Stephanie Barron: Jane and the Genius of the Place

The ancient path of pilgrimage toward Canterbury cathedral ran through the meadows of Godmersham in Austen's day. — Editor's note.

This 1765 Gothic by Horace Walpole was read and enjoyed by most of Austen's family in her youth. It was the sort of book she later lampooned in Northanger Abbey. — Editor's note.

Women never attended funerals in Austen's day, even those of close family members. They were deemed too delicate to support the pain of witnessing an interment, despite the fact that they presided over innumerable deathbeds. — Editor's note.

George Finch (1747–1823) added “Hatton” to his name in 1764, presumably in order to inherit from a lateral family line. His sisters did not take the additional surname, but his brother Emilious did. George was a cousin of the 8th Earl of Winchelsea; upon the earl's death in 1826, George's eldest son, George (1791–1858), acceded to the title as 9th earl. His third wife, Fanny, Countess of Winchelsea, was Edward and Elizabeth Austen's granddaughter; the two families thus eventually intermarried. — Editor's note.

Austen later recounted many of the details of this visit to Eastwell Park in a letter written to Cassandra on Saturday, August 24, 1805. (See Letter #45, in Jane Austen's Letters , 3rd edition, Deirdre Le Faye, ed., Oxford University Press, 1995.) — Editor's note.

Jane here refers to events related in the second of the recently discovered journal manuscripts, published under the title of Jane and the Man of the Cloth (Bantam Books, 1997). — Editor's note.

William Somerville (1675–1742) wrote those lines in the poem entitled The Lucky Hit , from 1727. He is best remembered, however, for The Chace , a four-volume poem of Miltonian blank verse that celebrated the joys of hunting. In it, he coined the phrase “sport of kings.” — Editor's note.

Jane refers to Adlestrop Park, the home of the Reverend Thomas Leigh, her mother's first cousin, which Repton “improved” in 1802. Jane did not see the transformed park at Adlestrop until the summer of 1806, but apparently the changes impressed her very little. She went on to lampoon Repton's ideas and business practices in her 1814 novel, Mansfield Park. — Editor's note.

Sothey refers to Claude Lorrain (1600–1682) and Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), French masters of landscape painting. — Editor's note.

It is evident that Julian Sothey learned something from Humphrey Repton, however little he agreed with the latter's views on landscape design. Repton, like Sothey, was an accomplished painter who was known for the execution of his Red Books — leather-bound volumes illustrating views of clients' grounds, with overlays of intended improvements. — Editor's note.

John Emilious Daniel Edward Finch-Hatton (1755–1841) was about fifty when he dined with Jane Austen in August 1805. — Editor's note.

Jane alludes here to events detailed in the third volume of her recently published detective journals, Jane and the Wandering Eye (Bantam Books, 1998). — Editor's note.

Presumably, news of the Austrian accord had not yet reached London at the time that Jane conversed with Mr. Emilious Finch Hatton. In fact, the Austrians had joined what came to be known as the Third Coalition on August 9, but the passage of news over land was slow and uncertain in time of war, and almost equally so when conveyed by ship. — Editor's note.

It was the custom in Austen's day to present at least two courses at a formal dinner, each comprising up to twenty dishes of a variety of vegetables, meats, and salads. When one course was consumed, the dishes were removed along with the tablecloth, which would be relaid for the second course. — Editor's note .

Jane Walker Leigh (1704-68) was Jane Austen's maternal grandmother. — Editor's note.

Elinor and Marianne was published in 1811 as Sense and Sensibility. Susan was sold to a publisher in 1803 but did not reach print as Northanger Abbey until 1818, after Austen's death. Steventon was Austen's birthplace; she spent the first two decades of her life in Steventon Rectory, which was later razed. — Editor's note.

Stourhead was the ancestral home of the Hoares, a wealthy and ennobled family of bankers whose chief passion was the creation of a classical pleasure-ground running to over a thousand acres. There is no record of Austen ever visiting Stourhead, but as it sits a short distance from Bath, she may have done so. The Vyne, in Hampshire, was the ancestral home of the Chutes, and best known for its hunt; Reverend James Austen, Jane's eldest brother, was an intimate friend of the Chute family. — Editor's note.

Austen later ascribed almost exactly these words to one of her more insufferable characters, Mrs. Elton, of Emma. Perhaps her extended caricature of that lady is taken, in part, from Charlotte Taylor. — Editor's note.

Magistrates (and, by extension, Justices of the Peace in country neighborhoods) were charged with preventing public demonstrations of violence. This included prizefights, which were illegal, but was particularly aimed at duels — which were conducted, of necessity, in the greatest secrecy. — Editor's note.

It was common for creditors holding notes of indebtedness to sell the paper at a deep discount. Those who purchased the notes on such terms did so as a sort of speculation on the eventual repayment. — Editor's note.

The Prime Minister always held the portfolio of Secretary of the Treasury. As a member of the cabinet as well as its leader, he was thus primus inter pares — first among equals. — Editor's note.

The ears of the City's businessmen, in this instance, were keener than Henry Austen knew. By mid-August 1805, Bonaparte's funds were completely exhausted. No relief, either from bankers or allies, was forthcoming. — Editor's note.

The navy list was a ranking of commissioned officers, the lowest being post captains, that showed their relative seniority. One moved up the list by rote, as vacancies occurred above through retirement or death. The list also contained the names of commissioned ships, their class, number of guns, and complement. — Editor's note.

In Austen's day, the recipient of a letter paid the postage. — Editor's note.

Austria's alliance with England and Russia on August 9 concluded the building of what was termed the Third Coalition. It was thrown into conflict with Napoleonic France soon thereafter, at the Battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805. Bonaparte triumphed, and was ceded considerable German and Italian territory at the Treaty of Pressburg, which was concluded later that month. Austria's ties to England were then severed completely, and she was forced to pay forty million francs as indemnity to France. — Editor's note.