Literature in the News: English Teacher Finds 200 Year Old Jane Austen Book

My mother-in-law used to hunt for antiques and hope for unrealized “treasure.”  How about being given an original publication of a Jane Austen novel by a stranger?  And how about such a book being mailed to the English department at a local high school?  That’s exactly what happened.  From the Boston Globe article, “Teacher seeks to solve mystery of 200-year-old Jane Austen book”:  ml 

The tattered book with the small golden stag embossed on its cover, bearing the initials “JA” underneath, arrived in March in an envelope that read, “Ayer High School. ATTN: English Department.”

Along with the musty leatherbound book there was a letter. It had a picture of a rose in the bottom righthand-corner, and was addressed to “anyone who cares.”

Eleanor Capasso, once she realized what she might have in her possession, cared deeply.

As a rare book collector and head of the English department at Ayer-Shirley Regional High School, Capasso said that being sent what she believes could be a first edition of a Jane Austen novel felt a lot like winning the golden ticket to visit Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

“This is what English teachers live for,” said Capasso. “This — and being published as novelists.”

As it turned out, it was a 200 year first edition printing of Jane Austen’s Persuasion.  Ayer High School is the high school in Ayer, Massachusetts, a town in the north central part of the sate with a population of less than 7,500. 

The article continues with the littleknown history of the book’s ownership.

Capasso said the book was sent to the school by Alice B. Bantle of Pawleys Island, S.C.

Bantle explained in the letter that she had found the book in a box of “junk” in her mother’s garage. She said her mother had lived in Dudley, Mass., and used to go to auctions to bid on “boxes of various items” for fifty cents, or $1.

“Even though ‘Persuasion’ is in very bad shape,” Bantle wrote, “It might be of interest to someone in your English Department, or traced back to its original family.”

Bantle wanted to find the book a new home.

According to an inscription on the inside of the book, the original owner was a woman named Lillian M. Flood. Flood had won the book as a prize in May 1900, at Ayer High School.

Capasso plans to honor Bantle’s request to find the book’s rightful owners.

“I want to see if there is a family in town who can claim it,” said Capasso. “In my opinion, it’s an heirloom. I want to see if I can find its family.”

Fascinating and amazing.  Somehow I doubt anyone will have enough of a connection to the Lillian M. Flood to lay claim to the book.  But I could be wrong. 

Though my wife gets on my case because of all the books I’ve accumulated and store, now I have plenty of justification to saving all my old books.  ;) 

So don’t throw books out!

Here’s a picture of the found book.

One more thing, as the article states Persuasion is Jane Austen’s last of her six published novels and of the four novels I’ve read my least favorite.  It lacks the complexity of the other works, but still it’s a charming read.  You can never go wrong with a Austen novel.

Literature In The News: Jane Austen to be Placed on a Ten Pound Note

Here's a new feature for my blog, Literature In The News. There have been a couple of instances I've come across where a news article on something literary would make a good blog post but didn't write it. So here's the first.

 
First off, let me give a hat tip to Tom McDonald who blogs at God and the Machine for bringing this news bit to my attention. 

The first Lit in the News post will highlight Jane Austen replacing Charles Darwin on a British Ten Pound Note.  From The Guardian:   

Jane Austen has been confirmed as the next face of the £10 note in a victory for campaigners demanding female representation – aside from the Queen – on the country's cash.

Sir Mervyn King, the Bank's former governor, had let slip to MPs that the author of Pride and Prejudice was "waiting in the wings" as a potential candidate to feature on a banknote, and his successor, Mark Carney, confirmed on Wednesday that she would feature, probably from 2017.

"Jane Austen certainly merits a place in the select group of historical figures to appear on our banknotes. Her novels have an enduring and universal appeal and she is recognised as one of the greatest writers in English literature," the new governor said.

He also announced that the Bank would carry out a review of the process for selecting the historical figures who appear on banknotes, to ensure that a diverse range of figures is represented.

"We believe that our notes should celebrate the full diversity of great British historical figures and their contributions in a wide range of fields. The Bank is committed to that objective, and we want people to have confidence in our commitment to diversity. That is why I am today announcing a review of the selection process for future banknote characters," Carney said. The review will be overseen by the chief cashier Chris Salmon, whose signature appears on banknotes.

 

 

 

I should say the feminists did agitate for a woman to make it onto the currency, and frankly they have a point.  If cultural figures make it onto the currency, then there is little reason women should not be represented.  I have to say I’m pleased they picked Jane Austen.   I love her work.  I’ve read three of her six novels, Pride and Prejudice, Emma,  and Persuasion.   I know Pride and Prejudice gets most of the notoriety, but I think Emma is her greatest work.  I guess I shouldn’t speak for the ones I haven’t read.  I do intend to read them, and it’s just about time for another.  I’ll have to put one on my 2014 list.  Any suggestions of the ones I haven’t read?

In that Guardian article the feminists admitted that Austen was not their personal choice, but they did ultimately try to put Austen in the best feminist light possible.  The truth is that Austen is not really a feminist by modern standards.  While her female characters are bright, energetic, and independent, they seek personal fulfillment in the context of traditional marriage and male/female roles.  And while her novels only tangentially address religion, religious and traditional morality color many of the decisions the characters make.  She was the daughter of an Anglican priest after all.  Despite the claims of some critics, there is nothing deconstructive or subversive about Austen.  I don’t see Austen in sympathy with modern day feminism at all.

Tom McDonald, who I gave the hat tip above, speculated what if we in the United States decided to put a writer on our money.  He suggested Washington Irving.  You can read through the comments, but it seems the most popular choice was Mark Twain.  I thought of Twain too, but ultimately I went with Walt Whitman.  I think Whitman is more universal American than Twain.  But that might be my opinion.  If you had to choose, which American author would you put on our twenty dollar bill?