Persuasions #15, 1993 Pages 63-68 Looking for Jane in All the Wrong Places: Collecting Books in Gilson’s Category J PATRICIA LATKIN Chicago, IL 60611 Those who don’t collect first editions, or illustrated editions, or
foreign editions, or – fill in your own special focus – sometimes collect
completions. One of the most interesting sections in David
Gilson’s Bibliography1 is “J, Continuations and
Completions.” In Gilson’s definition, a
“continuation” tells us “particulars of the subsequent career of one or more
characters”; on the other hand, “it was perhaps inevitable that [The Watsons
and Sanditon] should be thought to demand completions.”2 J is a category whose books dozens of Janeites
have chosen to collect. But what to
collect? J’s entries number 14, and
conclude with those issued in 1975.3 The count is more than double that today. Mansfield Park is the new favorite
focus – The Watsons held the title in Gilson. (To keep the record straight, The Jane
Austen Companion4 also features two chapters of similar mien:
“Sequels” – Gilson’s continuations – by Marilyn Sachs, which notes sequels
produced up to 1984, and “Completions,” by David Hopkinson, listing only The
Watsons and Sanditon, which chapters together include all titles of
Gilson’s Category J.) (In a detectorial mode, we noted that
Hopkinson’s article, while mentioning The Watsons: A Novel by Jane Austen
and Another, does not reveal that “Another” is himself, even though Gilson
mentions it in his earlier-released work.) C and C’s are fun to read – once you accept
that no one has ever been able to match Austen’s style and wit (as authors have
been known to do with Rex Stout, for instance, or A. Conan Doyle). The books are relatively easy to find, and prices
are not astronomical (yet), at least not for post-Gilson titles. One gets in at the beginning, as it were, as
opposed to collecting in his Category A, first editions, of which such a
limited number are available, and at ever-escalating prices. Mansfield Park, An Alternative Ending, by Anne Owen and Dorothy Allen, has been a
good read since its appearance in 1989.
And, to prove you can’t judge a book (booklet, actually) by its cover,
it enjoys the dubious honor of being the singularly most unattractive volume we
have ever seen, with dishwater gray wrapper, print reduced to 6 point, the
whole condensed into 20 pages. Mrs. Rushworth, by Victor Gordon, bustled into this country
in 1990. It attracts attention because
within its plot, the characters discuss Mansfield Park, and Maria
continues to fascinate us. Judith Terry, a Janeite from Canada, is also
besmitten by MP, and has taken us on a belowstairs tour at the stately
mansion. In Canada, her book appeared
(1986) as Miss Abigail’s Part or Version and Diversion; it became Version
and Diversion in the United States. Quite a number of established writers love to
show off their erudition – or imagination – and rewrite, or update, Jane
Austen. Reginald Hill, a big name in
mystery circles, has made a mystery of Emma, tilling it “Poor Emma” in
his book of short stories and a novella, There Are No Ghosts in the Soviet
Union. Another mysterious continuation is Darkness
at Pemberley (1923), by Terence Hanbury White. This is the same T. H. White
who has written The Once and Future King, Mistress Masham’s Repose, and
other novels of fantasy. DAP is
somewhat confusingly listed in Gilson’s “Category L, Miscellaneous
Entries.” Its characters, Sir Charles
Darcy and his sister Elizabeth, are descendants of JA’s Darcy and Elizabeth. Exactly 50 years after the appearance of a book
titled Jane Fairfax, by Naomi Royde Brown, Joan Aiken, best known for
gothic and juvenile novels, depicted Jane Fairfax (E) in a novel of the
same name. Earlier, Aiken had taken
another look at MP and called it Mansfield Revisited (1984). A Canadian, Joan Austen-Leigh, has put pen to
paper to bring us an account in the manner of the period: the epistolary
novel. Mrs. Goddard, Mistress of a
School, Another View of Emma debuted at the JASNA conference last October
in Lake Louise, Alberta. Mrs.
Goddard is the exact story of Austen’s Emma as related by a
heretofore marginal character. Joan
Austen-Leigh, a collateral descendant of Jane Austen, uses extensively the
chronology of the Jo Modert facsimile letters and R. W. Chapman’s edition of
the works. Ms. Austen-Leigh also has
written novels and prize-winning plays. Two other continuations debuted at Lake
Louise. His Cunning or Hers: A
Postscript to Persuasion, only the second continuation of Persuasion
on record, made its appearance as a conference memento. June Menzies of Edmonton composed it, Juliet
McMaster did the illustrations. At the same meeting, Margaret Drabble, an English author and prolific writer, read a short story she had created just for JASNA Janeites, a continuation of Persuasion, thus making it the third entry for that novel. Two sequels of Pride and Prejudice vied
for attention at year-end. First to
appear was Presumption by the pseudonymous Julia Barrett, which was
first offered on the North American continent at Lake Louise. “Julia” is Julia Braun Kessler and Gabrielle
Donnelly. (The reason for this
evasionary tactic on the part of the authors is never made clear.) The book takes up the story of Georgiana
Darcy, and involves dozens of Elizabeth’s and Fitzwilliam’s acquaintances. It also freely adapts Jane Leigh-Perrot’s
lace episode. Next up, Pemberley, was brought to life
in Britain by best-selling author Emma Tennant. Blurbs for the public read, it is “a remarkably satisfying look
at what might have happened after [Darcy and Elizabeth’s] wedding.” For the Janeite, four words tell the story:
Pemberley House is entailed. Two continuations difficult to locate are Virtues
and Vices (P ) by Grania Beckford (1981), and Gambles and
Gambols, A Visit with Old Friends, by Memoir (1983). The kindest word to describe the former is
soft pornography. The second features
mainly characters from MP. Both
appeared only in paperback format. English writer Jane Gillespie has made a small
career of co-opting Jane’s characters and determining their lives. Ladysmead (1982), continues the story
of characters from MP. Teverton
Hall (1983) recounts subsequent adventures of characters from P&P. Brightsea (1987) resurrects the
Misses Steele from S&S, and Aunt Celia (1990) has just turned
up – it is the story of Frank Churchill of E and his daughter Stella,
who visit Mr. Weston’s daughter, Celia. The Minor Works have their share of completions. One book bears the title Lady Susan,
from the epistolary novel of the same name, by Phyllis Ann Karr (1980). An aside: Perhaps the reason this book and
the others are difficult to locate, except in garage sales, is that used book
dealers generally don’t stock Regency novels unless they are hardback and by
Georgette Heyer; and they particularly don’t stock novels with Harlequin-type
covers of lovers in jeopardy (a Freudian reading of the LS dust jacket).
A continuation of Sanditon by Anna
Lefroy, written about 1830, was finally brought to print in 1983, titled: Jane
Austen’s Sanditon: A Continuation by Her Niece, Together with Reminiscences of
Aunt Jane by Anna Austen Lefroy.
The niece and Ms. Lefroy are one and the same. (Transcribed, edited and with an introduction by Mary G.
Marshall.) Textermination (1992), by Christine Brooke-Rose took Emma,
Mr. Elton, Mme. Bovary and other literary figures to San Francisco in a grand
melange of characters and action. Items to consider in what could be another
category, or sub-category, are stories which elucidate or imagine events in
Austen’s life, rather than the lives of her characters. (Gilson does not
distinguish between these two categories.) Gilson places Parson Austen’s Daughter
(1949), a novelized version of Austen’s life, in the “M” category (Biography
and Criticism). Thus a novel of Austen
in Australia by Barbara Ker Wilson, Antipodes Jane (1985), would
probably fit there. A short piece not
listed in Gilson is faux-bio: Ring Lardner’s story, “How I Threw Big Party for
Jane Austen,” wherein Jane goes to Hollywood. We have Sidmouth Letters, Jane Gardam
(1980), a story of the finding of Austen’s love letters to her intended, and The
Jew of Bath, Marianne Luban (1990), which proposes that the intended of
Jane was indeed a Jew. (And with what
courage has Ms. Luban chosen her writing vehicle: a lost – and destroyed –
letter of Jane’s recounting the tale!) Margaret Evans Porter’s Sweet
Lavender gives Jane herself a walk-on part in a classic Regency romance. J. A. Sweetman has written a parody of Austen’s
life in a brief piece in How to Become Absurdly Well-Informed about the
Famous and Infamous (1987). In the
same vein, David Watkin has turned out a parody in a small book presenting
excerpts in the style of famous authors.
Jane’s is from Unpleasantness at the OK Corral. Sometimes titles are the only continuation –
and Gilson has no category for those. A
book which appeared briefly, and shall be mentioned just as briefly, is The
Book of Sequels (1990). In magazine
format, dozens of imaginary titles are illustrated, including Pride with
Extreme Prejudice, which “introduces the other Bennet sister, (dirty)
Harriet,” but there are no narratives within. Perhaps the first continuation ever was Ostentation
and Liberality (1821), although it is not listed in Gilson. Concerned with the moral education and
attainment of “sensibility” of Frances Austen, it brings in Lady Jane, Mr.
Austen, and Miss Colville, the governess.
Arabella Argus, noted as a children’s author, clearly had read the works
of our favorite author. We are still pondering the Victorian novel, Simplicity
and Fascination, Anne Beale (1886), whose characters include Miss Burton,
Lady Georgiana, Sir Thomas Mansford, Louisa, and Captain Burford, among dozens,
but which does not seem to be a continuation. Closer on the mark is Horse Sense and
Sensibility (1926), truly a book on horses, but whose author, Crascredo,
mentions Jane Austen on page 1, thus proving he knew what he was doing when he
titled the book. The jury is still out on Sense and Sensuality
(1985), a novel by Rosalind Brackenbury.
It may be that the title is the only continuation. As we go to press, we have learned that Joan
Aiken has narrowed the gap between her and front-runner Jane Gillespie as
writer of the most sequels. Ms. Aiken’s
third continuation, Eliza’s Daughter, is due in April. The work is touted as “a crafty sequel to Sense
and Sensibility.” NOTES 1 David Gilson, A Bibliography of Jane Austen
[1982], Oxford, Clarendon Press, reprinted with corrections, 1985, 877 p. 2 Gilson, Bibliography, p. 421. 3 There were no publications in this category
between 1975 and 1978, when the Bibliography ends. 4 The Jane Austen Companion, J. David
Grey, ed., NY, Macmillan, 1986, 511 p. WORKS CITED Aiken, Joan, Eliza’s Daughter, NY, St.
Martin’s Press, 1994. —, Jane Fairfax, Jane Austen’s Emma through
another’s eyes, NY, St. Martin’s Press, 1990. —, Jane Fairfax, A Novel to complement Emma
by Jane Austen, London, Victor Gollancz, 1990. —, Mansfield Revisited, Garden City,
Doubleday, 1985. Allen, Dorothy and Owen, Ann, Mansfield
Park, An Alternative Ending, Coventry, 1989. Argus, Arabella, Ostentation and
Liberality. A Tale. Two Volumes. London, William Darton, 1821. Ashton, Helen, Parson Austen’s Daughter,
NY, Dodd Mead & Co., 1949. —, Parson Austen’s Daughter, London,
Collins, 1949. Austen, Jane, and Another [David Hopkinson], The
Watsons A Novel, London, Peter Davies, 1977. Austen-Leigh, Joan, Mrs. Goddard, Mistress
of a School, subtitled Letters from Highbury: Another View of Emma,
Victoria, A Room of One’s Own Press, 1993. Barrett, Julia, Presumption An
Entertainment, A Sequel to Pride and Prejudice, NY, M. Evans, 1993. Beale, Anne, Simplicity and Fascination,
Boston, Lee and Shepard, 1886. Beard, Cerf, Durkee & Kelly, The Book of
Sequels, NY, Random House, 1990.
“Pride with Extreme Prejudice,” p. 19. Beckford, Grania, Virtues
& Vices, A delectable rondelet of love and lust in Edwardian times, NY,
St. Martin’s Press, 1980. Brackenbury, Rosalind, Sense and Sensuality,
NY, Taplinger, 1987. Brooke-Rose, Christine, Textermination,
Manchester, Carcanet, 1991. Brown, Naomi Royde Smith, Jane Fairfax A New
Novel, London, Macmillan, 1940. Crascredo, Horse Sense & Sensibility,
London, Country Life, 1926. Drabble, Margaret. “A Fiction,” Raleigh, NC, Persuasions,
No. 15, 1993. Gardam, Jane, The Sidmouth Letters, NY,
Morrow, 1980. “The Sidmouth Letters,”
p. 145-66. Gillespie, Jane, Aunt Celia, NY, St.
Martin’s Press, 1990. —, Brightsea, A Regency Novel in the Jane Austen Tradition, NY, St.
Martin’s Press, 1987. —, Ladysmead, A Novel in the Jane Austen Tradition, St. Martin’s Press,
1982. —, Teverton Hall, A novel in the Jane Austen
tradition by the author of Ladysmead, NY, St. Martin’s Press, 1983. —, Teverton Hall, London, Robert Hale,
1983. Gilson, David, A Bibliography of Jane Austen,
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1982. Gordon, Victor, Mrs. Rushworth, London,
Andre Deutsch, 1989. Grey, J. David, ed., The Jane Austen
Companion, NY, Macmillan, 1986. Hill, Reginald, There Are No Ghosts in the
Soviet Union, Woodstock, VT, Foul Play Press, 1988. “Poor Emma,” p. 168-213. Karr, Phyllis Ann, Lady Susan based on the
unfinished novel by Jane Austen, NY, Everest House, 1980. Lardner, Ring, The Story of a Wonder Man, Being the Autobiography of Ring Lardner, NY, Scribner’s, 1927. “How I Threw Big Party for Jane Austen,” p. 29-36. Lefroy, Anna Austen, Jane Austen’s Sanditon:
A continuation by Her Niece Together with “Reminiscences of Aunt Jane,”
Chicago, Chiron Press, 1983. Luban, Marianne, The Samaritan Treasure,
Minneapolis, Coffee House Press, 1990.
“The Jew of Bath,” p. 81-108. Memoir, Gambles and Gambols: A Visit With
Old Friends (based on characters created by Jane Austen), Pasadena, Shelter
Cove, 1983. Menzies, June, His Cunning, or Hers … A Postscript to Persuasion, illus.
Juliet McMaster, Edmonton, U. of Alberta, 1993. Parrot, E., compiler, How to Become absurdly
well-informed about the famous and infamous, NY, Viking, 1987. J. A. Sweetman, “Jane Austen.” Porter, Margaret Evans, Sweet Lavender,
NY, Walker, 1992. Tennant, Emma, Pemberley or Pride and
Prejudice Continued, London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1993. —, Pemberley or Pride and Prejudice
Continued, NY, St. Martin’s, 1993. Terry, Judith, Miss Abigail’s Part or Version
and Diversion, Toronto, Macmillan of Canada, 1986. —, Version and Diversion, NY, Morrow,
1986. White, T. H., Darkness at Pemberley, NY,
The Century Co., 1933. Wilson, Barbara Ker, Antipodes Jane, A Novel of Jane Austen in Australia, NY, Viking, 1985. Zaranka, William, ed., Literature in Briefs
(Great Writers Indecently Exposed), Cambridge-Watertown, Apple-wood Books,
1983. David Watkin, “Jane Austen,” from
The New Statesman, 1975. |