In other news, I am completely in love with this "novel in twelve chapters" that Jane Austen wrote for her sister Cassandra, probably when Jane was no more than fifteen. It is flatteringly titled The Beautifull Cassandra. I would like badly to illustrate it, but alas, have very little skill in illustration.
Even better, I would like for Edward Gorey to have illustrated it, but even if he were still living, I would have had little recourse to propose the idea to him.
Actually, a ton of these early works are distinctly Gorey-esque. I've been searching to see if I can find any reference from him to them specifically -- can he have read them? did they have as much influence on him as they seem to have? -- but all I can find is him saying that Jane Austen is an infulence, generally.
It's remarkably striking, nonetheless. The same sketchy and pointed attention to tiny details of propriety, rendering them ridiculous and ponderous at the same time. The same sudden and unexpected violence. The same representation of characters as remarkable and ridiculous novelistic types. An illustrated volume of some of Jane's juvenalia would have been a perfect project for him.
Meanwhile, though, the task is left undone. I may try anyway, but I never have been able to draw.
My favorite chapter of The Beautifull Cassandra reads:
Chapter the 4th
She then proceeded to a Pastry-cooks where she devoured six ices, refused to pay for them, knocked down the Pastry Cook and walked away.
Oh! Apparently there is an illustrated version. By Juliet McMaster Victoria. "In the style of Beatrix Potter."
Even better, I would like for Edward Gorey to have illustrated it, but even if he were still living, I would have had little recourse to propose the idea to him.
Actually, a ton of these early works are distinctly Gorey-esque. I've been searching to see if I can find any reference from him to them specifically -- can he have read them? did they have as much influence on him as they seem to have? -- but all I can find is him saying that Jane Austen is an infulence, generally.
It's remarkably striking, nonetheless. The same sketchy and pointed attention to tiny details of propriety, rendering them ridiculous and ponderous at the same time. The same sudden and unexpected violence. The same representation of characters as remarkable and ridiculous novelistic types. An illustrated volume of some of Jane's juvenalia would have been a perfect project for him.
Meanwhile, though, the task is left undone. I may try anyway, but I never have been able to draw.
My favorite chapter of The Beautifull Cassandra reads:
Chapter the 4th
She then proceeded to a Pastry-cooks where she devoured six ices, refused to pay for them, knocked down the Pastry Cook and walked away.
Oh! Apparently there is an illustrated version. By Juliet McMaster Victoria. "In the style of Beatrix Potter."
Labels: books, early modern, reading
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