add all that to his fits of pique at Box Hill and you know he’s got it bad for her. Really bad.
Yeah, he makes fun of Jane’s hair to Emma, which isn’t just an affront to her looks – it’s also a dig at her poverty, as she and her aunt and grandmother can’t afford a lady’s maid to do it for her, but so many of the improper things that come up in Frank’s conversations with Emma aren’t actually suggested by Frank – they’re suggested by Emma. He certainly encourages the topic, but it’s Emma who goes full-Dixon, not Frank. Mmhmmmmm.
Anyway, I rewrote the fic to make it a little less Austen-y and restrained and a little more psychological. When I finished the original version, I wanted to continue the post-canon story of Jane and Frank with some plot ideas that struck me along the way. Unfortunately, life got stupid for a couple of decades and suddenly it’s not just the 21st century, it’s the third decade of the 21st century, and that scares the crap out of me. I’ve only begun to revisit the possibility of continuing with these ficbunnies again. Suffice it to say that some of my ideas will probably piss off the Austen purists, but whatever. Forget it, Jake (Jane?) – this is Fanfiction Town.
So I finally got around to seeing the new Emma, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, and it was pretty good. You can stream it now, or pre-order it on Blu-Ray or DVD, both of which will drop on May 19:
So what did I think, exactly? Read on to find out…
Hey guys! Hope you’re all practicing social distancing and keeping safe. My school’s gone online-only, and so I’ll be teaching from home until Summer. That’ll give me time to, you know, maybe blog more.
The silver lining: the latest Emma adaptation is going to be available on demand starting THIS FRIDAY! Great news! Stay tuned!
Emma to be on demand starting soon!
The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Emma Woodhouse and is directed by Autumn de Wilde. Other stars include Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley, Bill Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse, Mia Goth as Harriet, Miranda Hart as Miss Bates, Josh O’Connor as Mr. Elton, and Callum Turner as Frank Churchill. The screenplay is by Eleanor Catton.
Stacey Dash, Alicia Silverstone, and Brittany Murphy starred in Clueless.
The opening’s been delayed, but it sounds like a fun way to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this Emma-inspired film:
The company behind As If also created TV pop ups including Saved by the Max, Good Burger, The Peach Pit and the Breaking Bad experience. No word yet on the reason why they have decided to postpone the Clueless pop up.
With Amy Heckerling’s iconic ’90s romantic comedy Clueless celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the minds behind immersive experiences such as Saved by the Max, Good Burger, The Peach Pit and the Breaking Bad experience are opening “As If!” a new pop up that will leave fans of the popular pic singing “Rollin’ with the homies” as they are immersed in the world of the film’s fashion-savvy heroine and way existential Cher Horowitz (played by Alicia Silverstone).
I’ve also included some illustrations from various editions of the novel, most of which were sent to me by my friend Cinthia:
There are illustrations by Charles Edmund Brock (1870-1938) from 1898 and 1909 editions of Emma.
The 1898 edition Brock Illustrations are American reproductions of earlier versions presented in an English edition. The watercolor Brock illustrations come from a 1909 edition of the novel published by J.M. Dent & Co. in London and by E.P. Dutton & Co. in New York.
There are also illustrations by Philip Gough from an 1948 edition published by McDonald & Co., illustrations by Fritz Kredel from a 1964 edition from Heritage Press, and black and white “line” drawings by Hugh Thomson from another edition.
Since my old gallery script ceased to function, I’m bringing everything back right here using Gallery for WordPress. Please bear with me while I fine-tune this album and add new content. 🙂 To see the albums, continue past the jump…
