Thornfield Hall, Home of Edward Rochester, Country Gentleman

I found this artwork by Stewart Platt of a place called, "North Lees Hall," in Derbyshire. Charlotte Bronte had visited the area with her friend Ellen Nussey to help prepare the vicarage for Ellen's brother who was the new vicar, to be arriving after his honeymoon. Charlotte and Ellen visited North Lees Hall. 

by Stewart Platt

Research into the name "North Lees Hall" translates "north" to "thorn" and "lees" to "field." This is fascinating. We can see the inspiration that Charlotte Bronte would have gotten from visiting the place which she then turned into "Thornfield Hall" the home of Edward Rochester, country gentleman.

Just for comparison, here are some photographs of North Lees Hall.

 

Wouldn't you like to walk the grounds and wander inside as Jane would have done? Jane Eyre has come to life. 

(Inspired by this post)

Movie Stills

Classic "Little Women" from 1994.

I just adore seeing new {and old} classic movie stills. It's the first view you get of a film that you hope will match the feeling that you got from reading the book. They are usually stunning and beautiful pieces of art I think.
Here is the new still from "Little Women." One I am hearing great things about so far. I'll decide for myself when I see it in the movie theater.

And yet another "Little Women" that I've never seen before. I've always considered this a winter-themed book for some reason, so the watching of this will be beautiful and cozy. Here's to more movie stills in the future and the hope they bring!

Two Stories

I love the two stories behind these images. 

I bet you know them both.

For the Eyes

Art by French painter Elisabeth Sonrel

Jean Valjean

I've been listening to the broadway production of
Les Miserables and continue to feel such a connection to the character Jean Valjean. His story is my very favorite in all of literature. He shows us that we can change. He shows us love and goodness. Time after time.
His story moves me so much, even after hearing it so many times, that to listen to his story being conveyed in words set to music, has me in tears, literally. A lot. To the point that the people driving near me must wonder why I'm sad. Well, I'm not sad, I'm swept away with emotion in a most wonderful way. Eponine's story, within Jean Valjean's story, also entirely moves me to tears nearly every time. That is another post altogether.

Stills, Beauties, and A Beast

 

Beauty and the Beast

 Pocahontis

Rapunzel

Snow White

See the photo shoot here

Anne of Green Gables Wedding Shoot

One of my favorite book characters is Anne Shirley,

 from Anne of Green Gables. Recently, a photographer did an Anne-Themed wedding shoot and it is beautiful. Take a peek and see what you think, all of you kindred spirits ~

Photos by http://www.jessicazaisblog.com/

Wuthering

Anne Shirley and Diana Barry

I love it when art reminds me of literature. This one, by John Singer Sargent, reminds me of Anne Shirley and Diana Barry ~ (from Anne of Green Gables, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery). Anne is one of my most favorite book heroines, I just love her. I bet it's been twenty or more years since I first read all of the Anne books. My favorites are "Anne of Green Gables", "Anne of the Island", and "Anne's House of Dreams". I really should re-read them. If you've never read them before , I encourage you to, ...they tell a beautiful story. You might just gain a "kindred spirit."

We Look From Somewhere

I like the idea of windows, as I've mentioned here before, and how they allow the soul to seek, to connect, to expand. Anne Shirley started communicating with her "window-friend"  when she was alone at the orphanage, to keep her wits, and to stay connected to the world that she felt she was disappearing from. 

Her window-friend helped hold things together for her.

Windows can also be good for inside kitties that must keep indoors, but who find outside kitten friends through the window, and then have staring contest sessions during the day. This reminds me of a darling kitten who wants to be outside so badly, but has to settle for his "window friends" that he sees outside. Thank goodness for these windows.

Source

Windows in recent memory have turned into something more of reverie and thinking as they allow you a space in which you can ponder upon the little things that cloud your mind, or contemplate the rain and give your words to the sky. I'd love to have these cloister windows as friends and love the thought of what they might say if only could they speak ...

The wonder of the eyes and the soul, starts with gazing, seeking, looking, and we look from somewhere - wherever we are at the moment. I hope I never stop looking because the bend comes, the wind stirs something in, and the next thing you know, 

your dreams have become real, if only in your heart.

Source

The Wind Has Found Me Again

The wind has found me again ... fly me away ~

Show Off

This morning as I was pumping gas into my car, a hawk and two sparrows played follow the leader in the sky. The sparrows literally followed the hawk wherever it went for the best wind. Then suddenly the hawk veered over my way and flew in my view as if to taunt me that I wasn't up there with them. Such a show off.

Vogue and the Pre-Raphaelites

Recently, I saw this Vogue cover in the stores.

And I immediately recognized it as being modeled after this Pre-Raphaelite painting called "Flaming June," by Frederick Leighton.

Flaming June, by Fredrick Lord Leighton, (1830-1896). Public domain

I am sure Vogue has copied Pre-Raphaelite art before, but I was glad to have caught this one while it's still on newstands. Here they are side by side.

You can't go wrong with copying Leighton, or Waterhouse, or whomever. 

Why reinvent the wheel, it's good enough for Vogue.

More Vogue here.

Deliciously Scared

Photo by Daina Valiulis 

The Village

As Anne would say..."deliciously scared!" (click for part one)

Buy the shirt

Then there is this

shibawi.com

White Dress

I do love a good white dress!   

Of course, I always think of Shalott in regards to white dresses.

Or maybe this?

But here is one for keeps!

Definitely the heroine-type!

Raven Thoughts

"But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did outpour
Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered--
Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before--
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said "Nevermore."

~Edgar Allan Poe 

Whether read by day or night,

that midnight raven nevermore will take his flight.

~Bookishkind

Gathered Words

 Poe, Austen, Bronte, Keats, Shelley, Byron, Tennyson --

One word is all it takes, their names alone are enough for me.

Yet..., pull the harvest from the shelf...

 ...The gathered words are the ones I like best. ~Bookishkind

But words are things, 

and a small drop of ink, 

falling like dew, 

upon a thought.

~~Lord Byron

Every Girl Wants to Be the Fairy Tale

Every girl wants to be the fairy tale. I remember seeing these Vogue photos by Annie Leibovitz on other sites before, and just being stunned by the sheer beauty. First published in 2005, they show the story of, "Beauty and the Beast."

 Layer upon layer of decandent photography, for lack of a better term.

The 1995 "Pride and Prejudice," with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle had the same kind of decadence, 

if you know what I mean.

Want more? There's also one for Alice in Wonderland.
Click here for an older post. 

And more at this site. And don't forget Shalott.

Wanderers

 

I don't understand these youth who come straight out of the pocket,

And know right where they are heading.

I only know how to obey the call of the wanderers, 

Who don't even know they've been wandering, 

And have only now reached the shore.

Their story is deeper, though harder, stronger, though longer. 

It weaves and strays onto paths that take years to untangle from, 

Still, it has them where they are today. 

They have bloomed, though lately.

~Copyright 2011, Bookish Kind

Photo by John William Waterhouse - "Ophelia" 1889

My Book Footprint - I Love the Wandering

 We all leave a trail of books behind us, even as we look ahead to the next one. You find them in various places and they become yours, at least for the moment. You take a risk with something new and it becomes a new favorite, or you discover an author you have not read before, and it opens up a whole slew of new books to discover. Then there are the ones you think you'll like and they end up being ones you can't quite get through, or you put them down and intend to read them one day, but sadly never do, even though you want to.

The intake and outtake of books is fascinating to me, and I am sure if I had a book trail with footprints to show where I had wandered, it would be interesting, to say the least. My book footprint would show trails that path through literature, biographies, history, and poetry, mostly. Even there, the trail would jag off in many different directions, as I found my way through to discover the books I love. Not surprisingly, I am still on the trail, leaving footprints daily. Surely my path is retraced and backtracked in my discoveries.

But I love the wandering, the adventure that the walking through affords. I wouldn't take the back steps back, for they have me where I am today. Making the most of the journey, while I add a treasure here and there to my shelf, and let go of some that no longer mean the world anymore.

Treasures can change just like people change. But really, not so much.

 Photo credits

John Elk III - Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park During Autumn, Missouri

sorrythankyou79  -Anne Books

Arthur Rackham - Undancey