Phyllis, Jan, Nancy, Kristen, and Rita at the Museum.
Kristen showing some of the miniature portraits.
We enjoyed our lunch while Kristen treated us to her presentation on the history of portrait miniatures, on keepsake locks of hair woven into ornaments and on Austen's use of these in S&S. Kristen told us that "portrait miniature painting in watercolor is a particularly English art form, as in no other country was the tradition carried on for almost four hundred years."
Examples of miniature portraits.
Miniature portraits and ornaments made with woven hair.
Kristen explained that "in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, items of hairwork given as tokens of affection were popular, and rules about the exchange of hair jewelry were strictly respected." These tokens play important roles in Sense & Sensibility. For further reading, the full text of Kristen's research and excellent analysis has been published in JASNA's online Persuasions forum: Persuasions on-line
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A Visit to the Columbus Public Library
Before we went to the museum we visited the fabulous Columbus Public Library that was built in 2005. It is thoughly modern, needless to say, and huge! Our host, Wanda, explained that the library was a $52 million dollar project that was funded by the local option sales tax and by the Friends of the Library organization. She said that the Friends group was the 4th or 5th largest in the country in terms of donations.
We came in from a side entrance and were immediately impressed by the spacious, completely equipped meeting rooms. (There was also an auditorium with stadium seating, but we couldn't visit it because of a meeting in progress.)
Elizabeth and Stephanie on a 2nd floor interior balcony.
Librarian Wanda starting our tour in the children's section.
Phyllis, Rita, Stephanie, and Elizabeth in the children's story-telling room.
Nancy in the teen's literature section.
We found a small display of Jane Austen-related works. Nancy is holding up a copy of I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison. In the background on the table are pictures of the heroines of the movies Clueless and Emma. Some of the smaller pictures decorating the backdrop were from a book cover for Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith.
This was my favorite lounging/reading area in the library.
Mr. Bennet would have liked this space.
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