Arriving in Haworth and in Singapore

The Telegraph and Argus reports that the recently-acquired Brontë items have arrived in the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

Two of the most expensive items acquired by Bronte guardians have arrived at the Parsonage Museum in Haworth.
Emily Bronte’s artist’s box and a miniature poetry manuscript, written by Charlotte as a child, cost the Bronte Society more than £60,000.
The mahogany box which still contains some of Emily’s watercolour blocks and quill pens, was bought at auction in Sotheby’s in London for £32,000 and the miniature work cost 50,000 dollars at a New York auction.
Ann Dinsdale, Bronte Parsonage Museum collections manager, said: “I can’t remember spending that kind of money. But these items are so rare.
“Anything related to Emily is especially collectable and so costly because so little of her things survived.
“Unlike Charlotte, she was not famous until after her death. Charlotte was a celebrity in her own lifetime.
“We must also thank the Victoria & Albert Museum for helping us with a grant from its purchasing fund towards the manuscript and some members of the Bronte Society who gave donations.
“We went to a lot of trouble to acquire these items and it has hit our own acquisitions fund – but it was worth it.”
The treasures go on show at the museum – the former home and shrine to the work of the three sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne – on Monday when it opens to the public for the new season. They will take pride of place in the revamped exhibition rooms. The box is believed to have been bought for Emily, author of Wuthering Heights, as a girl aged about nine in 1827, and the museum has some of the work she made with the equipment.
Charlotte’s manuscript was an “iconic” piece and reflected the imaginative and creative nature of the children when they lived at the museum, Mrs Dinsdale said.
The two poems, written in a minuscule hand, are signed UT, meaning “us two” which Charlotte, who wrote Jane Eyre, and her brother Branwell referred to themselves as.
“We believe it was written so small so that if their father or aunt came across it, they wouldn’t be able to read it,” she added.
The museum opens on Monday from 11am to 5pm, seven days a week, with longer opening hours from April. (Clive White) (Picture source)

Coincidentally, Yorkshire has just launched a marketing campaign targeting potential tourists in Singapore and Hong Kong. As The Northern Echo says, these countries will now receive a few gifts from Yorkshire including:

As part of the trip, he will present gifts such as Taylor’s Yorkshire Tea, Grandma Wild’s Yorkshire Biscuits and an 1877 edition of Wuthering Heights.

Travel Daily has additional info:

The rare 1877 edition of Brontë’s Wuthering Heights* has been given permanently to Singapore as an emblematic gift from Yorkshire and will be housed for public review at the National Library of Singapore, Level 7, from 1 February to 28 February.** The symbolic gift - a key mainstay in both the Singapore and British school curricula today - was chosen to represent Yorkshire as it embodies the county’s rich heritage, wide open spaces and love for food. [...]
“We would like to thank the historic Brontë Parsonage Museum in Yorkshire, which celebrates the lives and novels of the Brontë Family, for working with us to present this rare copy to Singapore”, concluded [Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire].
"The National Library Board is delighted to receive this antique novel. Singaporeans with an acute interest in literature classics will certainly appreciate this rare collector’s edition. As we know, the story itself has given rise to numerous adaptations and inspired works in the arts field, so this gift will be treasured by Singaporeans. I would like to thank Welcome to Yorkshire for facilitating this generous gift from the Brontë Parsonage Museum,” said Dr N Varaprasad, Chief Executive, National Library Board, Singapore.
* Steeped in history and set in Yorkshire, Wuthering Heights is possibly one of the county’s most famous books and has earned its place in the canon of English Literature. The book’s striking visual narrative of the brooding Yorkshire countryside promises readers a glimpse of Yorkshire’s people and its everlasting beauty.

We are thankful to these two websites, because if it had depended on Channel News Asia we would have thought that they had just conned poor Singapore:

The rare 1877 edition of Charlotte Bronte's Wuthering Heights. . . (Picture source)

The Guardian has an editorial in praise of Bradford, and Haworth is obviously included among its wonders.

Add the Brontë village of Haworth, Ilkley Moor, the National Media Museum and the best curries in Britain, and relocating should be a no-brainer for other firms, especially those ­watching the pennies post-recession and fed up with London costs.

Tiffany Murray picks Wuthering Heights as one of her 'top 10 rock'n'roll novels' also in the Guardian.

5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
OK, bear with me here, but to me – or perhaps the teen-me – the ultimate rock star was Heathcliff. He's flinty, elemental, feral, beautiful, violent, mad, gothic, and so very, very rock n' roll. I picture Jack White, although Jack is perhaps too nice. Brontë's narrative structure – with the two outsiders, Lockwood and Nelly, telling the story – gives it the air of an exposé: the common man and woman, watching, reporting. You could call it a 19th century Almost Famous. This is why Wuthering Heights haunts Diamond Star Halo.

Writer Jackie Dolamore talks about her inspiration for her book Magic Under Glass on Trashionista.

What inspired you to write Magic Under Glass?
A lifelong fascination with the Victorian era, and novels set in creepy old houses full of secrets, most notably Jane Eyre. The structure of Jane Eyre was certainly an inspiration for the structure of Magic Under Glass, although it takes some very different turns. Also The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. The automata aspect of the book, on the other hand, was inspired by an exhibit of Japanese automata I saw at a museum, and an exhibit of mechanical music. (Elle Symonds)

Bay Area Reporter reviews several 'male-male romances' in an article entitled 'Jane air'.

The required ingredients of the male-male romance novel are one part Jane Eyre, one part E.M. Forster, one part softcore erotica, and a grand helping of faux-retro syntax. [...]
An important aspect of the historical romance is the avoidance of anachronistic text. With a heavy dose of ghostly mysticism that politely cribs the Gothic romances of Charlotte Bronte, Lovers' Knot takes a decidedly pagan turn toward its finale, and even includes a sort of gay marriage. While also borrowing a bit from E.M. Forster's Maurice, Hardy deftly avoids cliché and melodrama while retaining the repressed passion that charges works in this genre. (Jim Provenzano)

The Boston Phoenix also mentions Jane Eyre in an article featuring the website 60 Second Recap.

And with Jane Eyre, [Jenny] Sawyer puts a focal point on Bronte's feminist themes, infusing every decision Jane makes with a gender perspective. (Marianna Faynshteyn)

Associated Content also refers to Jane Eyre on 'How to Decorate a Luxurious and Elegant Victorian Bedroom', which would be okay if they didn't go on to turn Oscar Wilde into a fictional character as well:

If you are attempting to visualize the time period, then just reflect on famous literary characters like Jane Eyre and Oscar Wilde. (Kristine Tucker)

And here go a few alerts for today:

From the Niagara Falls Review:

Classic Book Club @ Wainfleet Township Public Library
For adults. 2-3 pm.
Where:
Wainfleet Township Public Library
19M9 Park Street, P.O. Box 118
Wainfleet
L0S 1V0
When:
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Web:
http://www.wainfleetlibrary.ca/
Join us for afternoon tea on the last Thursday of the month as we discuss the works of the Bronte sisters. This month's selection is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Please register as a book club member.

Brian Dillon, author of Tormented Hope, will be on the NPR programme On Point today at 3pm ET

And according to 27 East, 'the Jan 27 issue of The East Hampton Press or the Jan 28 issue of The Southampton Press' carry an article on Sheila Kohler which can only be read partially on the website.

The Brussels Brontë Blog posts about an event that took place the day before yesterday:

At 9 pm on 26 January several Brussels Brontë Group members braved the cold to see Jacques Rivette's Hurlevent (1985) at the Cinematek (Film Museum). Renate Hurtmanns wrote the impressions below (translated into English by Sherry Vosburgh). Many thanks to Franklin for letting us know the film was showing.
This was a faithful adaptation of the first part of Wuthering Heights, set in the 1930s in Haute-Provence - which in its way is just as wild and convincing as the Yorkshire moors and an excellent background for the violent and dramatic emotions of the main characters. (Read more) (Renate Hurtmanns (translated by Sherry Vosburgh))

Popped Density discusses another adaptation of Wuthering Heights, that of 1978. And both Lella and Zee and Chuckle59 write about the novel. 50 Books in 2010 reviews Jane Eyre and Brontës.nl (Google translation) warns that the time to win tickets for Jane the Musical in Amersfoort, next February 1st, is running out. The post includes a video of the production as well.

Categories: Alert, Audio-Radio, Books, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Brontëana, Brontëites, Haworth, In the News, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, References, Theatre, Weirdo, Wuthering Heights