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Very interesting especially since I read a lot of books from this era. This book filled in a lot of blank spots in my knowledge about the nineteenth century.
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What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist—the Facts of Daily Life in
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A "delightful reader's companion"; (The New York Times) to the great nineteenth-century British novels of Austen, Dickens, Trollope, the Brontës, and more, this lively guide clarifies the sometimes bizarre maze of rules and customs that governed life in Victorian England.
For anyone who has ever wondered whether a duke outranked an earl, when to yell "Tally Ho!" at a fox hunt, or how one landed in "debtor's prison"; this book serves as an indispensable historical and literary resource. Author Daniel Pool provides countless intriguing details (did you know that the "plums" in Christmas plum pudding were actually raisins?) on the Church of England, sex, Parliament, dinner parties, country house visiting, and a host of other aspects of nineteenth-century English life—both "upstairs" and "downstairs."
An illuminating glossary gives at a glance the meaning and significance of terms ranging from "ague" to "wainscoting," the specifics of the currency system, and a lively host of other details and curiosities of the day.
For anyone who has ever wondered whether a duke outranked an earl, when to yell "Tally Ho!" at a fox hunt, or how one landed in "debtor's prison"; this book serves as an indispensable historical and literary resource. Author Daniel Pool provides countless intriguing details (did you know that the "plums" in Christmas plum pudding were actually raisins?) on the Church of England, sex, Parliament, dinner parties, country house visiting, and a host of other aspects of nineteenth-century English life—both "upstairs" and "downstairs."
An illuminating glossary gives at a glance the meaning and significance of terms ranging from "ague" to "wainscoting," the specifics of the currency system, and a lively host of other details and curiosities of the day.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1993
This edition
- Format
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416 pages, Paperback
- Published
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April 21, 1994 by Touchstone
- ISBN
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9780671882365
- ASIN
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0671882368
- Language
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English
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2019 Review
What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool is an excellent reference for all things 19th century British. For the most part, I read this cover-to-cover (skimming only the sections that gave too much detail about stuff I wasn't interested in) but I don't recommend that unless you really find this interesting. Pool covers pretty much everything from clothes to servants to money to government to modes of transportation. If you're reading the 19th century British classics and stymied about some of the details, this book could certainly help. Also, if you are aspiring to write (or currently writing) a romance novel set in the 1800s in the UK, this book will be very helpful. I can think of one novelist (Tessa Dare) whose novels would be helped greatly if she skimmed this. She'd probably realize that pancakes weren't really a breakfast option at that time. No IHOPS in England.
There's a large glossary included and that's worth skimming as well. Very interesting.
Older Review
Very interesting. A lot of information about the Victorian age in England.
What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool is an excellent reference for all things 19th century British. For the most part, I read this cover-to-cover (skimming only the sections that gave too much detail about stuff I wasn't interested in) but I don't recommend that unless you really find this interesting. Pool covers pretty much everything from clothes to servants to money to government to modes of transportation. If you're reading the 19th century British classics and stymied about some of the details, this book could certainly help. Also, if you are aspiring to write (or currently writing) a romance novel set in the 1800s in the UK, this book will be very helpful. I can think of one novelist (Tessa Dare) whose novels would be helped greatly if she skimmed this. She'd probably realize that pancakes weren't really a breakfast option at that time. No IHOPS in England.
There's a large glossary included and that's worth skimming as well. Very interesting.
Older Review
Very interesting. A lot of information about the Victorian age in England.
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A wealth of information written in an engaging way. I will definitely be consulting this book again when I need to refresh myself of particulars.
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A good, factual book, it is one I want to keep on my bookshelf to turn to when I don’t know what something is.
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This was more encyclopedic than I had expected, but it was still very interesting and very helpful in establishing a context for the novels of the 1800s.
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To start off with this was a gift from a friend. That being said.
What Jane Austen Ate is good book that gives bit and pieces of life in 19 century England with their confusing currency, etiquette , fashion, law and how life was different between nobility and the working poor. Great starting point if you looking books about life in 19 century England.
What Jane Austen Ate is good book that gives bit and pieces of life in 19 century England with their confusing currency, etiquette , fashion, law and how life was different between nobility and the working poor. Great starting point if you looking books about life in 19 century England.
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I was excited to read What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, a non-fiction trip into nineteenth century England once I saw the table of contents. Everything I need to know for better understanding of classic books is found here. It (includes and) goes beyond the typical topics such as social customs, clothing, calling cards, and housing to answer my curiosity on currency and the calendar, rules of Whist and card games, “Crime and Punishment,” “Sex,” occupations, “The Workhouse,” disease, doctors, and death to name a few. There is so much useful and interesting information in this book that it would be a wonderful resource to keep on your shelf. And the vast number of literary references (everything from Jane Austen to the Bronte’s to Trollope) there is sure to be at least some books mentioned that are known to novice and seasoned readers alike. Additionally, the one hundred- and thirty-five-page glossary is quite thorough. Plus, it has an extensive bibliography and index.
Unfortunately, despite this amazing collection of information, the book reads like a textbook and a dry one at that. While I loved the book references, there were so many, and many not only unknown to me but I wasn’t sure what the reference was referring to (whether it was a title, author or a character in the book), that I found it interrupted my reading. While the topics were of interest to me, I ended up skimming sections. The illustrations/maps/charts were either too small to read the content or too dark to appreciate the details. However, as a strict nineteenth century England reference book, it is a great resource to have on hand.
Unfortunately, despite this amazing collection of information, the book reads like a textbook and a dry one at that. While I loved the book references, there were so many, and many not only unknown to me but I wasn’t sure what the reference was referring to (whether it was a title, author or a character in the book), that I found it interrupted my reading. While the topics were of interest to me, I ended up skimming sections. The illustrations/maps/charts were either too small to read the content or too dark to appreciate the details. However, as a strict nineteenth century England reference book, it is a great resource to have on hand.
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i love shit like this. nothing pleases me more than to know the proper table setting for a victorian outdoor tea (though you wouldn't know it to watch me eat). regardless of that, sadly, this book (which i read immediately before it) did not help me understand what the damned peasants in "the return of the native" were saying, and, then, spark notes ruined that work for me, as detailed in my review, thereof. hardy might have been proud of that sentence, tho'. but that's all to the side. if you want to address the proper maid (should such an eventuality, darkly, fall upon you), this is your a-z.
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