JASNA Summer Meeting at Savannah Tea Company



The Middle Tennessee JASNA Region will hold its summer meeting on Saturday, August 25 at the Savannah Tea Company Restaurant and Gift Shop.  We plan to meet as a group at this restaurant located in historic Germantown at 707 Monroe Street for lunch/high tea at 1:00 in the afternoon.  Since reservations are necessary at the Savannah Tea Co. on Saturdays, Mildred Tilley will need to hear if you plan to attend by August 13 so that she can give the folks at the restaurant an accurate head count. Contact Mildred by e-mail at:  millietilley@gmail.com.  The site below for the Savannah Tea Co. gives detailed information about menu options and prices.  You may opt to order tea or order one of the luncheon options.  However, I definitely need to know by Aug. 13 if you plan to order high tea.  (Note that the cost of tea is considerably more than the luncheon prices.)

http://www.savannahteacompany.com/menu.htm

Jane Austen's Ring Sells for $236,557



A lovely ring for sale!



A simple odontalite ring (substitute for turquoise) set in gold was recently sold at auction through  Sotheby's for $236,557.  Originally belonging to Jane Austen, this ring was bequethed to Cassandra Austen, Jane's sister, in 1817.  To learn more about this ring, click here.

Illustrator Janet K. Lee to Speak at May Meeting

 2012 Spring Meeting Details

Speaker:  Janet K. Lee, Illustrator of Emma and Northanger Abbey

Date:  Sunday, May 20

Time:  2:00-4:00 pm

Hostess: Paula Covington, 907 Estes Road, located across from Woodmont Park

Remember to bring a treat to share at "high tea" at the beginning of the meeting!

Janet Lee's whimsical illustration from Emma

The Middle Tennessee Chapter of JASNA is delighted to feature artist and illustrator, Janet K. Lee, as our speaker for May's meeting. As the illustrator for the Marvel graphic novel versions of Emma and Northanger Abbey, Ms. Lee should bring many insights about the challenges of adapting Austen's work to the graphic novel format. According to Janet Lee's website, she has been "illustrating her life since she could hold a pencil." It sounds like her presentation should be a big hit for Middle TN Janeites!

Something to Post on Your Calendar: Louisville Jane Austen Festival 2012

"Travellers Rest" Trip Delights JASNA Members

 

Middle TN JASNA members took a "field trip" to Travellers Rest, home of early Tennessee settler, John Overton, at their February meeting. In addition to touring the Overton home originally built in 1799, JASNA members enjoyed a "spot" of tea and learned about Regency Era fashion from Tonya Staggs, educational co-ordinator at Travellers Rest. 

The detailed house tour, led by Brian Allison, curator of Travellers Rest, informed the group about the role John Overton played in the development of Tennessee, his relationship with Andrew Jackson as well as his interesting personal life (he was a short man married to a much younger woman who was over 6 feet tall!)  Many of the furnishings in the house belonged to the Overton family and much was said about hospitality and entertaining that went on in this home in the 1800's. 

Following the house tour, JASNA members went to the "barn" where they sipped tea, ate sweet delicacies and listened to Tonya Staggs give a wonderfully illustrated lecture about clothing of the Regency period.  Tonya did an especially good job of linking historical happenings such as the French Revolution and Britain's war with France to the changes in clothing that appeared in the early 1800's.  She also showed a bonnet which she had made that looked much like ones in fashion plates of this period. JASNA members were glad to hear that workshops about hat and dress making from this era will be offered in the future at Travellers Rest.

February JASNA Meeting to be Held at Travellers Rest Plantation and Museum

Wish to see more information about Travellers Rest? Click on this link to their home page.

Middle Tennessee JASNA members are invited to historic Travellers Rest for the February 12 meeting.  The program will feature a tour of this historic Middle Tennessee home built by John Overton in 1799, followed by high tea and a presentation about Regency dress by Tonya Staggs, Director of Youth Education Programs at Travellers Rest.

The tour begins at 1:30 pm; cost of admission and tour is $10.00 payable at the gift shop.  Parking is in a gravel lot near the gift shop, with overflow parking in the grass nearby. 

Members are also encouraged to bring $5.00 for annual local dues as well as a treat to share with the group for high tea.  (If you cannot attend the February meeting, please mail your payment to Jo Ann Staples at 57 Revere Park, Nashville, TN 37205.  Checks may be made out to JASNA Tennessee.)

National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar This Summer: "Jane Austen and Her Contemporaries"

In June 2012, the National Endowment for the Humanities will sponsor a seminar, "Jane Austen and Her Contemporaries," at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO.   This seminar is one in which sixteen participants will seek significant new insights about Jane Austen by reading her works closely alongside  works of now understudied (but well-known) writers of her own day. This program is designed primarily for those who teach American undergraduate students, although qualified independent scholars are also eligible to apply.

The seminar is scheduled from June 18-July 20, 2012; deadline for applications is March 1, 2012.
For more information about the seminar, click on this link.