Charlotte Brontë's fisherman

Via this passing mention on Newsweek

Other items included more illustrations by E.H. Shepard, a handwritten manuscript from poet and writer Dylan Thomas (sold for £104,500), dozens of works by artist and designer Eric Gill, a 1632 folio of Shakespeare’s works (£74,500) and a pencil drawing by Charlotte Brontë (£13,125). (Stav Ziv)

we have found out about a couple of Brontë-related items auctioned yesterday afternoon at Sotheby's in London as part of their English Literature, History, Children's Books and Illustrations Including Eric Gill – The Felix Dennis Collection auction. This drawing by Charlotte Brontë dated October 23, 1829 was expected to fetch 6,000-8,000 pounds but ended up selling for 13,125. EDIT: And the buyer is the Brontë Parsonage Museum!  Here's how Sotheby's described it:

BRONTË, CHARLOTTE
FISHERMAN SHELTERING AGAINST A TREE. Pencil drawing on card (image size: 70 x 105mm, card size: 100x 145mm), depicting a figure in a hat holding a fishing rod in driving rain, huddled by a river beneath a windswept tree (copied from Thomas Bewick, History of British Birds (1816), volume 2, p.47), signed and dated, 23 October 1829, mounted, framed, and glazed (frame size 230 x 285mm)
LITERATURE. Alexander and Sellars, no. 24 

A first edition of Shirley was sold as well and it fetched 1,500 pounds (the estimate was 1,200-1,800).

[BRONTË, CHARLOTTE]
SHIRLEY. A TALE. BY CURRER BELL. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 18498vo (189 x 112mm.), 3 volumes, FIRST EDITION, 3-page advertisement for the third edition of Jane Eyre at end of volume 3, with volume 2, p.304 correctly numbered and with the error '"Well said he' in line 1 not corrected, contemporary half calf, spines gilt, red morocco lettering-pieces, lacking 16-page publisher's catalogue in volume 1, some wear to hinge of volume 2 with small tear at foot of gutter in first few pages
PROVENANCE. B. Williams Ball, bookplate; F.W. Fitzwygram, inkstamp
LITERATURE. Parrish, p.93; Sadleir 348; Smith 5

The Lancashire Telegraph features a Dickens medley and the venues where it will be on show. It's not all Dickens, though:

Scenes from Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Great Expectations and others will be enacted and “guest” writers such as Anne Brontë and the well-loved diary of Mr Pooter will also be represented. (Diane Cooke)

The Huffington Post lists '100 Random Facts About The English Language' such as

79. The "wuther" of Wuthering Heights is an old English dialect word for a sudden and strong gust of wind. (Paul Anthony Jones)

But we are sure everyone reading this blog already knew that.

Daily Life jokes about Amy Poehler's writing habits:

Amy Poehler's debut memoir Yes Please has been creeping up bestseller lists since its release last month, and, while appearing on Ellen yesterday, the Parks And Rec star revealed her very idiosyncratic creative process behind the book - she wrote it while topless (kinda like the Brontë sisters - no, I just made that up). "I find that writing topless relaxes me," Poehler explained. (Rob Moran)

Picture source

And now for something that sounds straight out of a British sitcom or soap opera (we can't make up our minds on which) but it's apparently from real life. The Telegraph reports:

Roger Bird has launched a fight back over claims he sexually harassed a potential Ukip candidate by releasing a number of text messages between him and his accuser
Star Ukip candidate Natasha Bolter sent a text message saying 'love or infatuation made me lose my brain' two days after claims of sexual harassment against him were raised.
After an apparently fatal blow to his political career, Mr Bird has gone on the defensive by releasing hundreds of text messages between himself and the woman who has accused him of sexual misconduct to prove that their intimate personal relationship was consensual.
The messages paint a picture of a sometimes volatile relationship which veered between loving and strained. [...]
In one more recent text message, Ms Bolter complains that "life is not a bronte novel" and that "love or infatuation made me loose my brain for a while [sic]". (Gregory Walton, Steven Swinford and Luke Heighton)

On Facebook, Wuthering Hikes shares a stunning recreation of how the Haworth Parsonage would have looked like in the 19th century (before the Wade wing was added to it). And via the Brontë Parsonage Facebook page, we see that the second episode of the BBC's Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance featured the Brontës' upright piano.

Mainline Media News features Merion Mercy Academy's Madi Resnic who is 'Main Line Student of the Week' and whose favourite novel at the moment is Wuthering Heights. She Read Novels reviews Robert Edric's Sanctuary. Thé Toi et lis! (in French), Falling in Love with Words and The Jis Journals post Wuthering Heights. Bored Panda publishes a photoshoot by Michalina Woźniak inspired by Jane Eyre; The World of my Green Heart posts about Jane Eyre. Finally, Malvern College publishes a review of their own Jane Eyre production.