In August 2022 I was delighted to be present at a touching ceremony at the Parsonage Museum, Haworth, when a remarkable literary discovery was returned to the home where it had been written.
It was A Book of Ryhmes (sic), a manuscript book of verses written by a youthful Charlotte Brontë that had vanished from view but had now come onto the market for the first time for over a century. It had been acquired for the Brontë Society to join the other treasures they already own and preserve.
Now Tartarus Press and the Society have produced a jointly published first edition of the book, showing both the original pages in facsimile, in their actual size and in enlargement, and a transcription of the text.
The publication gives readers the opportunity to own a Brontë first edition, share in the wonder of the survival of a genuine literary rarity, and to appreciate the charming and enthusiastic beginnings of Charlotte's writings.
There is an Introduction by Patti Smith, and essays by Barbara Heritage and Henry Wessells, and the book is available simultaneously in both hardback and paperback editions.
(Mark Valentine)
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