Jane Austen

19 Stories

Colin Firth's Sexy Shirt Sells for Twice the Estimate

Actor's outfit from 1995's 'Pride and Prejudice' nabs $25K at auction

(Newser) - The cultural impact of Colin Firth's dip in a lake cannot be in doubt now that the outfit the actor swore in that pivotal scene from 1995's Pride and Prejudice has sold at auction for $25,000—or twice the estimate. The 1810s-style outfit from costume designer Dinah...

New Jane Austen Banknote Has a Curious Quote
Jane Austen Gets a Banknote,
but the Quote Is a Bit Odd
the rundown
Jul 18, 2017 12:16 PM CDT

Jane Austen Gets a Banknote, but the Quote Is a Bit Odd

It's unveiled on the 200th anniversary of her death, and some fans are unhappy

(Newser) - Tuesday is the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death, and Britain has marked the occasion by unveiling a new 10-pound note with her likeness. Austen thus becomes the first female author so honored in the UK, but the Guardian notes that Austen fans are raising their eyebrows at the...

Jane Austen Also Wrote Fake Wedding Notices

Her own included

(Newser) - Her heroines may have found advantageous marriages, but Jane Austen never did. That's precisely why records detailing the Pride and Prejudice author's impending nuptials to two separate men are so remarkable, according to historians. In honor of the 200th anniversary of the British author's death, Hampshire Archives...

What Killed Jane Austen? New Clue Emerges

The Pride and Prejudice author may have been poisoned by arsenic

(Newser) - The cause of Jane Austen's death at age 41 in 1817 has been an enduring mystery of the literary world. The legendary author's own letters complain of ill health, and experts have used them to suggest a number of possible culprits, from stomach cancer to Hodgkin's lymphoma,...

It's Like Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket, but With UK Bank Notes

Only one of four are left, worth about $60,000

(Newser) - Consumers in the UK are on the hunt for a rare and valuable Willy Wonka-style golden ticket—while the woman who found the third of only four in existence is donating it to charity. It all started when renowned "micro-engraver" Graham Short etched a 5mm-tall image of English author...

Historically Accurate Portrait of Mr. Darcy May Disappoint

The 'Pride and Prejudice' character didn't look anything like Colin Firth

(Newser) - Colin Firth stands alone. A new study commissioned by the Drama Channel finds that the "real" Mr. Darcy wouldn't have been anywhere near as attractive in today's world as Firth's infamous, wet-shirted portrayal in a 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The study was done just...

Kelly Clarkson Has to Give Back Jane Austen's Ring

Museum raises enough money to keep it in Britain

(Newser) - A Jane Austen museum said yesterday that it has raised enough money to buy the writer's ring back from pop singer Kelly Clarkson . Earlier this year, the British government placed a temporary export ban on the gold-and-turquoise ring Clarkson bought at auction in the hope that money could be...

Museum, Kelly Clarkson Both Want Jane Austen Ring

Museum fighting to raise money to keep artifact in Britain

(Newser) - A Jane Austen museum is fighting to keep one of the author's rings in Britain after it was purchased by Kelly Clarkson. The former American Idol bought the gold-and-turquoise ring at a Sotheby's auction last year, for more than five times the estimated price. Up until that time...

Jane Austen Replaces Darwin on British Currency

She will be on the 10-pound note in 2017

(Newser) - Jane Austen is going on Britain's 10-pound note in 2017, reports the BBC . And the guy she's replacing is no slouch—Charles Darwin. Along with her image will be a quote from Austen's Pride and Prejudice: "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!...

Thanks to 50 Shades , Now the Classics Get Sex Scenes
Thanks to 50 Shades, the Classics Get Sex Scenes
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 22, 2012 2:30 PM CDT

Thanks to 50 Shades, the Classics Get Sex Scenes

Introducing 'Clandestine Classics'

(Newser) - Jane Eyre is great and all, but wouldn't it be so much better if it featured tons of "explosive sex" scenes? Thanks to Clandestine Classics , it soon will. The company is publishing erotic versions of that and other tomes including Pride and Prejudice, 20,000 Leagues Under the ...

Unseen Portrait of Jane Austen Discovered?

Biographer is sure drawing depicts author

(Newser) - There are only two accepted portraits of Jane Austen, one based on the other—but an Austen biographer believes she's found a third. Paula Byrne's husband bought her a graphite drawing sold as an "imaginary portrait" of the writer, labeled "Miss Jane Austin." Byrne says...

Author: Arsenic Poisoning Killed Jane Austen

She may have gotten it as medicine

(Newser) - A crime writer poring over Jane Austen's letters thinks she knows what killed the author at age 41: arsenic poisoning. Lindsay Ashford sees telltale hints in Austen's own words, written just months before she died, including this line: "I am considerably better now and am recovering my...

Jane Austen's Style? Not Actually Jane Austen's

An editor was likely the one to polish her prose, says professor

(Newser) - Jane Austen is known as a “perfect stylist,” but those perfectly crafted sentences may not actually be hers. After studying 1,100 pages of Austen’s handwritten, unpublished manuscripts, an Oxford professor concluded that “the polished punctuation and epigrammatic style … is simply not there,” she...

'Jewish Jane Austen' Wins Booker Prize

Howard Jacobson's comic novel is 'profound,' 'wise'

(Newser) - The writer who once called the Man Booker Prize an "absolute abomination" was last night awarded the prize for his 11th novel, The Finkler Question. Howard Jacobson, who calls himself "the Jewish Jane Austen," was “truly flabbergasted” by the honor, reports the Telegraph . “I was...

No Corsets, No Crying: It's Jane Austen's Fight Club

Literary heroines show they can take a punch

(Newser) - Jane Austen's heroines, independent-minded young women burdened by the customs of proper society, are tough—but not like this. The brawling belles of the trailer for the nonexistent movie Jane Austen's Fight Club can literally take a punch, Mashable reports . Does "no corsets, no hairpins, no crying" sound like...

50 Famous Authors Other Famous Authors Hate


 50 Famous Authors 
 Other Famous 
 Authors Hate 
poor jane austen
Apr 24, 2010 3:49 PM CDT

50 Famous Authors Other Famous Authors Hate

Jane Austen gets clobbered by Mark Twain, Charlotte Bronte

(Newser) - Just because you're in the club, doesn't mean you like all of its members. To wit, Examiner.com lists 50 famous authors that other famous authors really don't like...in their own, well-penned words:
  1. Mark Twain on Jane Austen: "Every time I read Pride and Prejudice, I want to
...

Zombies Work in Latest Jane Austen Spinoff
Zombies Work
in Latest Jane
Austen Spinoff
opinion
Apr 17, 2009 12:59 PM CDT

Zombies Work in Latest Jane Austen Spinoff

Somehow, style lends itself to the undead ... aliens ... vampires ...

(Newser) - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has been so well received that one must question “why these silly, campy things work so well,” Monica Hesse writes in the Washington Post. She suggests that it’s not simply because Jane Austen and vampires sell—as the author of the forthcoming...

Jane Austen Museum Bans Fans' Ashes

Devotees were using her garden as their final resting place

(Newser) - The caretakers of Jane Austen's estate in England have issued an unusual plea to her devoted fans: Please stop having your ashes scattered in her garden. Museum representatives say they understand the passion but can't allow the practice. “It is distressing for visitors to see mounds of human ash,...

10 Books to Pass Up With Confidence
10 Books to Pass Up
With Confidence
Sep 20, 2008 5:27 PM CDT

10 Books to Pass Up With Confidence

Richard Wilson saves us all a bunch of time and effort with a not-reading list

(Newser) - Forget the coma-inducing titles that lit lovers keep telling you to read, Richard Wilson writes in his book, Can’t Be Arsed: 101 Things Not to Do Before You Die. He lists the top 10 clunkers in the Daily Telegraph:
  • Ulysses, James Joyce: notoriously hard, so why bother?
  • Lord
...

19 Stories