Overview
Nine miniature manuscript books, written by English author Charlotte Brontë and her brother Patrick Bronwell Brontë, written when they were children.
Dates
- Creation: 1829-1830
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Originals restricted. Readers should use digital surrogates linked in this finding aid.
Conditions Governing Use
Images linked to this finding aid are intended for public access and educational use. This material is owned and/or held by the Houghton Library, and is provided solely for the purpose of teaching or individual research. Any other use, including commercial reuse, mounting on other systems, or other forms of redistribution requires the permission of the curator.
Extent
.1 linear feet (1 volume)Nine juvenilia miniature manuscript books: Six by Charlotte Brontë, and three by Patrick Branwell Brontë. These books form part of a series written by the Brontë children in the years 1829-1830.
Manuscript booklets are hand-lettered, some containing simple drawings as illustrations, and sewn into paper covers, with dated and signed title pages.
Also includes notes on the manuscript by Amy Lowell and Thomas James Wise.
Biographical / Historical
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) was an English poet and novelist and sister of Patrick Branwell Brontë (1817-1848). They were the siblings of Emily and Anne Brontë, also English writers of the 19th century. From an early age, the Brontë children collaborated to dream up imaginary worlds and created miniature books from their stories and poetry. They first wrote of the Glasstown Confederacy, a fantasy world inspired by a box of twelve wooden toy soldiers given to Branwell by his father, and later Branwell and Charlotte wrote about Angria, while Emily and Anne created Grondol.
Amy Lowell was an American Imagist poet and Thomas James Wise was an English bibliographer and book collector.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Bequest of Amy Lowell; received: 1925.
Bibliography
- Alexander, Christine. The Early Writings of Charlotte Brontë. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1983.
- Alexander, Christine and Jane Sellars. The art of the Brontës. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, p.289-290.
- Patrick Branwell Brontë. Branwell's Blackwood's magazine : The glass town magazine written by Branwell Brontë ; with contributions from his sister Charlotte Brontë ; introduced and edited by Christine Alexander ; assisted by Vanessa Benson and illustrated by Rebecca Alexander. Edmonton: Juvenilia Press, 1995.
- Judith Chernaik. "An unpublished tale by Charlotte Brontë," TLS: 1973 Nov. 23.
- An Edition of the Early Writings of Charlotte Brontë, ed. Christine Alexander; vol. 1: 1826-1832; vol. 2 Part 1: 1833-1834; Part 2: 1834-1835. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987, 1881.
- The Works of Patrick Branwell Brontë: An Edition, ed. Victor A. Neufeldt, 3 vols. New York: Garland, 1997, 1999.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Brontë, Charlotte, 1816-1855. Charlotte Brontë juvenilia: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- Sponsor
- Conservation and imaging funded by the Class of 1952 Manuscript Department Fund.
- EAD ID
- hou00223
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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