The Letters of Charlotte Brontė: 1848-1851

Front Cover
Clarendon, 1995 - Literary Collections - 782 pages
This is the second volume in the critically acclaimed Letters of Charlotte Brontė. During the important four years covered in this volume, Charlotte witnessed the success of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, but also endured the deaths of Branwell Brontė and Emily, followed by Anne's in May 1849. Haunted by the fear that she also would succumb, Charlotte found salvation in writing Shirley, published in October 1849, and comfort in her friendship and correspondence with Ellen Nussey, with her publishers--especially George Smith--with Mrs. Gaskell, and (for a time) Harriet Martineau. She may also have received a proposal of marriage from Smith, Edler's manager, James Taylor. This volume is fully annotated and introduced by eminent Brontė scholar Margaret Smith.
 

Contents

List of Illustrations
viii
Introduction
xvii
The Manuscripts
xxxii
Biographical Notes
xlii
January to December 1848
3
A Short Account of the Last Days of Dear A B by Ellen Nussey
739
Anne Thackeray Ritchie on Charlotte Brontė
754
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (1995)

Charlotte Bronte, the third of six children, was born April 21, 1816, to the Reverend Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell Bronte in Yorkshire, England. Along with her sisters, Emily and Anne, she produced some of the most impressive writings of the 19th century. The Brontes lived in a time when women used pseudonyms to conceal their female identity, hence Bronte's pseudonym, Currer Bell. Charlotte Bronte was only five when her mother died of cancer. In 1824, she and three of her sisters attended the Clergy Daughter's School in Cowan Bridge. The inspiration for the Lowood School in the classic Jane Eyre was formed by Bronte's experiences at the Clergy Daughter's School. Her two older sisters died of consumption because of the malnutrition and harsh treatment they suffered at the school. Charlotte and Emily Bronte returned home after the tragedy. The Bronte sisters fueled each other's creativity throughout their lives. As young children, they wrote long stories together about a complex imaginary kingdom they created from a set of wooden soldiers. In 1846, Charlotte Bronte, with her sisters Emily and Anne published a thin volume titled Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. In the same year, Charlotte Bronte attempted to publish her novel, The Professor, but was rejected. One year later, she published Jane Eyre, which was instantly well received. Charlotte Bronte's life was touched by tragedy many times. Despite several proposals of marriage, she did not accept an offer until 1854 when she married the Reverend A. B. Nicholls. One year later, at the age of 39, she died of pneumonia while she was pregnant. Her previously rejected novel, The Professor, was published posthumously in 1857.