About the Book
Following in the tradition of the critically acclaimed All Things Shakespeare (Greenwood, 2002), this similarly formatted encyclopedia takes readers from the works of Jane Austen into her world. More than 150 alphabetically arranged entries provide rich and fascinating historical details on the form and function of everyday and obscure objects that are mentioned in Austen's novels. Numerous illustrations accompany the lively and often humorous essays that bring these works of fiction to life.
Students and devotees of Jane Austen will become familiar with what her characters ate, wore, and did for recreation. Well-researched information is presented about domestic items, the social scene, the workplace, the church, special events and rituals, and everyday customs that constituted life in Jane Austen's England.
Readers can find citations of specific works by Austen, or they can look up terms or concepts. A bibliography arranged according to broad subjects lists major works for further reading. Teachers and students will find myriad uses for this reference, while the lively writing will appeal to general readers who want to gaze into Austen's world.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Acknowledgements
List of Articles
Guide to Related Topics
List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations of Austen's Works
All Things Austen
Timeline
Bibliography
About the Author :
Kirstin Olsen is an independent scholar and the author of several Greenwood reference works, including All Things Shakespeare: An Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's World (2002).
Review :
Intended to make Austen's works more understandable to contemporary readers, this publication covers the customs, manners, and landscape of her age….Arranged alphabetically, the encyclopedia has more than 150 entries, ranging in length from a few sentences (angels) to more than 30 pages (food, navy), and containing references to relevant passages from Austen's works. In addition to a bibliography of sources that includes Web sites, this work provides an alphabetical list of articles, a list of articles by topic, a time line for Austen family activities and achievements, and a corresponding one for events in the political/military, religious/cultural, medical, technological, and scientific spheres….For those serving serious Austen scholars, it will be a valuable acquisition. Highly recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty.
Though it is often said that Jane Austen's novels are character-driven, primarily concerned with the fictive people she created and set in motion, independent scholar Olsen ( All Things Shakespeare) believes that Austen readers miss a lot without a fuller understanding of the culture and context in which these characters operate. This handsome and easily usable two-volume work can help readers gain that understanding. Olsen compiles extensive scholarship on the topic into more than 150 well-designed and well-written A-to-Z articles on such topics as clothing, education, politics, religion, science, business, society, and the military of 18th- and 19th-century England. Among the features that make this encyclopedia so useful are hundreds of references to passages from Austen's work, inserted parenthetically into the text of the articles, where they illuminate the topic at hand….Convenient for students and anyone else interested in exploring a particular topic, this reference would be a useful addition to pubic, school, and academic libraries serving general through undergraduate readers. Highly recommended.
[A] delight - plentifully illustrated … and full of fascinating information … very difficult to stop reading once you have picked it up…
[A] valuable aid, or even primer, for anyone wishing to get more out of their reading … Olsen's writing is clear and clever. She pulls interesting and amusing anecdotes out of her source literature to illustrate points… A useful and fascinating work overall and a valuable part of any public, school, or academic collection.
These must be two of the most useful and informative reference volumes that any library could add to its collection of Jane Austen's works… a labour of love, that is meticulously done and in very readable style.
Aimed at students and general readers, this two-volume encyclopedia provides background information on the world of Jane Austen. More than 150 alphabetically arranged entries describe various domestic items, the social scene, the workplace, religion, and everyday customs in 19th-century England. Many entries feature B&W illustrations from the Lewis Walpole Library. Special notations guide readers to passages in Austen's writings that pertain to the subject matter. Sample topics include the gentry, army recruitment, shoes, calling cards, the Napoleonic Wars, marriage, the clergy, and bathing.
[S]cholars and aficionados of Jane Austen will welcome Greenwood's All Things Austen: an Encyclopedia of Austen's World. In more than 150 articles author Kirstin Olsen describes the world of Jane Austen….It successfully reflects the world in which Jane Austen lived and which she so vividly portrayed. All Things Austen will stand alongside another Greenwood title, A Jane Austen Encyclopedia as a valuable resources in the study of this ever-popular author. Both academic and public libraries will want to add it. And it is another one of those titles that could just as easily find a place in a circulating collection.
All Things Austen provides an impressive amount of well-researched information specific to Austen's era, in a user-friendly format that enables readers easily to navigate not only the encyclopedia's 800+ pages but also relevant references in Austen's works themselves….For the casual Austen reader, All Things Austen enhances one's appreciation of her novels by illuminating nuances otherwise missed. For writers, scholars, and other professionals who need to understand the intricacies of life in Regency England as intimately as we know our own, this encyclopedia will no doubt become a favorite and much-used reference.
Readers looking for plot summaries of Jane Austen's novels or quick biographies of her characters are likely to be surprised when consulting Kristin Olsen's examination of the world depicted in Austen's works. The personal travails of Elinor Dashwood or Emma Woodhouse are not the meat of her rambling essays. Instead her themes are the cultural contexts that defined the interests and opportunities of Austen's characters. Her 150 articles explore the broader understandings of the landed class in Regency England regarding science, education, law and religion, as well as their prejudices toward servants, Gypsies and Jews….For fans of Jane Austen, or for those seeking a better understanding of this historic period, the guide will prove enlightening. For more information on food and drink of the period, readers should see Olsen's equally entertaining Cooking with Jane Austen.
Any compendium is bound to fascinate, and dipping into this one throws up all sorts of serendipitous delights … [a] useful and enjoyable book.
Drawn from contemporary and modern studies, this well-written and meticulously researched work provides a convenient means for general readers, students, and scholars to gain a better understanding of the social, cultural, and political climate of Austen's time. Offering broader coverage of the period than J. David Grey's The Jane Austen Companion (Macmillan, 1986), it complements Paul Poplawski's A Jane Austen Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 1998), which focuses on characters, writings, and family members. Particularly suitable for academic and larger public libraries, it will be a useful addition in any setting where Austen's writings are read or studied.
A comprehensive, well-documented encyclopedia devoted to Jane Austen's world as seen through her literature. More than 150 alphabetical entries range in length from a paragraph to many pages, include references to Austen's works, and describe the topics' historical and cultural significance, often in great detail….A valuable resource for students and teachers of Austen's works as well as a cultural study of 18th-century England.
Any college-level student studying Jane Austen's fiction will find All Things Austen: An Encyclopedia of Austen's World an essential reference, packing in over 150 entries about the objects mentioned in her novels, the social mores of her times, and the history of the era….A fabulously detailed speciality reference.
[R]eadable and informative….[a] rich garnering of the kinds of information about the past which are most difficult to find.
