Female Authors. [Brontë (Charlotte, Emily and Anne)] "Currer...

Hammer

£500

Female Authors. [Brontë (Charlotte, Emily and Anne)] "Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell", Poems, first edition, second impression, London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1846 [i.e. 1848], advertisement leaf at rear, contents leaf with some scratches, otherwise OK-good with evidence of handling, i.e. some light soiling and some light fingering in places, principally, if not all, marginal, gutter splits holding, original publisher's blind-stamped olive green cloth, upper-cover disbound, lower-cover just holding, split joints, light losses and worn, rough trimmed edges, original yellow endpapers, ffep with erased annotation, 8vo, [Hayward 266; Parrish pp. 82-85; Smith 1; Tinker 378; Wise 2]

The Brontë sisters' first venture into print was a failure, selling only a few copies of the 1,000 printed when it was first published by Aylott and Jones in 1846. Several copies were distributed by the Brontës to friends, but the balance of 961 copies was transferred to Smith, Elder and Co., who, after the success of Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre', reissued the volume in October 1848 with a cancel title-page.

Provenance: Percival/1859 ; dated ink MS ownership inscription to ffep.