80 years of Brontë Parsonage

Today is a very special and happy day for the Brontë Parsonage Museum, as exactly 80 years ago today, James Roberts, the local millionaire who had bought if for 3,000 pounds, handed over the keys and the title-deeds to the President of the Brontë Society in front of thousands of people who had gathered to witness the event as this picture, from Sarah Barrett's A Room of One's Own, shows. The author herself will give a talk on the museum.

From The Telegraph & Argus:

To celebrate the anniversary people are invited to come along to the museum, people over 80 years old [the whole month] and those with a Bradford postcode, BD21, BD22 will have free admission today, August 4. (...)

From next week the Brontë Parsonage Museum is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a summer of special events, ranging from a puppet show based on the Brontës’ life to a chainsaw sculpture created from a tree planted by Charlotte.
At Monday’s open day, artist Lesley Martin will be working with visitors to create a giant artwork on the Parsonage front lawn, made from natural materials. Visitors are invited to bring along their own flowers and leaves found on walks in the area, and to learn about the plants growing around the Parsonage. (Emma Clayton in The Telegraph & Argus)

Lesley Martin will also be giving a talk in the graveyard on plants found growing there and their natural uses. More information on August events at the Parsonage can be found on this previous post.

These events form part of the museum’s contemporary arts programme and are free on admission to the museum.
Also running at the museum in its anniversary year is the first exhibition devoted solely to Emily Brontë – No Coward Soul – which includes a portrait of her loaned by the National Portrait Gallery, right.
“It’s a rare opportunity to see it outside London,” says collections manager Ann Dinsdale. “The National Portrait Gallery is usually reluctant to loan it out because it’s one of its most popular images.
“It was originally part of a family group portrait and one of only two known such portraits painted by Branwell.”
The exhibition also includes a manuscript of Emily’s Gondal poems and an 1858 reissue of Wuthering Heights, containing Emily’s biography notes, along with newspaper cuttings of reviews.
“There’s little surviving evidence of Emily’s personality,” says Ann. “She didn’t have the recognition that Charlotte had in her lifetime and is thought to have cared little about success, but the reviews of Wuthering Heights found in her writing desk suggest she did care how her work was received.”
Also on display is a photograph of part of Emily’s 1846 poetry collection. Taken in the 1930s, the photograph was from Sir Alfred J Law’s collection. “He amassed an extensive collection of Brontë manuscripts and books, including a notebook containing some of the best poems by Emily. It disappeared after his death, this photograph is all that remains,” says Ann. New guided tours launched at the Parsonage give visitors a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes, accompanied by an expert. The tours allow visitors to see treasures from the Brontë Society’s world-famous collections in the reference library.
“The tours provide more of an insight into the Parsonage than you’d usually get,” says Ann. “Having an expert on hand to provide more information and answer questions is a huge benefit. The tours are held earlier in the day to get a head start, before other visitors are admitted.” (Emma Clayton in The Telegraph & Argus)

Categories: Alert, Brontë Parsonage Museum