Brontë, Anne | The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, the author's second and final novel

Property from an Important American Collection

Brontë, Anne

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. London: T.C. Newby, 1848

3 volumes, 8vo. Half-title to volume I, 2pp. of advertisements at the end of volume I, all edges gilt. Green half morocco over boards by Riviere, spines gilt; toning to boards, some yellowing from adhesive, joint of volume I worn. Collector's green cloth slipcase.

The first edition of Anne's powerful second and final novel — what Sadleir calls the rarest Brontë title in first edition in any state.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall boldly tells a tale of marital strife and a woman's decision to leave her husband. This radical epistolary narrative caused a sensation when it was published in June 1848. The frank depiction of drunkenness and debauchery intends to serve a moralizing function, but it shocked Victorian tastes; nevertheless, it was a commercial success. It is remarkable for "challenging the then current ideal of woman as an 'angel' in the house, submissive to her lot as her husband's chattel" (Margaret Smith, Oxford DNB). It has been oft proposed, most extensively by Daphne du Maurier, that Anne's brother Branwell's struggles with substance abuse partly inspired the tale. Following Anne's death in 1849, her sister Charlotte suppressed its re-publication until 1854, which led to the novel falling into somewhat obscurity until the twentieth century. The reasons for Charlotte's suppression have been the subject of fervent debate.

Maurice Baring (1874-1945), to whom this book belonged, was an well-connected man of letters, writer, translator and war correspondent.

REFERENCES:

Smith 4; Parrish 91

PROVENANCE:

Maurice Baring (bookplate to pastedowns)