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Thursday, November 08, 2018

Thursday, November 08, 2018 11:05 am by Cristina in , , , , , , , ,    No comments
The recent publication of Charlotte Brontë. The Lost Manuscripts has reached the tabloids. The Daily Express:
The aged documents comprise a 77-line love poem and a dark 74-line story set in a fantasy world imagined by the famous Brontë family.
They were discovered inside a book once belonging to the Brontë's mother Maria that was sold to an America-based collector in the 1860s.
The book and documents were purchased by the Brontë Society for a fee thought to be in excess of £170,000 in 2016.
Brontë scholars have now taken transcripts and images of the pages and published them within a new release called Charlotte Brontë: The Lost Manuscripts.
The pieces date to 1833 when Charlotte was 17-years-old and are set in the fictional world of Angria, where she and her brother Branwell would later base a series of books.
The short story is about a mysterious character who arrives in Brontë's home village Haworth and plies the 'riff-raff' with alcohol.
They run riot and end up dragging a local minister from his bed and flogging him.
The comparatively meek poem is about the lovesick wife of a king and is more traditional in tone.
Some of the pages within the Robert Southey book, The Remains of Henry Kirke White, owned by Charlotte's mum Maria where the previously unseen material was discovered, show annotations and sketches scrawled by the young Brontë girls.
Following Maria's death in 1821 that book was passed on to her family and eventually sold to America after the death of Charlotte's father Patrick in 1861.
It is thought to have passed through the hands of a number of private collectors before being acquired by the Brontë Society in 2016.
Ann Dinsdale, the curator of the Brontë Parsonage Museum, said: "These documents are incredibly significant, being among the earliest of Charlotte Brontë's writings.
"They both relate to the fantasy world of Angria that Charlotte created.
"The story is very dark and quite a surprising piece to have been written by a young girl in Victorian England.
"The love poem is more conventional but quite an accomplished piece for a teenage girl.
"We're incredibly excited to publish the documents within a new book."
As well as transcripts and images of the documents, the book contains essays by leading Brontë scholars about the significance of the find.
The original documents are at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Keighley, West Yorkshire, having recently undergone a restoration.
Also in the Daily Mail.

The Telegraph and Argus has an article on how cafés and coffee shops are on the rise in Bradford and didn't you know?
Si Cunningham, Bradford Civic Society chairman, added: “Bradfordians have always had a thing for coffee shops and there was a well documented boom in the Victorian era.
“Branwell Brontë was known to frequent Bradford’s coffee houses – he couldn’t get enough of them apparently. It’s good to see they’re still thriving in modern Bradford, as they bring a pleasant, civilising atmosphere to the city centre and they’re generally busy most of the time. In recent years they’ve also helped rejuvenate heritage buildings like the Wool Exchange, which is a lovely spot for a peaceful cuppa. We’ve also got places like Bread + Roses on North Parade offering something a bit more specialist. They’ve really helped bring a bit of much-needed diversity to the street.” (Felicity Macnamara)
Sorry to say that Branwell used to enjoy a different kind of house: the public house.

BBC News features 'The endangered buildings saved from ruin' in England and one of them is
Kirklees Priory Gatehouse, West Yorkshire
The timber-framed Kirklees Priory Gatehouse in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, had been on the register since 1998 but following repairs funded by Historic England, it was removed last year.
Although most of it was built in the early 16th Century, parts of its timber framing came from a medieval nunnery founded on the site during the reign of Henry II (1154-89).
A favourite haunt of Charlotte Brontë, it is also claimed to be where Robin Hood died. (Bethan Bell)
Ellen Nussey claimed that it had been the model for Nunnely Priory in Shirley.

Citizen Times features the book Decorating a Room of One's Own by Susan Harlan.
And Jane Eyre describes the ornamental style she and Edward Rochester prefer in their new home as “sort of medieval suit of armor meets oppressive and claustrophobic wealth” (the original Rochester mansion, she reminds us, burned to the ground, along with the woman in the attic).
Why?

Finally, an alert for tomorrow, November 10 in Haworth:
The Friends of the Brontës' Church support group has linked up with the Keighley-based Rock Choir, which will hold a concert at the church on Friday November 9.
The Rock Choir impressed members of the church's Friends organisation when it performed at a wedding of two church members early in August.
Peter Breed, chairman of the Friends of the Brontës’ Church, explained: “The choir created such an amazing atmosphere for the wedding that we asked them whether they'd be interested in staging a concert for us.
“We were delighted when they agreed to help us, as it will be an opportunity to hear modern, popular music performed in church.
“Now that the building has been totally re-roofed, our electrical wiring also needs to be replaced and we’d like to use the opportunity to improve the lighting and refurbish the Victorian wall paintings if funds allow.
“This work is expected to cost in excess of £100,000. If we succeed in completing the work it will give Haworth a church fit to serve generations to come.”
Rebecca Frodsham, conductor of the Rock Choir, said: “We’re really excited to be performing in Haworth Church only a few metres away from the grave of the Brontë family.
“It’s a pleasure to help the church raise money by doing something we enjoy.
“Rock Choirs have been in existence for 10 years, and it’s a great opportunity for us to show more people a way in which live-performance modern popular music can be enjoyed.” (Miran Rahman in Keighley News)

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