We all know that the Brontë sisters were novelists and poets of the very highest order. Their work will live on for as long as humanity lives on, although the means of consumption of it may differ greatly in the vast futures we are unable to imagine. There is one other field in which Charlotte Brontë in particular excelled: letter writing.
Today we are going to look at a letter written by Charlotte Brontë on this day in 1848, and it provides a fascinating, historically important and yet sad snapshot of an anxious day spent in Haworth Parsonage.
I recommend every Brontë fan to read Charlotte’s letters – in them she displays her characteristic wit, her characteristic intelligence, her characteristic kindness and her characteristic sharpness. In short, they offer us a great way to get to know the very essence of Charlotte Brontë herself, despite two hundred years settling between us.
The complete letters of Charlotte Brontë are available across three volumes, but they cost in excess of £800 which puts them out of the reach of many who would otherwise appreciate them. I’m lucky enough to have seen, and even held, original copies of many of her letters which is one reason I love to share them here – and why my dream is to make them more accessible to people.
On this day exactly 177 years ago Charlotte Brontë had been perusing reviews of Jane Eyre, some perceptive, some decidedly less so, but any joy she could have taken in this is removed by the anxiety of the increasing illness of her sister Emily Brontë. At this stage Charlotte still tempered that anguish with hope, but a month later all hope would be extinguished. When we read these lines it is as if we can step across that threshold into Haworth Parsonage itself, and were we to do so we would realise that times and technologies change, but the human condition, and the challenges we face, remain unchanged.
I hope to see you next week for another new Brontë blog post, when I will bring you news of a great new Brontë book that I’m privileged to have been a small part of.