The
Brontë
Sisters
‘I let Anne go to God, and felt he had a right to her. I could hardly let Emily go
-
Charlotte Brontë
Anne and Emily Brontë,
by their brother
Patrick Branwell Brontë
(National Portrait Gallery)
Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell
Published by Aylott & Jones, Paternoster Row, London
1846
After persuading Emily that her poems should be published, Charlotte and Anne added some of their own, and the sisters had this book produced. One of the purchasers of the book, Frederick Enoch of Warwick, was so impressed that he asked the publishers for the autographs of the poets. He was sent the now famous piece of paper bearing the signatures of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.
‘. . . our book is found to be a drug, no man needs it or heeds it. In the space
of a year our publisher has disposed of but two copies and by what painful efforts
be succeeded in getting rid of those two -
Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre, An Autobiography by Currer Bell
Published by Smith, Elder & Co., Cornhill, London (October)
1847
Printed in three volumes. This edition sold out within three months and was reprinted the following January and April. For the second edition Charlotte added a preface and dedication to Thackery. Also, ‘Edited By’ was changed to just ‘By’.
Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell and Agnes Grey by Acton Bell
Published by Thomas Cautley Newby, Cavendish Square, London (December)
In three volumes -
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Acton Bell
Published by Thomas Cautley Newby, Cavendish Square, London (June)
1848
The first edition sold out, so a second edition of this book was produced in August, just six weeks later, to which Anne added a preface. The first American edition came out in July, published by Harper and Brothers. It mistakenly says on the title page that the book is by the author of Wuthering Heights.
‘To represent a bad thing it its least offensive light is, doubtless, the most agreeable course for a writer of fiction to pursue, but is it the most honest, or the safest?’
Anne Brontë
Preface to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell
Published by Smith, Elder & Co., Cornhill, London (October)
Charlotte’s publishers -
The first American edition appeared two months earlier in August, published by Lea & Blanchard, New York.
‘Tuesday night and morning saw the last hours, the last agonies, proudly endured till the end. Yesterday Emily Jane Brontë died in the arms of those who loved her.’
Charlotte Brontë
Following her brother Branwell’s death in September, Emily’s health declined and on 19th December she died from consumption.
Shirley, A Tale by Currer Bell
Published by Smith, Elder & Co., Cornhill, London
1849
Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell and Agnes Grey by Acton Bell
Published by Smith, Elder & Co., Cornhill, London
1850
Villette by Currer Bell
Published by Smith, Elder & Co., Cornhill, London
1853
The Professor by Currer Bell
Published by Smith, Elder & Co., Cornhill, London
1857
Printed in three volumes. Charlotte had started writing this book when her sisters were alive and finished it after their deaths. She told Mrs Gaskell that the character of Shirley was based on Emily.
‘Whether it is right or advisable to create such things like Heathcliff, I do not know. I scarcely think it is.’
Charlotte Brontë
Preface to Wuthering Heights
A new edition revised, with a Biographical Notice of the authors, a selection from their literary remains, and a Preface by Currer Bell.
‘She died without struggle -
Charlotte Brontë
‘I do not deny that I am somewhat excentrick. Had I been numbered amongst the calm, sedate, concentric men of the world, I should not have been as I am, and I should, in all probability, never have had such children as mine have been.’
Rev. Patrick Brontë
The Life of Charlotte Brontë by E. C. Gaskell
Published by Smith, Elder & Co., Cornhill, London
The Reverend Patrick Brontë died in 1861 in his 84th year.
Following his death Arthur Bell Nicholls returned to his native Ireland where he spent the rest of his life, dying there in 1906, aged 88.
.
‘. . . an oppressive sadness comes over my heart, when I reflect that my Dear Daughter is forever gone . . .’
Rev. Patrick Brontë
Charlotte’s last novel, published in three volumes.
This two volume novel was actually the first one written by Charlotte; during her lifetime Smith, Elder and Co. had declined to publish it.
Following Charlotte’s death, Patrick Brontë asked her friend Elizabeth Gaskell to undertake the task of writing an account of his daughter’s life, which was also published this year:
.
On 28th May, Anne also died from consumption, at Scarborough, where she is buried, the only member of the family not buried under Haworth church.
In 1854 Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father’s curate. She died the following year, on 31st March 1855, from complications relating to pregnancy.
.
‘I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they've gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my mind.’
Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë,
by her brother
Patrick Branwell Brontë
(National Portrait Gallery)
‘Branwell -
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë,
by George Richmond
(National Portrait Gallery)
‘. . . my opinion, and the reading world's opinion of the 'Memoir' is that it is every way worthy of what one Great Woman should have written of Another, and that it ought to stand, and will stand in the first rank of Biographies, till the end of time..’
Rev. Patrick Brontë
to Elizabeth Gaskell about
The Life of Charlotte Brontë
