Auction in Edinburgh

A manuscript Charlotte Brontë short note will be auctioned next Wednesday, September 4 in Edinburgh:

Lyon and Turnbull’s Rare Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Photographs
Rare Books, Maps & Manuscripts - Sale 391 - Lot 141
Brontë, Charlotte

Autographed letter signed, from Charlotte Brontë to David Waldie, [L.R.C.S.] (1813-1889), thanking him for his appreciative comments regarding Jane Eyre and the gift of some "...little books", addressed from Gloucester Terrace, London, dated January 19th, no year given but a photocopy of the original envelope appears to read 1853, two hand-written pages of 175x112mm., each on one folded sheet, some very slight foxing and dust-soiling, letter is folded into three, with a few small closed tears to folds
Estimate £10,000-12,000
Note: Brontë's letter is adressed to a David Waldie Esq., a well-respected pharmacist who, it is commonly accepted, first suggested the use of chloroform in midwifery. Indeed, Professor James Y. Simpson of the Department of Midwifery at Edinburgh University, acknowleged Waldie's suggestion in a footnote in his account of discovery. Although the letter was adressed to Waldie in Liverpool, where he first encountered chloroform, he is still remembered in his home town of Linlithgow, where the Annet House Museum currently has an exhibition relating to his life and work.

The letter tells us that Waldie was impressed by Jane Eyre, published in 1847 under the pseudonym 'Currer Bell', and was inspired to write to Brontë of his appreciation of the book. Brontë replies:

The sincere affection of a reader's gratification is - I scarcely need to say - one of the much acceptable favours in which an author can be repaid for his labours. I shall be glad if any future work of mine gives you equal pleasure to that you speak of having found in "Jane Eyre".

The date of the letter can be ascertained from a photocopy of the original franked envelope (not present), with a postmark reading 1853. Indeed, it should be noted that Charlotte has signed the letter, 'C. Brontë', signifying that she was now using her own name, and therefore admitting her gender (although in the letter she does refer to the generic author as male). This fits in with what we know about the later years of Charlotte Brontë's life. In 1848, following the publication of Jane Eyre, Charlotte and Ann Brontë had revealed their true identities to their publishers. In a bibliographical note of her sisters in an edition of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Charlotte explains the reasons for the rather masculine-sounding pseudonyms used by the three siblings:

Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names, positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because without at the time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called 'feminine,' we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice.

Charlotte's rejection of, "personal publicity" seems to have extended beyond the gradual outing of her sex. Even in 1849, when Charlotte, "...paid her first visit to London in her own proper person as a woman of distinction and literary fame," (in the words of Auguste Birrell), she did not rush to be the centre of attention amongst her fellow writers. She declined to meet with Charles Dickens, for example, although she did visit William Makepeace Thackeray, of whom she was a great admirer.

However, it was between this point and Charlotte Brontë's untimely death in 1855, whilst pregnant with her first child, that the author writes this very appreciative and gracious note to Waldie. Despite what seems to be Charlotte's slight resistance to fame, it does suggest an author who has found, and is comfortable with, her own popularity.

Other Brontë-related items in the same auction is

Lot 83
Gaskell, Elizabeth
The life of Charlotte Brontë. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1857. First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, with letter from John William Parker, editor of Fraser's magazine, to John Skelton, "you are, I hope, reviewing the proof of Miss Brontë's life... there is a great deal in the book which we believe ought not to have been printed on account of the pains it will unneccesarily give to people still living... [also] Mrs Gaskell, I believe, writes with very little accuracy", 2 pages, 20 April 1857; with an envelope addressed to E.S. Dallas [?] in Brontë's hand attached to leaf preceding frontispiece, half calf
Estimate £300-400

Lot 130
Swinburne, Algernon Charles
A note on Charlotte Brontë. London: Chatto & Windus, 1877. First edition, 8vo, with an A.L.S. from the author to John Skelton (1831-97), referring to having "unearthed a new & true humourist hitherto unknown" for Fortnightly Review; [bound with] Reid, T. WemyssCharlotte Brontë. A monograph. London: Macmillan, 1877. 2 works in one volume, 8vo, morocco-backed cloth
Estimate £150-200

Edinburgh Evening News covers the auction in this article:

Cathy Marsden, a spokeswoman for Lyon and Turnbull, said: “Although the letter is fairly short, it really depicts Charlotte Brontë as a gracious and thoughtful person, thanking Waldie, the recipient, for a gift of “little books” and his kind words regarding Jane Eyre.
“It is not only the fact that the letter is in Brontë’s hand and that it is signed by her that makes it special, but also that it mentions Jane Eyre – a book with enduring popularity, for which Charlotte Brontë is perhaps best known.” (Jen Lavery)

Also in The Sunday Herald.