A clear precursor of a scene in Jane Eyre

The press coverage of the little book story is somewhat overwhelming, but the news clearly deserves it. We are particularly loving this ITV video which includes footage of the Brontë Parsonage Museum staff cheering when they got it and Ann Dinsdale speaking about the little book.

 

From BBC News:

A book written by Charlotte Brontë at the age of 14 will return home after being bought by the Brontë Society at auction in Paris.
The miniature work, called The Young Men's Magazine, will go to the Parsonage Museum in the Brontës' old home in Haworth, West Yorkshire.
It was bought for €600,000 (£512,970) after a fundraising campaign by the Bronte Society, which runs the museum.
The museum lost out on the book when it last went under the hammer in 2011.
The total price including buyer's premium was €780,000 (£666,790).
The work is one of six "little books" written by Charlotte, the eldest of the three sisters, in 1830. Five are known to survive, and the Brontë Parsonage Museum already holds the other four. [...]
Kitty Wright, executive director of The Brontë Society, said: "We were determined to do everything we could to bring back this extraordinary 'little book' to the Brontë Parsonage Museum and now can't quite believe that it will in fact be coming home to where it was written 189 years ago.
"We have been truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from people from all over the world backing our campaign and can't wait to have it in place with the others and on public view to the world."
The museum's principal curator Ann Dinsdale added that bringing the "unique manuscript" back to Haworth was an "absolute highlight" of her 30-year career at the venue.
"Charlotte wrote this minuscule magazine for the toy soldiers she and her siblings played with and as we walk through the same rooms they did, it seems immensely fitting that it is coming home and we would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone who made it possible."
Part of the Young Men's Magazine describes a murderer driven to madness after being haunted by his victims, and how "an immense fire" burning in his head causes his bed curtains to set alight.
Experts at the museum say this section of the story is "a clear precursor" of a famous scene between Bertha and Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre, which Charlotte would publish 17 years later.

The Guardian has a similar article and included a picture of the little book among the best photos of the day. And now for a small selection of the many, many article from around the globe: The Bookseller, Fine Books & Collections, The Times, The Yorkshire Post, The Telegraph and Argus, Keighley News, Belfast Telegraph, Daily Mail, The New York Times, KFGO, Reuters Latin America, VRT NWS (Netherlands), Observador (Portugal), Sveriges Television (Sweden) Ecns (China) and the list goes on and on...

The Conversation has a section called Curious Kids in which a 12-year-old boy asks 'Why do teachers make us read old stories?' Here's part of the reply:

There are probably as many reasons to read old stories as there are teachers.
Old stories are sometimes strange. They display beliefs, values and ways of life that the reader may not recognize.
As an English professor, I believe that there is value in reading stories from decades or even centuries ago.
Teachers have their students read old stories to connect with the past and to learn about the present. They also have their students read old stories because they build students’ brains, help them develop empathy and are true, strange, delightful or fun. [...]
Additionally, many modern stories are based on older stories. To name only one, Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” has turned up in so many novels since its original publication in 1848 that there are entire articles and book chapters about its influence and importance.
For example, I found references to “Jane Eyre” lurking in “The Princess Diaries,” the “Twilight” series and a variety of other novels. So reading the old story can enrich the experience of the new. (Elisabeth Gruner)

Paris Match reviews the novel Un dimanche à Ville-d’Avray by Dominique Barbéris.

Enfants, elles vibraient d’un même élan du cœur aux exploits de Thierry la Fronde et rejouaient les scènes de « Jane Eyre » avec Orson Welles dans la peau du ténébreux Rochester. Mais les petites filles ont grandi et l’âge adulte n’a pas tenu ses promesses d’expériences exaltantes et de passions échevelées. (François Lestavel) (Translation)

Traveler (Spain) thinks that Wuthering Heights is the perfect book to read in a cabin in Lyndhurst, England.