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BRONTË, Charlotte, Emily & Anne.
Poems, by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.
Publisher: London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1846 [1848]
Stock code: 49231
Price: £1,750 Currency Conversion
First edition, second issue with cancel title page (as usual). The first issue is extant in tiny numbers and is now virtually unobtainable. Published pseudonymously to forestall possible prejudice against female writers, this collection of verses contains 19 poems by Charlotte Brontë ("Currer Bell"), and 21 each by Emily ("Ellis") and Anne ("Acton"). First published by Aylott Jones in 1846 in an edition of 1,000 copies, Poems was a resounding commercial flop, with only 39 copies sold. The remaining 961 copies were placed in storage and, following the success of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, were reissued in October 1848 by Smith, Elder, and Co. with a cancel title page showing their name as the publishers but with the date unaltered.
Octavo. Later green full morocco by Wood, London, titles to spine, ruling, turn-ins and top edge gilt, red onlay and gilt decoration to boards and spine, marbled endpapers. Very lightly rubbed, spine tanned, browning to free endpapers caused by turn-ins. A lovely copy.
