[Brontë, Charlotte.]

8vo (194 x 120mm.), first edition, Ellen Nussey's copy, 16-page publisher's catalogue at the end of volume 1, advertisements at the end of volume 3, p.304 in volume 2 misnumbered "403" and with error "Well said he", bookplate with vignette of Oakwell Hall, Birstall, nr. Leeds tipped-in to volume 1, late nineteenth-century polished red calf gilt by Zaehnsdorf, original brown cloth spines bound in, spines in six compartments with morocco labels, top edges gilt, inner dentelles, red coated endpapers, spines sunned and with some slight wear, some minor soiling and spotting to text

presented by the author near the time of publication to her lifelong friend Ellen Nussey; given by Ellen in May 1889 to Sir George John Armytage, 6th baronet of Kirklees (Armytage bookplate and additional printed leaf, c.1889, with full provenance, signed by Ellen Nussey, bound in at the front of each volume); thence by descent

Smith 5

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
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A superb association copy of the first edition, given by the author to her close friend whose comfort in the extreme circumstances of her brother and sisters' deaths enabled her to complete the novel.

Shirley was published on 26 October 1849. Charlotte Brontë had begun writing the novel in the flush of success surrounding Jane Eyre in the spring of 1848. Her heroine's physical attributes were based partly on Ellen Nussey herself. Progress, however, was interrupted by the onslaught of great family tragedy: first, on 24 September 1848, her brother Branwell died aged thirty-one of chronic bronchitis, followed soon by her sisters Emily and Anne in rapid succession, on 19 December 1848 and 28 May1849, both of tuberculosis, aged 30 and 29 respectively (Anne had visited Scarborough a few weeks before her death in a desperate bid to improve her failing health, with Ellen and Charlotte accompanying her).  "Charlotte was now left desolate. She had lost not only two beloved sisters but her sole support for her literary endeavours. Together the three Brontës had discussed their plots, style, and characters; Charlotte felt lonely and vulnerable in what was now a 'silent workshop of [her] own brain' (Wise and Symington, 3.21). Yet, as always, she persevered, completing Shirley by the end of August, grateful that she had an occupation and the courage to pursue it..." (Christine Alexander, Oxford DNB). 

Despite's Charlotte's almost unimaginable desolation in the weeks following Anne's death it was Ellen Nussey's presence which gave her the support to enable her to continue work on the novel. As Winifred Gérin as pointed out, the story took on a graver, more reflective tone, with even some of the characters' earlier traits being discarded to make them more like tributes to her dead sisters Emily and Anne. With the death of Emily in December 1848 Charlotte no longer felt constrained to hide her occupation, and Ellen was initiated into the secret of her authorship (or what was left of it) during a visit to Haworth in January 1849. In the same month Charlotte gave her a copy of Wuthering Heights as a keepsake (see lot xxx).

"Dear Ellen your friendship is some comfort to me -- I am thankful for it--I see few lights through the darkness of the present time -- but amongst them the constancy of a kind heart attached to me is one of the most cheering and serene..." (Charlotte Brontë to Ellen Nussey, 10 January 1849)