Collection of poems : autograph manuscript signed : [Haworth], 1838 Jan. 24-1841 Aug. 19.

Download image: 
Record ID: 
80096
Accession number: 
MA 2696.5
Author: 
Brontë, Anne, 1820-1849.
Date: 
1838 Jan. 24-1841 Aug. 19.
Credit: 
The Henry Houston Bonnell Brontë Collection. Bequest of Helen Safford Bonnell, 1969.
Description: 
1 item (26 p., bound) ; binding: 18.3 x 12.4 x 5 cm; manuscript sheets: 17.9 x 11.3 cm (size of individual sheets varies)
Notes: 

High reserve.
Contains 9 poems: The north wind (pp. 1-3, dated 1838 Jan. 26), The captive's dream (pp. 3-5, dated 1838 Jan. 24, printed in 1920 with the incorrect title "The captain's dream"), The parting (pp. 5-8, dated 1838 July 9), an untitled poem beginning "The lady of Alzerno's hall" (pp. 9-12; dated 1838 July 10, published in 1920 as "The parting," II), Verses to a child (pp. 12-15, dated 1838 Aug. 21), The bluebell (pp. 15-18, dated 1840 Aug. 22), An orphan's lament (pp. 18-21, dated 1841 Jan. 1), Lines written at Thorp Green (pp. 21-23, dated 1841 Aug. 19), and A fragment (pp. 23-26, dated 1840 Jan. 1; published in 1846 with title "Self-Congratulation"].

Summary: 

A fair copy of poems Brontë composed between 1838 and 1841. She copied the poems into a notebook that was cut into individual sheets rebound in leather many years after her death. She noted the dates of composition at the end of each transcription. Some of the poems bear the "signature" of characters in the Gondal chronicles, stories Brontë and her sister Emily created, as well as Brontë's own signature.

Housed in: 
Blue cloth drop-spine box (21 cm)
Binding: 
Brontë's original copybook was rebound by Riviere & Son in full red levant at the direction of Thomas Wise; manuscript pages heavily trimmed; one word of "The North Wind" cut off at the top. Spine title: The North Wind and other poems / Anne Bronte / 1838 / 1840.
Provenance: 
Henry Houston Bonnell; his wife, Helen Safford Bonnell.