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“READER, I MARRIED HIM”: RARE FIRST EDITION OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE’S JANE EYRE

(BRONTE, Charlotte) BELL, Currer. Jane Eyre: An Autobiography. Edited by Currer Bell. London: Smith, Elder, 1847. Three volumes. Octavo, 19th-century three-quarter brown morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers, top edges gilt.

First edition of one of the greatest and most popular novels in English literature, with half titles, handsomely bound by Riviere and Son.

Charlotte Bronte’s decision to publish under the pseudonym “Currer Bell” aroused great public curiosity regarding the author’s true identity. Thackeray, Bronte’s literary hero, was sent a pre-publication copy, prompting this reply: “It is a fine book… Some of the love passages made me cry… I have been exceedingly moved & pleased by Jane Eyre. It is a woman’s writing, but whose?” (Barker, 535). The demand for Jane Eyre “was almost unprecedented. The first edition… was published on 16 October 1847; it had sold out within three months… By any standard, Jane Eyre was a resounding success” (Barker, 535-37). Bronte “had learned to combine extraordinary power of expressing passion with an equally surprising power of giving reality to her pictures which transfigures the commonest scenes and events in the light of genius” (DNB). Including half titles but without publisher’s advertisements. Wolff 826. Smith 2. Morocco bookplates. Text generally quite clean and fresh, bindings handsome. A rare classic.