Fine books and/or Twilight-ification

The Scotsman talks about a new auction at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh (13 Jan 2010 11:00) which includes some fine editions of Brontë books:

Books, Maps & Manuscripts - Sale 274
Lot 55
Bronte, Charlotte, Emily & Anne
Life and works. London: Smith Elder, 1890-94. 7 volumes, 8vo, plates, original green cloth, some hinges a little weak
Estimate £100-150
Lot 56
Bronte, Charlotte, Emily and Anne
[Novels]. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood, [n.d.]. 7 volumes, 8vo, green half calf gilt, spines slightly faded; Dickens, C. [Works]. [N.d.] 19 volumes, Daily News Memorial Edition, plates, maroon half morocco, slightly rubbed; Minarik, E.H. Little bear's visit. 1961. 8vo, plates by Maurice Sendak, cloth-backed boards, corners slightly rubbed; Burns, R. Poems. Edinburgh, 1811. 8vo, 2 volumes, engraved plates, modern cloth, pencil to frontispiece of volume 2; Waugh, E. Men at arms. 1952; Robb, J. Murrayfield Golf Club. 1947. Original cloth; and 20 others, miscellaneous (51)
Estimate £200-300

Anne Rice is interviewed by L.A. Weekly and insists on the debt the Twilight saga owes to Jane Eyre:

While she hasn’t read the Twilight novels, Rice has seen the movies. “They’re romances for very young kids. They’re about a young woman wanting and needing an older, mysterious figure who’s protective and yet something of a menace,” she says. It’s the Brontë sisters and Jane Eyre. “It was almost genius on Stephenie Meyer’s part to set it in high school. It works perfectly.” (Gendy Alimirung)

More Twilight connections. On the Canwest News Service we read one more example of the saga of Wuthering Heights marketed as Bella's favourite:

The sign on a table inside a Toronto bookstore says, "Bella's picks. "Here, among Stephenie Meyer's bestselling vampire novels, are other titles wearing the series's trademark black, glossy jackets: Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights.
The tagline on the cover of Shakespeare's tragic play says "The original forbidden love," while the cover of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights features a seal that declares it to be: "Bella and Edward's favorite book."
HarperCollins, the publisher, has boosted sales of the classics by reprinting them with new "gothic" jackets to attract Twilight fans.
"Wuthering Heights has been selling much better ever since Twilight became so popular because fans know it's Bella's favourite book. But these editions in particular, because they look so similar to Twilight, have really taken off," says Trevor Dayton, vice-president, kids and entertainment at Indigo Books & Music Inc.
He says since the retailer started carrying the revamped books in the summer, stores have sold more than twice as many as previous editions, with sales heating up this holiday season.
"I remember reading Emily Brontë in high school. I can't say that I had any interest in reading those books but was told to by the teacher," he said. "I think it's better to have the books packaged in a way that is going to appeal to [readers] and endorsed by an author they clearly love."
Meyer's books, Breaking Dawn, Eclipse and New Moon, were among the top five best-selling books of the year, according to industry tracker BookNet Canada.
The protagonist, Bella Swan, makes reference to Wuthering Heights in the series, comparing her vampire love, Edward Cullen, to Brontë's brooding Heathcliff.
Wuthering Heights, with its Meyer-inspired jacket, has topped British bookseller, Waterstone's classic book chart for the first time since it started recording figures in 1998. "I don't think a vampire's recommendation has ever sent a book to No. 1 before," Simon Robertson, the company's classics buyer, told The Telegraph.

And YPulse:

Realizing that Teens Read. As horrified as some critics and literature buffs were at the “Twilight-ification” of classics like “Wuthering Heights” both here and in the UK, the fact that these teen-friendly covers helped centuries-old books top bestseller lists is pretty sweet. (meredith)

The Financial Times includes a question with a Brontë reference in its Christmas Quiz:

In his book Tormented Hope, Brian Dillon identifies a disorder shared by Charlotte Brontë, Charles Darwin, Marcel Proust, Andy Warhol, Florence Nightingale, Alice James and Glenn Gould. What is it? (Ludovic Hunter-Tilney)

Finally, 夢飛的地方…… posts about Jane Eyre 1996.

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Wuthering Heights