''The Life of Charlotte Brontë'' is the posthumous

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

by fellow novelist

Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many st ...

. The

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

was published in

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Janua ...

by Smith, Elder & Co. A major source was the hundreds of letters sent by Brontë to her lifelong friend

Ellen Nussey Ellen Nussey (20 April 1817 – 26 November 1897) was born in Birstall Smithies in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She was a lifelong friend and correspondent of writer Charlotte Brontë and, through more than 500 letters received from ...

. Gaskell had to deal with rather sensitive issues, toning down some of her material: in the case of her description of the Clergy Daughters' School, attended by Charlotte and her sisters, this was to avoid legal action from the Rev.

William Carus Wilson William Carus Wilson (7 July 1791 – 30 December 1859) was an English churchman and the founder and editor of the long-lived monthly '' The Children's Friend''. He was the inspiration for Mr Brocklehurst, the autocratic head of Lowood School, dep ...

, the founder of the school. The published text does not go so far as to blame him for the deaths of two Brontë sisters, but even so the Carus Wilson family published a rebuttal with the title "A refutation of the statements in 'The life of Charlotte Bronte,' regarding the Casterton Clergy Daughters' School, when at Cowan Bridge". Although quite frank in many places, Gaskell suppressed details of Charlotte's love for

Constantin Héger Constantin Georges Romain Héger (1809–1896) was a Belgian teacher of the Victorian era. He is best remembered today for his association with Emily and Charlotte Brontë during the 1840s. Early life Héger was born in Brussels and moved to ...

, a married man, on the grounds that it would be too great an affront to contemporary morals and a possible source of distress to Charlotte's still-living friends, father

Patrick Brontë Patrick Brontë (, commonly ; born Patrick Brunty; 17 March 1777 – 7 June 1861) was an Irish Anglican priest and author who spent most of his adult life in England. He was the father of the writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, and of ...

and husband. She also suppressed any reference to Charlotte's romance with George Smith, her publisher, who was also publishing the biography. In 2017, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' named ''The Life of Charlotte Brontë'' one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time.

Notes

References

*Lane, Margaret. ''The Brontë Story: A reconsideration of Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë''.

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

External links

Complete text
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Life of Charlotte Bronte Non-fiction works by Elizabeth Gaskell Biographies about writers 1857 books Bronte, Charlotte