'To display these literary treasures in the place they were written will be a privilege'

Museums Association celebrates the recent acquisition of the Blavatnik Honresfield Collection for the nation.

Describing the sale as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to bring a collection of such significance into public hands, a consortium of literary and heritage institutions, led by the Friends of the National Libraries (FNL), joined forces to successfully raise £15.3m to acquire the library.
The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) gave a grant of £4m towards the purchase, the largest it has ever awarded towards the acquisition of literary manuscripts since its foundation in 1980.
The principal benefactor was the American-British investor and philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik, who donated half the purchase price after match funding the £7.5m sum raised by the consortium. The collection has been renamed the Blavatnik Honresfield Library in recognition of his donation.

Ros Kerslake, chief executive of the NHMF, said: “This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire such an outstanding and nationally significant collection. The NHMF is a fund of last resort, and the astonishing array of manuscripts will join over 1,000 heritage treasures saved for the nation.

"With the Blavatnik Honresfield Library now secured for public ownership, organisations across the UK will benefit from these literary gems joining their collections.

“I am proud that this incredible archive will be the last major acquisition we will support under my leadership, before I step down at the end of the year.”

FNL will now donate the entire collection to relevant libraries and writers' museums across the UK.

Recipient institutions

Relevant collections will be donated to the following institutions:

Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë

The British Library, London and Yorkshire

The Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth

The Brotherton Library, University of Leeds

Jane Austen

The Bodleian Library, Oxford

Jane Austen’s House, Chawton

Sir Walter Scott

The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow

Abbotsford: The Home of Walter Scott, Melrose, Scotland

Robert Burns

The National Library of Scotland

The Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway (National Trust for Scotland) 

[...] Ann Dinsdale, principal curator at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, said: “The acquisition of the Blavatnik Honresfield Library is a significant moment in our nation’s cultural history.  The Brontë Society is immensely proud to have played a part and is very grateful to FNL, our consortium partners, funders, and our very generous donors. To display these literary treasures in the place they were written will be a privilege and the undoubted highlight of my 32 years at the Brontë Parsonage Museum.” [...]

At the library’s heart lies a set of manuscripts in the hands of the Brontë siblings, much of which has been unseen for 80 years and never properly examined. It includes seven of Charlotte Brontë’s famous “little books”; a manuscript collection of poems by Anne Brontë; some 25 letters by Charlotte Brontë; and a small autograph manuscript diary note shared by Emily and Anne Brontë.

The jewel of the Brontë collection is Emily Brontë’s holograph notebook of 31 poems, believed by many scholars to have been lost.  This poetry notebook carries annotations in Charlotte’s hand. The printed treasures of the sisters include Emily Brontë’s own annotated copy of their first publication, the rare Poems of 1846, and presentation copies of first editions of their novels in their original cloth bindings. (Geraldine Kendall Adams)

The Jewish Chronicle focuses on Sir Leonard Blavatnik.

NPR reviews Mothers, Fathers, and Others by Siri Hustvedt.

Essays on Jane Austen, Emily Brontë and Louis Bourgeois open windows on different aspects of femininity that push against stereotypical expectations. (Sharmila Mukherjee)

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins is one of 'The 23 best thriller books of the year, according to the Goodreads Choice Awards' as reported by Business Insider.

"The Wife Upstairs" by Rachel Hawkins, available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $14.99

This modern-day Southern retelling of the classic "Jane Eyre" is about Jane, a dog-walker who has only recently moved into her impressive new gated community when she meets Eddie Rochester, a recent widow. Believing Eddie could offer Jane the life she's always wanted, the two fall in love — until Jane's past and the legends of Eddie's previous wife begin to haunt her new life. (Katherine Fiorillo)

Ara (in Catalan) reviews Agnes Grey.

¿Té dret, però, una simple institutriu a somiar un bonic matrimoni per amor o el seu futur és ser conca fins a l’eternitat? “Ets una beneita! –li deia el meu cervell al meu cor, més ben dit: el meu jo més estricte al més dèbil–. Com et vas atrevir a somniar tals fantasies?” Infinitament menys tràgica que Jane Eyre –l’heroïna de Charlotte Brontë, la més agosarada de les germanes–, aquesta Agnes resulta una heroïna molt més modesta, que ni passa gana ni es veu arrossegada a patir situacions tràgiques. El relat flueix molt bé i la traducció llisca igualment amb comoditat per gaudir dels i les amants de les històries victorianes, lleugerament romàntiques, que ens obren a aquelles existències femenines que, s’ocupés el lloc que s’ocupés en l’escala social, eren la suma d’un cúmul de limitacions. És contra aquestes limitacions que escriu Anne Brontë aquesta primera novel·la seva, publicada amb pseudònim, evidentment, no fos cas que despertés suspicàcies. (M. Àngels Cabré) (Translation)

Vein (Spain) has an article on Virginia Woolf's argument for 'killing the angel in the house' (ie. rebelling against Victorian patriarchal values).

Este ángel fantasmal y su negativo de ‘la mujer caída’ han sido investigados en el ámbito de los estudios literarios, con especial interés por parte de Gilbert y Gubar, dos autoras que rastrean estas imágenes en la novela victoriana escrita por mujeres (esas autoras en las que Virginia siempre se fijó) en su obra conjunta ‘La loca del ático’. Concluyen que, a menudo, estas dos imágenes responden a un único personaje, sea en distintas etapas de la vida (Blancanieves y su Madrastra) o de forma simultánea pero reprimida (como sería el caso del dúo Bertha Manson (sic) y Jane Eyre). (Irati Fernández) (Translation)

Mamamia has a hard time believing that Mia Wasikowska is Australian actually.

Mia Wasikowska.

Many may be seriously confused over Wasikowska's true upbringing after hearing her nail the English accent in the film Jane Eyre and 2010's Alice In Wonderland. 

The actress, who came on the scene in 2004, is from Melbourne Australia and truly has a distinct accent any true Aussie would be able to recognise - when she's not acting, that is. (Shannen Findlay)

The Brussels Brontë Blog features the book Charlotte Brontë – An Irish Odyssey by Michael O’Dowd.