Books, Manuscripts & Music

"Acton Bell" [Anne Brontë] The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. London: T.C. Newby, 1848 FIRST EDITION, 3 volumes, 8vo (185 x 111 mm), half-title to volume one, modern calf, edges gilt, lacking one leaf of text (vol. one pp.349-350) and publisher's advertisements, title pages rehinged, minor wear to covers ANNE BRONTË'S SECOND AND FINAL NOVEL. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall tells the story of Helen Graham, who leaves her violent, drunken and adulterous husband to protect her son and earn an independent living as an artist. Anne Brontë undoubtedly drew on the unhappy life of her brother Branwell, whose life was spiralling out of control when she was writing the novel, in her depiction of Helen's alcoholic husband Arthur Huntingdon. The novel is now celebrated as an expression of feminist values but the powerful descriptions of addiction and debauchery were heavily criticised by reviewers at the time of publication. The novel was a commercial success and was reissued within a year. The second edition consisted of the original sheets supplied with new title pages, but the author also took the opportunity to address her critics with the addition of a preface, which expounds passionately on the moral purpose of the novel: "if I have warned one rash youth from following in their steps, or prevented one thoughtless girl from falling into the very natural error of my heroine, the book has not been written in vain". The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was reprinted in 1854 but the text was cut and poorly edited. The rights were subsequently transferred to Smith, Elder but unfortunately they reprinted the mutilated text, and this remained the basis of most subsequent editions until the 1990s. LITERATURE: Smith 4; Parrish 91

View 1 of Lot 69: Anne Brontë | The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, 1848, first edition, 3 volumes

anne brontë | the tenant of wildfell hall, 1848, first edition, 3 volumes

Charlotte Brontë Five pencil sketches by Charlotte Brontë, comprising: i) "Cottage in Wallasley", (100 x 144mm); ii) "Cottage in lane near Mr Armstrong's", (83 x 121mm); iii) "Bridge near Wrottle", (116 x 122mm); iv) "Cottages opposite the Bank of Bolwell House", (118 x 140mm); v) "The Summer House on the lawn of Bolwell House", (128 x 112mm); all pencil sketches, captioned, unsigned, mounted together, framed and glazed All of these sketches are recorded and reproduced within Christine Alexander and Jane Sellars' The Art of the Brontës, Cambridge: University Press, 1995. Only the fifth sketch is given a definite attribution (number 162) by Alexander and Sellars. They state that "the sketch appears to have been made from nature... it probably indicates a garden Charlotte visited, possibly with the Taylor family; but unfortunately no record has been found so far of Bolwell House". Alexander and Sellars note with reference to the caption and date that "the hand is identical to other examples of Charlotte's writing at this date". The provenance of the five sketches can be definitely traced back to John Alexander Symington (then sold by Christie's, 18 December 1964, lot 59). As noted by Alexander and Sellars, "earlier provenance may be associated with Arthur Bell Nicholls". Of the other sketches, Alexander and Sellars note, of sketch one, that "the hand is almost identical to that of Charlotte (except for the 'tt')... part of the watermark 'J. WHATMAN' shows clearly through the right side of the paper. Charlotte was still using paper with this mark until August 1845". In reference to the second sketch, Alexander and Sellars state that "the hand is almost identical to that of Charlotte, except for the unusual 'tt' and the flattened appearance of the writing". Once again, the paper includes part of the 'J. WHATMAN' watermark. The third sketch includes a caption that Alexander and Sellars claim "is almost identical to that of Charlotte, especially the 'B', 'd' and 'g' of 'Bridge'; but the 'tt' and 'W' of 'Wrottle' are unlike her normal style. The fourth sketch, "Cottages opposite the Bank of Bolwell House" is described by Alexander and Sellars with the note "the hand is almost identical to that of Charlotte, except for the unusual 'tt', the clumsy 'H' and the joining of words." With reference to these four sketches, Alexander and Sellars suggest that "minor variations in the script of the title[s] compared to other examples of [Charlotte's] hand at this time... make attribution uncertain". PROVENANCE: Arthur Bell Nicholls[?], John Alexander Symington

View 1 of Lot 70: Charlotte Bronte | Five pencil sketches, framed together

charlotte bronte | five pencil sketches, framed together

A first United States edition of the Gothic tale of romance and betrayal, published only a few months after the London first edition, bound with another novel, Now &amp; Then, by Samuel Warren, published by Harper the same year.<ul><li>(Wuthering Heights) Emily Brontë (English).</li><li>(Now &amp; Then) Samuel Warren (English).</li><li>New York: Harper &amp; Brothers, 1848.</li><li>288 pages.</li><li>Bound in modern full green goatskin, raised bands, gilt-stamped spine and gilt-ruled boards, with new marbled endpapers.</li></ul>

Wuthering Heights / Now And Then

A finely bound and illustrated collection of the Thorton Edition of the novels of the Brontë sisters.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 12.</li><li>Charlotte Brontë (English).</li><li>Emily Brontë&nbsp;(English).</li><li>Anne Brontë&nbsp;(English).</li><li>Includes The Life of Charlotte Brontë by E.C. Gaskell.</li><li>Edinburgh: John Grant, 1924.</li><li>Bound in half maroon morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spines, textblock uncut as issued, by Atkinson.</li></ul>

The Novels of The Sisters Brontë

Finely bound set of the first printing of the Thornton edition of the novels of the Brontë sisters, which is considered the definitive complete works, and includes Elizabeth Gaskell’s Life of Charlotte Brontë. Sold as a set of 12.<ul><li>Charlotte Brontë (English).</li><li>Anne Brontë (English).</li><li>Emily Brontë (English).</li><li>Edited by Temple Scott (English).</li><li>Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Agnes Grey, Shirley, Villette, The Professor.</li><li>Edinburgh: John Grant, 1905.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes a frontispiece illustration to each volume and numerous black and white photographic plates showing Brontë country.</li><li>Recent navy half morocco, with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spines, and blue cloth over boards, top edges gilt, others lightly trimmed.</li></ul>

Novels of the Sisters Brontë

The Life of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charlotte%20Bront%C3%AB&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charlotte Brontë</a>, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Elizabeth%20Gaskell&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elizabeth Gaskell</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>E.C. Gaskell (English).</li><li>London: Smith, Elder &amp; Co., 1857.</li><li>Both volumes bound in the original publisher’s brown cloth.</li></ul> Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Brontë, published in 1857, is the first biography of the famed author of Jane Eyre. Written shortly after Brontë’s death, it offers a detailed and sympathetic portrayal of her life, from her quiet upbringing in Haworth to her literary success and personal tragedies. Gaskell, a fellow novelist and friend, aimed to protect Charlotte’s reputation while shedding light on her struggles, including isolation, grief, and societal expectations. Blending factual detail with emotional insight, the biography helped shape Brontë’s legacy and remains a valuable account of one of Victorian literature’s most influential figures.

The Life of Charlotte Bronte

A limited edition copy of Wuthering Heights, signed by the illustrator.<ul><li>Emily Brontë (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Balthus.</li><li>New York: The Limited Editions Club,&nbsp;1993.</li><li>Folio.</li><li>Part of an edition limited to 300 numbered copies, signed by Balthus.</li><li>Illustrated with 15 lithographs by Balthus on Japanese paper printed in brown-toned black ink.</li><li>Text set by Michael Bixler using Monotype Dante, printed on specially made off-white mold-made Arches paper with watermark.</li><li>Bound in the original gray-green morocco with title stamped in dark-brown, in publisher's cloth box.</li></ul> "What could they have had in common ‑- Count Balthazar Klossowski de Rola, the Paris‑born modern artist (better known as Balthus) who has filled scores of canvases with paintings of female nudes, and Mistress Emily Brontë, the mid‑nineteenth-century British spinster who seems never to have left the Yorkshire moors? Precisely, those moors. In his youth, the Count visited that wild landscape and, in 1933, made a series of drawings based on her gripping novel. Some say that he saw himself as Heathcliff. Sixty-one years later, and after creating a vast array of famous paintings, many reminiscent of those drawings, Balthus agreed in 1994 to have The Limited Editions Club present, for the first time in their destined context, the entire suite of fifteen drawings" (Publisher).

Wuthering Heights

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Fine%2520Bindings%2520and%2520Sets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">finely bound</a> Thornton Edition of the Novels of the Sisters <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Bront%C3%AB&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brontë</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 12 volumes.</li><li>Charlotte Brontë (English).</li><li>Emily Brontë (English).</li><li>Anne Brontë (English).</li><li>Edinburgh:&nbsp;John Grant,&nbsp;1905.</li><li>Illustrated frontispiece, marbled endpapers. </li><li>Bound in three-quarters emerald green Morocco leather covers, green cloth boards, gilt floral spine panels, top edges gilt, raised bands. </li></ul>

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Fine%2520bindings" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">finely bound</a>, illustrated edition of the Life and Works of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charlotte+Bronte&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charlotte Bronte</a> and her Sisters.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 7 volumes.</li><li>Currer Bell [Charlotte Bronte] (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Smith, Elder, &amp; Co.,&nbsp;1891.</li><li>Illustrated edition, illustrated frontispiece.</li><li>Marbled endpapers, three-quarters red Morocco leather, marbled boards, top edges gilt, gilt floral panels on spine, raised bands.</li></ul>

Life and Works of Charlotte Bronte and Her Sisters

Finely bound set of the Brontë sisters' novels.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 6.</li><li>Charlotte Brontë (English).</li><li>Anne Brontë (English).</li><li>Emily Brontë (English).</li><li>Illustrated Edmund Dulac (French-British).</li><li>London: J. M. Dent &amp; Sons, Ltd., 1922.</li><li>Bound by Bayntun in contemporary half green polished calf, ribbed gilt decorated spines, gilt lettered maroon spine labels, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, top edges gilt, others uncut as issued.</li></ul>

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Fine%2520Bindings%2520and%2520Sets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">finely bound</a> edition of The Works of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=bronte&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charlotte Brontë and her Sisters</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 7 volumes.</li><li>Charlotte Brontë (English).</li><li>Anne Brontë (English).</li><li>Emily Brontë (English)</li><li>Elizabeth Gaskell (English).</li><li>The Life and Works of Charlotte Bronte &amp; Her Sisters. Haworth Edition. With Introductions to the Works By Mrs Humphrey Ward, and an Introduction and Notes to the Life by Clement K. Shorter. </li><li>London: Smith, Elder, &amp; Co., [and] John Murray, 1905-1926.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Extra-illustrated with a hand-written genealogical table and a black and white photograph of “Wuthering Heights” to the Wuthering Heights volume.</li><li>Various printings.</li><li>Recently re-bound in tan half calf, with raised bands, gilt titles to contrasting red and green labels, further gilt ruling to spine, and matching cloth over boards, top edges gilt, others lightly trimmed.</li></ul> The desirable Haworth edition of the Brontes' classic works, including the Poems and Gaskell’s Life of Charlotte Bronte.

The Life and Works of Charlotte Bronte and Her Sisters

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