High-Fashion TeaName a swank hotel -- the Ritz, Brown's, the Dorchester -- and you can count on finding a lavish tea. But for my money, and we are talking major money at top hotel teas, the Berkeley's "Pret-a-Portea, a fashionista's afternoon tea," wins hands down.At 4:15 on a drizzly fall Monday in the Knightsbridge area, … Continue reading Mini-Break: Hot Tea Spot in London pt. 2 →

You are invited to join the Facebook group "Central New Jersey Chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America".To see more details and confirm this group invitation, follow the link below: http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1096503160&k=Y2LU4ZPYVZXM5FM1PDX5S4Everyone can join Facebook. To register, go to:http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1096503160&k=Y2LU4ZPYVZXM5FM1PDX5S4&r

The following request came from the JASNA Web Master, Carol Moss. From Carol Moss:I hope you've seen the new section of the JASNA website that we launched last month featuring maps of the Austen novels. It has one map for each of the novels showing both fictional and real locations referenced. In case you missed … Continue reading Looking For Artist to Draw Map of Bath for the JASNA Web Site →

Our sister chapter, JASNA-NY is honored and excited to co-sponsor the Royal Oak Foundation's October 15 lecture, "I Ask Only a Comfortable Home -- Jane Austen and Regency Domestic Interiors." Space is limited and tickets are selling fast. JASNA-NY's special member price of $30 includes a lovely post-lecture reception. If you plan to attend, you … Continue reading REMINDER: Royal Oak Foundation’s October 15 lecture →

Best of History Web Sites is an award winning portal containing annotated links to over 1000 history websites. This is a great place to start a search on your Regency history research. http://besthistorysites.net/

Do you love bookmarks? Mirage Bookmark maintains a web site that houses, in addition to its retail shop, an online museum dedicated to this portable but potent art form. Lots of related links will keep bibliophiles meandering through the internet in a happy daze. http://miragebookmark.ch/

Tea in the GardenAt the other end of the kettle from fancy is the tea at the Chelsea Physic Garden's Tangerine Dream Cafe. The cafe's vaguely hallucinogenic-sounding name hints at the original and continuing purpose of the garden, which was founded in 1673 by the Society of Apothecaries of London: to grow and study medicinal … Continue reading Mini-Break: Hot Tea Spot in London →

Our field trip leaders- BJM and SWM-- have reported that the Clearview does not have the Duchess scheduled as yet. Once we have some news as to when it will be showing, it will be posted.

Brilliant Women: 18th-Century BluestockingsElizabeth Eger and Lucy Peltz The National Portrait Gallery in London organized an exhibit about the bluestockings this year, and published Brilliant Women to accompany it. Not surprisingly, Elizabeth Eger, who teaches English at King‘s College, and Lucy Peltz, a curator at the gallery, did a brilliant job. Portraits from the Gallery‘s … Continue reading Brilliant Women: 18th Century Bluestockings →

Since 1954, Book Aid International has provided more than 25 million books to underprivileged people in Africa and Asia. The organization is dedicated to the idea that literacy is fundamental to eradicating poverty. By rehabilitating libraries in war-torn countries and creating mobile libraries that reach isolated communities, Book Aid is proving that "books enable people … Continue reading Mobile Books →