Miniature Brontë returns to Haworth
The Autumn sale on Monday 19th November at Drouot auction house in Paris was punctuated by several highlights, the stand-out being the highly anticipated miniature manuscript by Charlotte BRONTË (1816-1855).
Written in 1830, when she was just 14 years old, the tiny magazine packs 4000 words across 19 pages into just 3.8 x 2.4cm. It is part of a series of six matchbox-size books known as The Young Men’s Magazine and was created by the young Brontë as an accessory for her toy soldiers.
The little book was acquired for €780,000 by the The Brontë Society in Haworth, England and the home in which it was created. The museum, who already own four of from the series, confirm that the sixth was lost in the 1930s and its whereabouts remain unknown.
At the conclusion of the sale, Ann Dinsdale, Chief Curator of the Museum, said: “The fact that this unique manuscript is back in Haworth is a major event of the last 30 years that I have had at the museum. Charlotte wrote this tiny manuscript for the little soldiers she, her sisters, and her brother had invented. While we are in the same room in which they were playing, it seems particularly appropriate that the manuscript be back here and we would like to thank warmly all those who made its acquisition possible.”
Image Credit: Autograph manuscript signed Charlotte Brontë, Second Series of The Young Men’s Magazines. © Aguttes SVV (France). 66016 C.