The Politics of Verdopolis by Branwell Brontë

The Politics of Verdopolis is an 1833 manuscript written by Patrick Branwell Brontë, better known as Branwell Brontë. For many decades, Branwell has been seen predominantly as the ne'er do well, lazy, drunken brother of the Brontë sisters who caused his family much pain, sorrow, and embarrassment. Whilst I don't doubt the latter part of that…

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The Poetaster by Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë's satirical short play The Poetaster is one of her earliest contributions to the Glass Town/Angrian saga, and one of the most enjoyable. The Poetaster is one of the famous Brontë tiny books which were produced mainly between the years 1829 and 1830, and which were the results of creative collaborations between Charlotte and her younger brother, Branwell.…

The Search After Happiness by Charlotte Brontë

The Search After Happiness is a short story written by Charlotte Brontë in 1829 when she was thirteen years old. The manuscript is one of the Brontë children’s tiny books, written in mock magazine style, and is now housed in the British Library’s archives. The manuscript contains many errors and revisions, one of the most…

How Important is the Child Writer to the Parent Author?

When we think of the Brontë siblings, we conjure up images of brooding anti-heroes, poor governesses, and wild Yorkshire moors. In short, we tend to think of Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and Anne’s Agnes Grey, novels seemingly written by three lonely and isolated sisters in their family home against the backdrop of the harsh environment of northern…

The Silver Cup, A Tale by Charlotte Brontë

Reader, it's been a while since my last post looking at the Brontë juvenilia, so let's get back into the swing of things with a look at Charlotte's short story, "The Silver Cup, A Tale." Background and Manuscript The story first appeared in the October 1829 edition of the Brontës' Blackwood's Young Men's Magazine. It…

The Twelve Adventurers and Other Stories: A New Edition

In 1826 a young Charlotte Brontë and her siblings dreamt up their shared fantasy world of Glass Town. The siblings worked on the stories and characters from this world, and later Angria and Gondal, as they grew up. History has not been kind to the Brontë juvenilia with the surviving writings being split up across…

There Was Once a Little Girl and Her Name Was Anne Brontë

Reader, please join me in wishing Anne Brontë, the youngest member of our beloved Brontë family, a very happy birthday. Anne was born in Thornton, Yorkshire to Patrick and Maria Brontë on the 17th January 1820. Anne is best known for her two novels, Agnes Grey, which documents the trials of the eponymous governess, and The…

Tales from the Genii

Reader, I'm delighted to share with you the news that Tales of the Genii is now available to purchase. The beautiful little red book pays homage to the Brontë siblings' famous tiny books featuring stories set in their fantasy worlds of Glass Town, Angria, and Gondal. Best described as a companion piece to the stories and poems…

The Brontë Juvenilia at the British Library: Guest Post by Tom A.

Recently, I semi-accidentally saw two of the Brontës' original juvenilia notebooks at the British Library. There's a reason it's cliched to say that seeing a historical thing in person is totally different to a photo or description: because it's true! For a historical text, a printed version has gone through word processing and editing, while…

“We’re Raising a Bunch of Brontës”: Guest Post on the Brontë Juvenilia by Tracy Neis

I didn’t read about the Brontës' juvenilia until the early 2000’s, more than twenty years after I first read Jane Eyre. I was reading a biography of the Brontë family while vacationing with my own family along the Central Coast of California. My four daughters were still quite young at the time, and had brought…