A miniature manuscript written by Charlotte Bronte has been purchased at auction for £690,850 by a museum in Paris.
Entitled Young Men’s Magazine Number 2 the famous English writer wrote the work when she was 14 years old. The tiny booklet is 19 pages long and contains 4000 words. It contains stories set in Glass Town, a fantasy world created by Charlotte, her sister Emily Bronte, and their brother Branwell.
The winning bidder was the Musee des Lettres et Manuscrits in Paris, who paid more than twice the estimate price during at auction at Sotheby’s offices in London.
Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s senior specialist in its books and manuscript department, said: “Crafted with extraordinary care, this minute manuscript marks Charlotte Bronte’s first burst of creativity and significantly, provides a rare and intimate insight into one of history’s great literary minds.”
Bonnie Greer, president of the Bronte Society, said in interview with The Daily Mail, “This Little Book puts down in luminous prose not only the daydreams of a little Yorkshire girl, but it also contains the seed of the work of one of the greatest writers in the English language, Charlotte Bronte.”
Lucasta Miller, author of The Brontë Myth, told The Guardian, “This manuscript embodies a phase in [Charlotte Brontë's] early development, and provides real insights into how she went on to produce her mature masterpieces, Jane Eyre and Villette. As a physical object it is not just of sentimental value. The tiny pages and the microscopic writing embody the nature of her creativity so uncannily that you have to see the manuscript in the flesh truly to feel and understand how her imagination worked.”
Some commentators were disappointed that the manuscript was not purchase by a museum from Great Brtian. Andrew McCarthy, director of the Bronte Parsonage Museum, commented, “This is unquestionably the most significant Bronte manuscript to come to light in decades and an important part of our broader literary heritage. It belongs in Haworth and we are bitterly disappointed that scholars and members of the public may now not have the opportunity to study and enjoy it as part of our public collection.”
Sources: BBC, Daily Mail, The Guardian
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