A Trip to JASNA AGM 2016 : Day 3

JASNA AGM 2016

A Trip to JASNA AGM 2016 : Day 3

Sunday October 22

The final day.
Brunch was absolutely not worth waking up for. They had a plate of pastries on the table and served something that looked like eggs and sausage. I was NOT impressed and left for something better. After grabbing the best doughnut I've ever had at Astro Donuts and Fried Chicken (Hostess chocolate cupcake in doughnut form OMG heaven!), I returned to the hotel in time for the speaker.

This talk was right in my wheelhouse and extremely interesting! As a special collections librarian/archivist, I love anything to do with rare books. Dr. Juliette Wells, 

Associate Professor and Chair, English at Goucher College, gave a presentation on   the six surviving copies of the 1816 American edition of Emma.  Emma was the only one of Jane Austen's works published in the United States during her lifetime. It wasn't a huge hit and very few copies were printed. 6 survive in varying conditions, but none in pristine shape due to the cost-cutting measures the publisher used. (He printed the novel on cheap paper).  Goucher is privileged to own one surviving copy. 

The owners of the book were traced through the records and a story can be told about the history of the book and those who read it.

Read more at Emma in America

A copy belonging to the New York Society Library, originally belonging to Hammond's Circulating Library in Newport, RI, contains annotations by a discerning reader. They originally noted "This book is not worth reading,"but kept on reading and annotating. These are quite amusing: "How dis a gree able is Mrs. Elton,"  Then later,"Mrs. Elton is a goose." At the very end of the book, she compiled a list of her reactions“Mr. Knightley—tolerable,” “Emma—intolerable,” “Harriet—very pleasant,” and “El[ton]—d____d sneak”.

Read more at the New York Society

Then we were treated to presentations to tease us into attending future AGMs. 2017 will be in Huntington Beach, California. A sunbathing Jane Austen doesn't appeal to me. I would like to see the Huntington Library but I am content to view some of their treasures online. In 2018, JASNA will be celebrating my favorite Austen novel, Persuasion, in Kansas City. Why would I want to go there? It's halfway across the country and I don't know anyone there. Well, the JASNA AGM committee convinced me I may have to go. They teased a video presentation by Amanda Root (Anne Elliot in the film adaptation of Persuasion). They will present a special video recording of her discussing the role and if her schedule permits, she would be happy to attend. OK you got me. Plus the after AGM dinner will be at Chef Lidia Bastianich's restaurant and she MAY be persuaded to show up there a few weeks early. My parents love her and rave about her cooking. (It reminds my dad of his mother's cooking). Also, Kansas City is the city of fountains. It looked very nice. Alas, when I checked out flight schedules, if I am still living here, it will be a very long and difficult journey so I probably will not attend, but it sounded like fun.

I left after that. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful fall day in my favorite city. I wanted to get outdoors and sightsee a bit before going home. 

I had fun at the AGM and I would be interested in going again but it's too expensive for me right now, especially with meals I don't eat included. 

I picked up a bunch of swag while I was there:

They gave us this nice bag to carry all our swag in 

and a Pride and Prejudice notebook.

A fan advertises the next AGM

Some advertising bookmarks and postcards

 Jane Austen summer program in North Carolina. I want to go! Is it acceptable to ditch a family wedding for Jane Austen? I have another cousin who lives there.

Jane Austen summer program in North Carolina. I want to go! Is it acceptable to ditch a family wedding for Jane Austen? I have another cousin who lives there.

I purchased some postcards from Chawton House, my dream vacation location!