Literary question

[eleneariel]

Someone asked me this the other day, and for the life of me I can't remember if I've ever heard a reason for it:

In Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, and other writers of the period, why did they often not spell out names of people and towns in full? You know ... talking about going to _____shire, or how Mrs S______ did this or that.

It's driving me nuts that I can't remember.

Comments

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Um, I kind of got lost for several hours in that website. So much to read!

Thanks for the info!