Sponsored by
Brontë libel threat letters go on sale to the highest bidder
David Hogg A BATCH of 94-year-old letters which show how close Charlotte Brontë came to being sued for the content of Jane Eyre are to go on sale.
The letters show the thoughts of the Reverend William Carus-Wilson, the young writer's real-life headmaster at the Clergy Daughter's School at Cowan Bridge, later at Casterton, in Cumbria.
He was angry at what he saw as her unfair depiction of the institution in her novel.
The letters were written by his grandson, Edward Carus-Wilson, who wanted to sell them with a revised Jane Eyre manuscript as part of deal to raise funds in 1912 to pay for medical treatment for his son.
The headmaster was so angered by Charlotte Bront's portrayal of the school he had founded – recognisable in Jane Eyre as Lowood School, 'the school for clergymen's daughters' – that he considered suing her for libel.
He was also the inspiration behind the terrifyingly strict Mr Brocklehurst character, head of Lowood.
Edward Carus-Wilson believed the young novelist had been sufficiently scared by his grandfather's objections and changed her original manuscript for the book.
In one of his letters he said: "She did not write favourably of the school and my grandfather was advised to take up the matter publicly if not legally, but he refrained from doing so.
"He however wrote to Charlotte Bront to remonstrate with her and the result was that she wrote the sketch that I have in my possession retracting a good deal of what she had formally written about the school."
The letters, which are to be sold by Shropshire auction house Mullock Madeley, also claim Charlotte Bront gave her old headmaster permission to publish the manuscript in order to set the record straight about the school but he refrained to do so and the matter never came to light.
Richard Westwood-Brookes, documents expert for Mullock Madeley, said: "It is fascinating to think that, even in the early part of the 19th Century, such a sensationally successful book as Jane Eyre could bring its author an unwelcome brush with the law – and clearly Charlotte must have been rattled by the reaction she got from Carus-Wilson.
"Knowing the vast sums which are paid for Bront manuscripts today, it is also interesting to reflect on the fact that Edward Carus-Wilson had decided to sell his precious manuscript after seeing an advert in the Exchange and Mart magazine – and was willing to sell for '10 guineas or near offer."
It is possible Edward Carus-Wilson could have invented the content of
the letters in order to bump up the value of his collection.
But this seems unlikely, according to Mr Westwood-Brookes, as an historical precedent had already
been set.
Celebrated Victorian
biographer Elizabeth Gaskell blamed the school's harsh regime and inadequate food for the deaths of the elder Bront sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, and for the ruin of Charlotte's own health.
She described its clergyman founder as "willing to sacrifice everything but power" but she had to revise her biography of Charlotte Bront in 1857 after another lawsuit was threatened.
The Carus-Wilson letters will feature on Mullock Madeley's next sale of historical documents at Ludlow Racecourse in Shropshire on June 7.
david.hogg@ypn.co.uk
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds lose Ward to Palace: Is there anyone they can afford now?
- Sheffield Wednesday leaving it late to hijack Leeds United over Ward
- As Snodgrass dithers over Leeds, Warnock throws a lifeline
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Police turning blind eye to Asian voter fraud, says MP
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
