Happy birthday, Charlotte Brontë

Elizabeth Gaskell wrote a much larger tribute to her friend, and although the result was not all that satisfactory, the intention and the effort behind it were extremely good. However, to celebrate Charlotte's 193th birthday, we will quote from a private letter from Elizabeth Gaskell to George Smith, written on October 2nd, 1856:

... leaving all authorship on one side, her character as a woman was unusual to the point of being unique. I never heard or read of anyone who was for an instant, or in any respect, to be compared to her. And everything she did and every word she said & wrote bore the impress of this remarkable character.

Of course, we would rather not leave 'all authorship' aside at all and just include it in the lot. Her 'remarkable character' shone and still shines through all her published writings.

(Picture source)
Her literary legacy is also very much still alive as these selection of alerts for today and tomorrow show:

1. In Tampa, Florida:

The Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library is pleased to celebrate Charlotte Bronte’s birthday on Tuesday, April 21 at 7 pm at the Upper Tampa Bay Regional Public Library, 11211 Countryway Boulevard, Tampa.
Victorian scholar and Bronte expert, Dr. William Scheuerle, will provide background and stories about Charlotte Bronte. A birthday party will follow. Attendees are invited to dress in Victorian costume.
This program is cosponsored by the Friends of the Upper Tampa Bay Regional Public Library. For more information about this and other FREE programs @ your library®, please call (813) 273-3652 or visit hcplc.org.

2. In Prior Lake, MN:

Club Prior
16210 Eagle Creek Avenue SE Suite 101, Prior Lake, MN

April 22 10:30 Book Club “Jane Eyre “ by Charlotte Bronte. Copies available through Library. All Welcome

3. A scholar alert from Opole, Poland

Instytut Filologii Angielskiej Uniwersytetu Opolskiego
Institute of English, Opole University
Polish Association for American Studies: PASE 2009

09:30 AM April 22
Milena Kokosza, The anatomy of Thornfield (Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre)

Categories: Alert, Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell, Reminder, Scholar, Talks