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Charlotte Brontë and Her Circle by Clement King Shorter
 
 
_Being of sound mind and judgment_, _in the name of God the Father_,
_Son_, _and Holy Ghost_, _I_, PATRICK BRONTE, B.A., _Incumbent of
Haworth_, _in the Parish of Bradford and county of York_, _make this
my last Will and Testament_: _I leave forty pounds to be equally
divided amongst all my brothers and sisters to whom I gave
considerable sums in times past_; _And I direct the same sum of forty
pounds to be sent for distribution to Mr. Hugh Bronte_,
_Ballinasceaugh_, _near Loughbrickland_, _Ireland_; _I leave thirty
pounds to my servant_, _Martha Brown_, _as a token of regard for long
and faithful services to me and my children_; _To my beloved and
esteemed son-in-law_, _the Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls_, B.A., _I leave
and bequeath the residue of my personal estate of every description
which I shall be possessed of at my death for his own absolute
benefit_; _And I make him my sole executor_; _And I revoke all former
and other Wills_, _in witness whereof I_, _the said_ PATRICK BRONTE,
_have to this my last Will_, _contained in this sheet of paper_, _set
my hand this twentieth day of June_, _one thousand eight hundred and
fifty-five_.

PATRICK BRONTE.--_Signed and acknowledged by the said_ PATRICK BRONTE
_as his Will in the presence of us present at the same time_, _and
who in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto
subscribed our names as witnesses_: JOSEPH REDMAN, ELIZA BROWN.

The Irish relatives are not forgotten, and indeed this will gives the
most direct evidence of the fact that for the sixty years that he had
been absent from his native land he had always kept his own country, or
at least his relatives in County Down, sufficiently in mind.



CHAPTER II: CHILDHOOD


Eighty years have passed over Thornton since that village had the honour
of becoming the birthplace of Charlotte Bronte. The visitor of to-day
will find the Bell Chapel, in which Mr. Bronte officiated, a mere ruin,
and the font in which his children were baptized ruthlessly exposed to
the winds of heaven. {56a} The house in which Patrick Bronte resided is
now a butcher's shop, and indeed little, one imagines, remains the same.
But within the new church one may still overhaul the registers, and find,
with but little trouble, a record of the baptism of the Bronte children.
There, amid the names of the rough and rude peasantry of the
neighbourhood, we find the accompanying entries, {56b} differing from
their neighbours only by the fact that Mr. Morgan or Mr. Fennell came to
the help of their relatives and officiated in place of Mr. Bronte. Mr.
Bronte, it will be observed, had already received his appointment to
Haworth when Anne was baptized.
There were, it is well known, two elder children, Maria and Elizabeth,
born at Hartshead, and doomed to die speedily at Haworth. A vague memory
of Maria lives in the Helen Burns of _Jane Eyre_, but the only tangible
records of the pair, as far as I am able to ascertain, are a couple of
samplers, of the kind which Mrs. Bronte and her sisters had worked at
Penzance a generation earlier.

_Maria Bronte finished this Sampler on the 16th of May at the age of
eight years_

one of them tells us, and the other:

_Elizabeth Bronte finished this Sampler the 27th of July at the age
of seven years_.

Maria died at the age of twelve in May 1825, and Elizabeth in June of the
same year, at the age of eleven. It is, however, with their three
sisters that we have most concern, although all the six children
accompanied their parents to Haworth in 1820.

Haworth, we are told, has been over-described; and yet it may not be
amiss to discover from the easily available directories what manner of
place it was during the Bronte residence there. Pigot's Yorkshire
Directory of 1828 gives the census during the first year of Mr. Bronte's
incumbency thus:--

HAWORTH, _a populous manufacturing village_, _in the honour of
Pontefract_, _Morley wapentake_, _and in the parish of Bradford_, _is
four miles south of Keighley_, _containing_, _by the census of_ 1821,
4668 _inhabitants_.

_Gentry and Clergy_: _Bronte_, _Rev. Patrick_, _Haworth_; _Heaton_,
_Robert_, _gent._, _Ponden Hall_; _Miles_, _Rev. Oddy_, _Haworth_;
_Saunders_, _Rev. Moses_, _Haworth_.

From the same source twenty years later we obtain more explicit detail,
which is not without interest to-day.

HAWORTH _is a chapelry_, _comprising the hamlets of Haworth_,
_Stanbury_, _and Near and Far Oxenhope_, _in the parish of Bradford_,
_and wapentake of Morley_, _West Riding_--_Haworth being ten miles
from Bradford_, _about the same distance from Halifax_, _Colne_, _and
Skipton_, _three and a half miles S. from Keighley_, _and eight from
Hebden Bridge_, _at which latter place is a station on the Leeds and
Manchester railway_. _Haworth is situated on the side of a hill_,
_and consists of one irregularly built street_--_the habitations in
that part called Oxenhope being yet more scattered_, _and Stanbury
still farther distant_; _the entire chapelry occupying a wide space_.
_The spinning of worsted_, _and the manufacture of stuffs_, _are
branches which here prevail extensively_.

_The Church or rather chapel_ (_subject to Bradford_), _dedicated to
St. Michael_, _was rebuilt in_ 1757: _the living is a perpetual
curacy_, _in the presentation of the vicar of Bradford and certain
trustees_; _the present curate is the Rev. Patrick_ _Bronte_. _The
other places of worship are two chapels for baptists_, _one each for
primitive and Wesleyan methodists_, _and another at Oxenhope for the
latter denomination_. _There are two excellent free schools_--_one
at Stanbury_, _the other_, _called the Free Grammar School_, _near
Oxenhope_; _besides which there are several neat edifices erected for
Sunday teaching_. _There are three annual fairs_: _they are held on
Easter-Monday_, _the second Monday after St. Peter's day_ (_old
style_), _and the first Monday after Old Michaelmas day_. _The
chapelry of Haworth_, _and its dependent hamlets_, _contained by the
returns for_ 1831, 5835 _inhabitants_; _and by the census taken in
June_, 1841, _the population amounted to_ 6301.

Haworth needs even to-day no further description, but the house in which
Mr. Bronte resided, from 1820 till his death in 1861, has not been
over-described, perhaps because Mr. Bronte's successor has not been too
well disposed to receive the casual visitor to Haworth under his roof.

Many changes have been made since Mr. Bronte died, but the house still
retains its essentially interesting features. In the time of the
Brontes, it is true, the front outlook was as desolate as to-day it is
attractive. Then there was a little piece of barren ground running down
to the walls of the churchyard, with here and there a currant-bush as the
sole adornment. Now we see an abundance of trees and a well-kept lawn.
Miss Ellen Nussey well remembers seeing Emily and Anne, on a fine summer
afternoon, sitting on stools in this bit of garden plucking currants from
the poor insignificant bushes. There was no premonition of the time, not
so far distant, when the rough doorway separating the churchyard from the
garden, which was opened for their mother when they were little children,
should be opened again time after time in rapid succession for their own
biers to be carried through. This gateway is now effectively bricked up.
In the days of the Brontes it was reserved for the passage of the dead--a
grim arrangement, which, strange to say, finds no place in any one of the
sisters' stories. We enter the house, and the door on the right leads
into Mr. Bronte's study, always called the parlour; that on the left into
the dining-room, where the children spent a great portion of their lives.
From childhood to womanhood, indeed, the three girls regularly
breakfasted with their father in his study. In the dining-room--a square
and simple room of a kind common enough in the houses of the poorer
middle-classes--they ate their mid-day dinner, their tea and supper. Mr.
Bronte joined them at tea, although he always dined alone in his study.
The children's dinner-table has been described to me by a visitor to the
house. At one end sat Miss Branwell, at the other, Charlotte, with Emily
and Anne on either side. Branwell was then absent. The living was of
the simplest. A single joint, followed invariably by one kind or another
of milk-pudding. Pastry was unknown in the Bronte household.
Milk-puddings, or food composed of milk and rice, would seem to have made
the principal diet of Emily and Anne Bronte, and to this they added a
breakfast of Scotch porridge, which they shared with their dogs. It is
more interesting, perhaps, to think of all the daydreams in that room, of
the mass of writing which was achieved there, of the conversations and
speculation as to the future. Miss Nussey has given a pleasant picture
of twilight when Charlotte and she walked with arms encircling one
another round and round the table, and Emily and Anne followed in similar
fashion. There was no lack of cheerfulness and of hope at that period.
Behind Mr. Bronte's studio was the kitchen; and there we may easily
picture the Bronte children telling stories to Tabby or Martha, or to
whatever servant reigned at the time, and learning, as all of them did,
to become thoroughly domesticated--Emily most of all. Behind the
dining-room was a peat-room, which, when Charlotte was married in 1854,
was cleared out and converted into a little study for Mr. Nicholls. The
staircase with its solid banister remains as it did half a century ago;
and at its foot one is still shown the corner which tradition assigns as
the scene of Emily's conflict with her dog Keeper. On the right, at the
back, as you mount the staircase, was a small room allotted to Branwell
as a studio. On the other side of this staircase, also at the back, was
the servants' room. In the front of the house, immediately over the
dining-room, was Miss Branwell's room, afterwards the spare bedroom until
Charlotte Bronte married. In that room she died. On the left, over Mr.
Bronte's study, was Mr. Bronte's bedroom. It was the room which, for
many years, he shared with Branwell, and it was in that room that
Branwell and his father died at an interval of twenty years. On the
staircase, half-way up, was a grandfather's clock, which Mr. Bronte used
to wind up every night on his way to bed. He always went to bed at nine
o'clock, and Miss Nussey well remembers his stentorian tones as he called
out as he left his study and passed the dining-room door--'Don't be up
late, children'--which they usually were. Between these two front rooms
upstairs, and immediately over the passage, with a door facing the
staircase, was a box room; but this was the children's nursery, where for
many years the children slept, where the bulk of their little books were
compiled, and where, it is more than probable, _The Professor_ and _Jane
Eyre_ were composed.
Of the work of the Bronte children in these early years, a great deal
might be written. Mrs. Gaskell gives a list of some eighteen booklets,
but at least eighteen more from the pen of Charlotte are in existence.
Branwell was equally prolific; and of him, also, there remains an immense
mass of childish effort. That Emily and Anne were industrious in a like
measure there is abundant reason to believe; but scarcely one of their
juvenile efforts remains to us, nor even the unpublished fragments of
later years, to which reference will be made a little later. Whether
Emily and Anne on the eve of their death deliberately destroyed all their
treasures, or whether they were destroyed by Charlotte in the days of her
mourning, will never be known. Meanwhile one turns with interest to the
efforts of Charlotte and Branwell. Charlotte's little stories commence
in her thirteenth year, and go on until she is twenty-three. From
thirteen to eighteen she would seem to have had one absorbing hero. It
was the Duke of Wellington; and her hero-worship extended to the children
of the Duke, who, indeed, would seem even more than their father to have
absorbed her childish affections. Whether the stories are fairy tales or
dramas of modern life, they all alike introduce the Marquis of Douro, who
afterwards became the second Duke of Wellington, and Lord Charles
Wellesley, whose son is now the third Duke of Wellington. The length of
some of these fragments is indeed incredible. They fill but a few sheets
of notepaper in that tiny handwriting; but when copied by zealous
admirers, it is seen that more than one of them is twenty thousand words
in length.

_The Foundling_, by Captain Tree, written in 1833, is a story of
thirty-five thousand words, though the manuscript has only eighteen
pages. _The Green Dwarf_, written in the same year, is even longer, and
indeed after her return from Roe Head in 1833, Charlotte must have
devoted herself to continuous writing. _The Adventures of Ernest
Alembert_ is a booklet of this date, and _Arthuriana_, _or Odds and
Ends_: _being a Miscellaneous Collection of Pieces in Prose and Verse_,
by Lord Charles Wellesley, is yet another.

The son of the Iron Duke is made to talk, in these little books, in a way
which would have gladdened the heart of a modern interviewer:

'Lord Charles,' said Mr. Rundle to me one afternoon lately, 'I have
an engagement to drink tea with an old college chum this evening, so
I shall give you sixty lines of the _AEneid_ to get ready during my
absence. If it is not ready by the time I come back you know the
consequences.' 'Very well, Sir,' said I, bringing out the books with
a prodigious bustle, and making a show as if I intended to learn a
whole book instead of sixty lines of the _AEneid_. This appearance
of industry, however, lasted no longer than until the old gentleman's
back was turned. No sooner had he fairly quitted the room than I
flung aside the musty tomes, took my cap, and speeding through
chamber, hall, and gallery, was soon outside the gates of Waterloo
Palace.'

_The Secret_, another story, of which Mrs. Gaskell gave a facsimile of
the first page, was also written in 1833, and indeed in this, her
seventeenth year, Charlotte Bronte must have written as much as in any
year of her life. When at Roe Head, 1832-3, she would seem to have
worked at her studies, and particularly her drawing; but in the interval
between Cowan Bridge and Roe Head she wrote a great deal. The earliest
manuscripts in my possession bear date 1829--that is to say, in
Charlotte's thirteenth year. They are her _Tales of the Islanders_,
which extend to four little volumes in brown paper covers neatly
inscribed 'First Volume,' 'Second Volume,' and so on. The Duke is of
absorbing importance in these 'Tales.' 'One evening the Duke of
Wellington was writing in his room in Downing Street. He was reposing at
his ease in a simple easy chair, smoking a homely tobacco-pipe, for he
disdained all the modern frippery of cigars . . . ' and so on in an
abundance of childish imaginings. _The Search after Happiness_ and
_Characters of Great Men of the Present Time_ were also written in 1829.
Perhaps the only juvenile fragment which is worth anything is also the
only one in which she escapes from the Wellington enthusiasm. It has an
interest also in indicating that Charlotte in her girlhood heard
something of her father's native land. It is called--

AN ADVENTURE IN IRELAND

During my travels in the south of Ireland the following adventure
happened to me. One evening in the month of August, after a long
walk, I was ascending the mountain which overlooks the village of
Cahill, when I suddenly came in sight of a fine old castle. It was
built upon a rock, and behind it was a large wood and before it was a
river. Over the river there was a bridge, which formed the approach
to the castle. When I arrived at the bridge I stood still awhile to
enjoy the prospect around me: far below was the wide sheet of still
water in which the reflection of the pale moon was not disturbed by
the smallest wave; in the valley was the cluster of cabins which is
known by the appellation of Cahin, and beyond these were the
mountains of Killala. Over all, the grey robe of twilight was now
stealing with silent and scarcely perceptible advances. No sound
except the hum of the distant village and the sweet song of the
nightingale in the wood behind me broke upon the stillness of the
scene. While I was contemplating this beautiful prospect, a
gentleman, whom I had not before observed, accosted me with 'Good
evening, sir; are you a stranger in these parts?' I replied that I
was. He then asked me where I was going to stop for the night; I
answered that I intended to sleep somewhere in the village. 'I am
afraid you will find very bad accommodation there,' said the
gentleman; 'but if you will take up your quarters with me at the
castle, you are welcome.' I thanked him for his kind offer, and
accepted it.

When we arrived at the castle I was shown into a large parlour, in
which was an old lady sitting in an arm-chair by the fireside,
knitting. On the rug lay a very pretty tortoise-shell cat. As soon
as mentioned, the old lady rose; and when Mr. O'Callaghan (for that,
I learned, was his name) told her who I was, she said in the most
cordial tone that I was welcome, and asked me to sit down. In the
course of conversation I learned that she was Mr. O'Callaghan's
mother, and that his father had been dead about a year. We had sat
about an hour, when supper was announced, and after supper Mr.
O'Callaghan asked me if I should like to retire for the night. I
answered in the affirmative, and a little boy was commissioned to
show me to my apartment. It was a snug, clean, and comfortable
little old-fashioned room at the top of the castle. As soon as we
had entered, the boy, who appeared to be a shrewd, good-tempered
little fellow, said with a shrug of the shoulder, 'If it was going to
bed I was, it shouldn't be here that you'd catch me.' 'Why?' said I.
'Because,' replied the boy, 'they say that the ould masther's ghost
has been seen sitting on that there chair.' 'And have you seen him?'
'No; but I've heard him washing his hands in that basin often and
often.' 'What is your name, my little fellow?' 'Dennis Mulready,
please your honour.' 'Well, good-night to you.' 'Good-night,
masther; and may the saints keep you from all fairies and brownies,'
said Dennis as he left the room.
As soon as I had laid down I began to think of what the boy had been
telling me, and I confess I felt a strange kind of fear, and once or
twice I even thought I could discern something white through the
darkness which surrounded me. At length, by the help of reason, I
succeeded in mastering these, what some would call idle fancies, and
fell asleep. I had slept about an hour when a strange sound awoke
me, and I saw looking through my curtains a skeleton wrapped in a
white sheet. I was overcome with terror and tried to scream, but my
tongue was paralysed and my whole frame shook with fear. In a deep
hollow voice it said to me, 'Arise, that I may show thee this world's
wonders,' and in an instant I found myself encompassed with clouds
and darkness. But soon the roar of mighty waters fell upon my ear,
and I saw some clouds of spray arising from high falls that rolled in
awful majesty down tremendous precipices, and then foamed and
thundered in the gulf beneath as if they had taken up their unquiet
abode in some giant's cauldron. But soon the scene changed, and I
found myself in the mines of Cracone. There were high pillars and
stately arches, whose glittering splendour was never excelled by the
brightest fairy palaces. There were not many lamps, only those of a
few poor miners, whose rough visages formed a striking contrast to
the dazzling figures and grandeur which surrounded them. But in the
midst of all this magnificence I felt an indescribable sense of fear
and terror, for the sea raged above us, and by the awful and
tumultuous noises of roaring winds and dashing waves, it seemed as if
the storm was violent. And now the mossy pillars groaned beneath the
pressure of the ocean, and the glittering arches seemed about to be
overwhelmed. When I heard the rushing waters and saw a mighty flood
rolling towards me I gave a loud shriek of terror. The scene
vanished, and I found myself in a wide desert full of barren rocks
and high mountains. As I was approaching one of the rocks, in which
there was a large cave, my foot stumbled and I fell. Just then I
heard a deep growl, and saw by the unearthly light of his own fiery
eyes a royal lion rousing himself from his kingly slumbers. His
terrible eye was fixed upon me, and the desert rang and the rocks
echoed with the tremendous roar of fierce delight which he uttered as
he sprang towards me. 'Well, masther, it's been a windy night,
though it's fine now,' said Dennis, as he drew the window-curtain and
let the bright rays of the morning sun into the little old-fashioned
room at the top of O'Callaghan Castle.

C. BRONTE.
_April the_ 28_th_, 1829.

Six numbers of _The Young Men's Magazine_ were written in 1829; a very
juvenile poem, _The Evening Walk_, by the Marquis of Douro, in 1830; and
another, of greater literary value, _The Violet_, in the same year. In
1831 we have an unfinished poem, _The Trumpet Hath Sounded_; and in 1832
a very long poem called _The Bridal_. Some of them, as for example a
poem called _Richard Coeur de Lion and Blondel_, are written in penny and
twopenny notebooks of the kind used by laundresses. Occasionally her
father has purchased a sixpenny book and has written within the cover--
_All that is written in this book must be in a good_, _plain_, _and
legible hand_.--P. B.

While upon this topic, I may as well carry the record up to the date of
publication of Currer Bell's poems. _A Leaf from an Unopened Volume_ was
written in 1834, as were also _The Death of Darius_, and _Corner Dishes_.
_Saul_: _a Poem_, was written in 1835, and a number of other still
unpublished verses. There is a story called _Lord Douro_, bearing date
1837, and a manuscript book of verses of 1838, but that pretty well
exhausts the manuscripts before me previous to the days of serious
literary activity. During the years as private governess (1839-1841) and
the Brussels experiences (1842-1844), Charlotte would seem to have put
all literary effort on one side.

There is only one letter of Charlotte Bronte's childhood. It is indorsed
by Mr. Bronte on the cover _Charlotte's First Letter_, possibly for the
guidance of Mrs. Gaskell, who may perhaps have thought it of insufficient
importance. That can scarcely be the opinion of any one to-day.
Charlotte, aged thirteen, is staying with the Fennells, her mother's
friends of those early love-letters.

TO THE REV. P. BRONTE

'PARSONAGE HOUSE, CROSSTONE,
_September_ 23_rd_, 1829.

'MY DEAR PAPA,--At Aunt's request I write these lines to inform you
that "if all be well" we shall be at home on Friday by dinner-time,
when we hope to find you in good health. On account of the bad
weather we have not been out much, but notwithstanding we have spent
our time very pleasantly, between reading, working, and learning our
lessons, which Uncle Fennell has been so kind as to teach us every
day. Branwell has taken two sketches from nature, and Emily, Anne,
and myself have likewise each of us drawn a piece from some views of
the lakes which Mr. Fennell brought with him from Westmoreland. The
whole of these he intends keeping. Mr. Fennell is sorry he cannot
accompany us to Haworth on Friday, for want of room, but hopes to
have the pleasure of seeing you soon. All unite in sending their
kind love with your affectionate daughter,

'CHARLOTTE BRONTE.'

The following list includes the whole of the early Bronte Manuscripts
known to me, or of which I can find any record:--

UNPUBLISHED BRONTE LITERATURE.

BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE

_The Young Men's Magazines_. In Six Numbers 1829

[Only four out of these six numbers appear to have been preserved.]
_The Search after Happiness_: _A Tale_. _By Charlotte Bronte_ 1829
_Two Romantic Tales_; _viz. The Twelve Adventures_, _and An 1829
Adventure in Ireland_
_Characters of Great Men of the Present Age_, _Dec._ 17_th_ 1829
_Tales of the Islanders_. _By Charlotte Bronte_:--
Vol. i. dated _June_ 31, 1829
Vol. ii. dated _December_ 2, 1829
Vol. iii. dated _May_ 8, 1830
Vol. iv. dated _July_ 30, 1830

[Accompanying these volumes is a one-page document detailing 'The
Origin of the _Islanders_.' Dated _March_ 12, 1829.]
_The Evening Walk_: _A Poem_. _By the Marquis Douro_ 1830
_A Translation into English Verse of the First Book of Voltaire's 1830
Henriade_. _By Charlotte Bronte_
_Albion and Marina_: _A Tale_. _By Lord Wellesley_ 1830
_The Adventures of Ernest Alembert_: _A Fairy Tale_. _By 1830
Charlotte Bronte_
_The Violet: A Poem_. _With several smaller Pieces_. _By the 1830
Marquess of Douro_. _Published by Seargeant Tree_. _Glasstown_,
1830
_The Bridal_. _By C. Bronte_ 1832
_Arthuriana_; _or_, _Odds and Ends_: _Being a Miscellaneous 1833
Collection of Pieces in Prose and Verse_. _By Lord Charles A. F.
Wellesley_
_Something about Arthur_. _Written by Charles Albert Florian 1833
Wellesley_
_The Vision_. _By Charlotte Bronte_ 1833
_The Secret and Lily Hart_: _Two Tales_. _By Lord Charles 1833
Wellesley_

[The first page of this book is given in facsimile in vol. i. of
Mrs. Gaskell's _Life of Charlotte Bronte_.]
_Visits in Verdopolis_. _By the Honourable Charles Albert Florian 1833
Wellesley_. _Two vols._
_The Green Dwarf_: _A Tale of the Perfect Tense_. _By Lord Charles 1833
Albert Florian Wellesley_. _Charlotte Bronte_.
_The Foundling_: _A Tale of our own Times_. _By Captain Tree_ 1833
_Richard Coeur de Lion and Blondel_. _By Charlotte Bronte_, 1833
8vo, pp. 20. Signed in full _Charlotte Bronte_, and dated
_Haworth_, _near Bradford_, Dec. 27_th_, 1833
_My Angria and the Angrians_. _By Lord Charles Albert Florian 1834
Wellesley_
_A Leaf from an Unopened Volume_; _or_, _The Manuscript of an 1834
Unfortunate Author_. _Edited by Lord Charles Albert Florian
Wellesley_
_Corner Dishes_: _Being a small Collection of_ . . . _Trifles in 1834
Prose and Verse_. _By Lord Charles Albert Florian Wellesley_
_The Spell_: _An Extravaganza_. _By Lord Charles Albert Florian
Wellesley_. Signed _Charlotte Bronte_, _June_ 21_st_, 1834.
The contents include: 1. Preface, half page; 2. _The Spell_, 26
pages; 3. _High Life in Verdopolis_: _or The Difficulties
of Annexing a Suitable Title to a Work Practically Illustrated in
Six Chapters_. _By Lord C. A. F. Wellesley_, _March_ 20, 1834, 22
pages; 4. _The Scrap-Book_: _A Mingling of Many Things_.
_Compiled by Lord C. A. F. Wellesley_. _C. Bronte_, _March_
17_th_, 1835, 31 pages.

[This volume is in the British Museum.]
_Death of Darius Cadomanus_: _A Poem_. _By Charlotte Bronte_. 1835
Pp. 24. Signed in full, and dated
_Saul and Memory_: _Two Poems_. _By C. Bronte_. Pp. 12 1835
_Passing Events_ 1836
'_We Wove a Web in Childhood_': A poem (pp. vi.), signed _C. 1835
Bronte_, _Haworth_, _Dec'br_. 19_th_, 1835
_The Wounded Stag_, _and other Poems_. _Signed C. Bronte_. 1836
_Jan'y._ 19, 1836. Pp. 20
_Lord Douro_: _A Story_. _Signed C. Bronte_. _July_ 21_st_, 1837 1837
_Poems_. _By C. Bronte_. Pp. 16 1838
_Lettre d'Invitation a un Ecclesiastique_. Signed 1842
_Charlotte Bronte_. _Le_ 21 _Juillet_, 1842. Large 8vo, pp. 4.
A French exercise written at Brussels
_John Henry_. _By Charlotte Bronte_, Crown 8vo, pp. 36, _circa_ 1852
written in pencil
_Willie Ellin_. _By Charlotte Bronte_. _May and June_ 1853
Crown 8vo, pp. 18

The following, included in Charlotte's 'Catalogue of my Books'
printed by Mrs. Gaskell, are not now forthcoming:

_Leisure Hours_: _A Tale_, _and two Fragments_ _July_ 6_th_, 1829
_The Adventures of Edward de Crak_: _A Tale_ _Feb._ 2_nd_, 1830
_An Interesting Incident in the Lives of some _June_ 10_th_, 1830
of the most eminent Persons of the Age_: _A Tale_
_The Poetaster_: _A Drama_. _In two volumes_, _July_ 12_th_, 1830
_A Book of Rhymes_, _finished_ _December_ 17_th_, 1829
_Miscellaneous Poems_, _finished_ _May_ 3_rd_, 1830

[These _Miscellaneous Poems_ are probably poems written upon
separate sheets, and not forming a complete book--indeed, some
half dozen such separate poems are still extant. The last item
given in Charlotte's list of these _Miscellaneous Poems_ is
_The Evening Walk_, 1820; this is a separate book, and is included
in the list above.]

BY EMILY BRONTE

A volume of_ Poems_, 8vo, pp. 29; signed (at the top of the first 1844
page) _E. J. B_. _Transcribed February_ 1814. Each poem is
headed with the date of its composition. Of the poems
included in this book four are still unprinted, the remainder
were published in the _Poems_ of 1846. The whole are written in
microscopic characters
A volume of _Poems_, square 8vo, pp. 24. Each poem is dated, 1837-1839
and the first is signed _E. J. Bronte_, _August_ 19_th_, 1837.
Written in an ordinary, and not a minute, handwriting. All
unpublished
A series of poems written in a minute hand upon both sides of 1833-1839
fourteen or fifteen small slips of paper of various sizes. All
unpublished
_Lettre and Reponse_. An exercise in French. Large 8vo, 1842
pp. 4. Signed _E. J. Bronte_, and dated 16 _Juillet_
_L'Amour Filial_. An exercise in French. Small quarto, pp. 4. 1842
Signed in full _Emily J. Bronte_, and dated 5 _Aout_

BY ANNE BRONTE.

_Verses by Lady Geralda_, and other poems. A crown 8vo volume 1836-1837
of 28 pages. Each poem is signed (or initialled) and dated, the
dates extending from 1836 to 1837. The poems are all
unpublished
_The North Wind_, and other poems. A crown 8vo volume of 26 1838-1840
pages. Each poem is signed (or initialled) and dated, some
having in addition to her own name the nom-de-guerre
_Alexandrina Zenobia_ or _Olivia Vernon_. The dates extend
from 1838 to 1840. The poems are all unpublished
_To Cowper_, and other poems. 8vo, pp. 22. Of the nine 1842-1845
poems contained in this volume three are signed _Anne Bronte_,
four are signed _A. Bronte_, and two are initialled '_A. B._'
All are dated. Part of these Poems are unpublished, the
remainder appeared in the _Poems_ of 1846
A thin 8vo volume of poems (mostly dated 1845), pp. 14, _circa_ 1845
each being signed _A. Bronte_, or simply '_A. B._'--some
having in addition to, or instead of, her own name the
nom-de-guerre _Zerona_. A few of these poems are unprinted;
the remainder are a portion of Anne's contribution to the
_Poems_ of 1846
_Song_: '_Should Life's first feelings be forgot_' (one octavo 1845
leaf)

[A fair copy (2 pp. 8vo) of a poem by Branwell Bronte, in the
hand-writing of Anne Bronte.]
_The Power of Love_, and other poems. Post octavo, pp. 26. 1845-1846
Each poem is signed (or initialled) and dated
_Self Communion_, a Poem. 8vo, pp. 19. Signed '_A. B_.' and 1848
dated _April_ 17_th_, 1848

BY BRANWELL BRONTE.

_The Battle of Washington_. By _P. B. Bronte_. With full-page 1827
coloured illustrations

[An exceedingly childish production, and the earliest of all the
Bronte manuscripts.]
_History of the Rebellion in my Army_ 1828
_The Travels of Rolando Segur_: _Comprising his Adventures 1829
throughout the Voyage_, _and in America_, _Europe_, _the South
Pole_, _etc._ _By Patrick Branwell Bronte_. _In two
volumes_
_A Collection of Poems_. _By Young Soult the Rhymer_. 1829
_Illustrated with Notes and Commentaries by Monsieur
Chateaubriand_. _In two volumes_
_The Liar Detected_. _By Captain Bud_ 1830
_Caractacus_: _A Dramatic Poem_. _By Young Soult_ 1830
_The Revenge_: _A Tragedy_, _in three Acts_. _By Young Soult_. 1830
_P. B. Bronte_. _In two volumes_. _Glasstown_

[Although the title page reads 'in two volumes,' the book is
complete in one volume only.]
_The History of the Young Men_. _By John Bud_ 1831
_Letters from an Englishman_. _By Captain John Flower_. _In 1830-1832
six volumes_
_The Monthly Intelligencer_. _No._ 1 _March_ 27, 1833

[The only number produced of a projected manuscript newspaper,
by Branwell Bronte. The MS. consists of 4 pp. 4to, arranged
in columns, precisely after the manner of an ordinary journal.]
_Real Life in Verdopolis_: _A Tale_. _By Captain John Flower_, 1833
_M.P._ _In two volumes_. _P. B. Bronte_
_The Politics of Verdopolis_: _A Tale_. _By Captain John Flower_. 1833
_P. B. Bronte_
_The Pirate_: _A Tale_. _By Captain John Flower_ 1833

[The most pretentious of Branwell's prose stories.]
_Thermopylae_: _A Poem_. _By P. B. Bronte_. 8vo, pp. 14 1834
_And the Weary are at Rest_: _A Tale_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1834
_The Wool is Rising_: _An Angrian Adventure_. _By the Right 1834
Honourable John Baron Flower_
_Ode to the Polar Star, and other Poems_. _By P. B. Bronte_. 1834
Quarto, pp. 24
_The Life of Field Marshal the Right Honourable Alexander 1835
Percy_, _Earl of Northangerland_. _In two volumes_. _By John
Bud_. _P. B. Bronte_
_The Rising of the Angrians_: _A Tale_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1836
_A Narrative of the First War_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1836
_The Angrian Welcome_: _A Tale_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1836
_Percy_: _A Story_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1837
A packet containing four small groups of _Poems_, of about six
or eight pages each, mostly without titles, but all either
signed or initialled, and dated from 1836 to 1838
_Love and Warfare_: _A Story_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1839
_Lord Nelson_, _and other Poems_. _By P. B. Bronte_. Written in 1844
pencil. Small 8vo, pp. 26

[This book contains a full-page pencil portrait of Branwell
Bronte, drawn by himself, as well as four carefully finished heads.
These give an excellent idea of the extent of Branwell's artistic
skill.]
© Митрофанова Екатерина Борисовна, 2009 |