Polar Explorers and Pipes

The Times publishes fascinating new discoveries made revising the inventory of the RRS Discovery in the mythical Discovery Expedition (1901-1904) to the Antarctica led by Robert Falcon Scott:

The officers’ library on Discovery was stuffed with fiction, biography and poetry, as well as practical scientific books. Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was popular, there were novels by the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and the works of George Meredith. Below deck, the ordinary sailors could read Sheor King Solomon’s Minesby H. Rider Haggard or flick through bound editions of the magazine Punch. (Mike Wade)

It's a funny find since the young Brontës - particularly Emily and Anne - incorporated Captains John Ross and William Edward Parry (Artic explorers) into their juvenilia plays.

Let's finish the Boxing Day (scarce) news with the perfect present for the Brontë aficionado out there. Hurry up, this is an unavoidable (and unspeakable) opportunity:

English Slip Cast Clay Pipe -
Brand new and imported from England - In its own gift box -
This one is Charlotte Bronte -
It is 5" long with a 1.75" tall bowl that's about .75" wide -
With a coated tip

The mysteries of ebay...

Categories: In the News, Jane Eyre, Weirdo