Posted on 02/09/2012 9:41:41 PM PST by BlackVeil
Nearly 200 years after Jane Austens untimely death, crime novelist Lindsay Ashford has come up with a new explanation: arsenic poisoning. Austen, the English author of such classic novels as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, died in 1817 at age 41. Her death has been attributed to everything from cancer to Addisons disease. But Ashford, who moved to Austens village of Chawton three years ago and started writing her new crime novel in the former home of Austens brother, stumbled across another possibility that Austen died of arsenic poisoning. ... Ashford recognized that Austens symptoms could be attributed to arsenic poisoning, which can turn patches of skin brown or black while other areas go white. Ashford then met with the former president of the Jane Austen Society of North America, who told her that the lock of Austens hair bought at auction in 1948 had tested positive for arsenic. The crime novelist told The Guardian newspaper that its highly likely Austen was given medicines containing arsenic, as was common then. ...I dont think murder is out of the question, she said. Having delved into her family background, there was a lot going on that has never been revealed and there could have been a motive for murder. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
arsenic back then was a common medicine, so if the body showed arsenic it would prove nothing.
and chronic arsenic poisoning would cause some of the symptoms, but if you wanted to murder someone with arsenic, you give them a lot of it all at once.
The skin discoloration is felt to be due to Addison’s disease, which was more common in the past from adrenal tuberculosis.
The guy is just trying to sell books.
Sumpin like dat. LOL
Yes, I too thought of how arsenic was in many substances at that time. One would need more than a simple test for its presence, to draw any conclusions.
Season 2 in a nutshell:
"I'm dying!"
"No, I'm dying!"
"I will marry you."
"No, I will marry that other one!"
"No, I'm dying!"
there. you're welcome.
Arsenic and Old Case.
"Authors and Arsenic"
Note: this topic is from . Thanks BlackVeil. Same idea has been put forth for Napoleon's death.
thanks mewzilla, I’d say “good update” but I think this topic is younger than your information in the first place. :’o
I Was a Regency Zombie (Jane Austen + Zombies = ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’)
New York Times | February 22, 2009 | JENNIFER SCHUESSLER
Posted on 02/23/2009 12:39:22 PM PST by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2192191/posts
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