New Brontë Treasures Arrive in Haworth

The Brontë Parsonage has kindly sent us the following press release and images:

New Brontë Treasures Arrive in Haworth

A remarkable cache of new Brontë treasures have recently been donated to the Brontë Parsonage Museum by a private owner living in Manitoba, Canada. The items were given to the museum by Mr Tony Hart, whose great grandfather was the nephew of Mary Anna Bell, the second wife of Arthur Bell Nicholls. Nicholls’ first marriage was to Charlotte Brontë and took place at Haworth Church in 1854, although Charlotte died the following year, possibly in the early stages of pregnancy. Mr Hart’s great grandfather emigrated from Ireland to Canada in the 1870s.

The items donated all belonged to Charlotte Brontë and include a gold brooch set with garnets, a beautifully carved ivory visiting card case and card, a fragmentary manuscript by Charlotte, dated 1829 and entitled ‘Anecdotes of the Duke of Wellington’, an ink drawing of a ‘Wellington monument’ accompanying the manuscript, and a signed engraved portrait of Charlotte. The items would have been taken to Ireland by Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1861 after Charlotte’s death and may have been given to Mr Hart’s great grandfather as keepsakes.

It’s very rare indeed for such a wonderful group of items to emerge under any circumstances, but we feel extremely fortunate and grateful to Mr Hart for donating what is certainly a very valuable collection indeed to the museum. Some of these items are quite unique within the context of the museum’s collection and so to have them return to Haworth after so many years, and all the way from Canada, is very special.

Ann Dinsdale
Collections Manager

The new items are now on display at the Brontë Parsonage Museum and can be seen along with many other treasures from the museum’s collection as part of an exhibition focusing on Charlotte Brontë.

EDIT 3/11/2009: The Yorkshire Post relays the news and includes this image of the just-arrived brooch. (Picture source)

If you are in the area we would suggest a trip to welcome these beauties.

Well, onto something else. 411mania believes in the fact that there are only seven basic plotlines, one of which is...

Rags to Riches - Someone who has seemed to the world quite commonplace is shown to have been hiding a second, more exceptional self within. Think the ugly duckling, Jane Eyre and Clark Kent (Leonard Hayhurst based on this link)

The Sun comments on Wolfmother's take on Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights and they share an accoustic version of the cover (we posted a live version last night).

I never thought I'd hear WOLFMOTHER singing KATE BUSH.
But that's exactly what happened when the heavy metal rockers - famed for their head-banging sets - popped by the Sun Studios.
Prior to performing Wuthering Heights - which you can watch below - the usually-wild frontman ANDREW STOCKDALE cooed: "This is quite nerve wreckwracking.
"Kate is my idol.
"I wish she could be here with us now in her red dress.
"That would be my dream. I've thought about that a lot."

Well, it is not the first time that a hard rock band play version of the song, think Angra, White Flag or China Drum, for instance.

Wuthering Heights - on various 'formats' - is actually the subject on a few blogs: Vanishing Point and Popped Density (about the novel), Mutually Said: Poets Vegan Anarchist Pacifist and Kill Your Darlings (about the 2009 two-parter). Meanwhile, Jane Eyre is featured on Women in Literature, A Healthy Dose of Hip, Ronda Sturgill, Leap of Faith and Mundane Mirror. Poethead writes briefly about Anne Brontë and posts a poem by her, The North Wind.

Finally, we are late in pointing out Dsudyka's Etsy shop with her now sold-out Brontë in New Zealand.

This is a limited edition archival inkjet of a watercolor I made some time ago. The title is "Bronte in New Zealand". It was very loosely inspired by the Jane Campion movie "The Piano". I loved the film's imagery: the juxtaposition of the layered, complicated victorian era clothing and women's hairstyles and the wild, fecund landscape of a temperate New Zealand rain forest. The bird on top of her head is a Tui. Tui's are native to New Zealand.

Categories: Art-Exhibitions, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Brontëana, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Music, Wuthering Heights