You may remember how, last month, we The Brontë Society is delighted to announce its acquisition of a significant and exciting autograph manuscript by Charlotte Brontë: a previously unpublished homework essay – known as a devoir – on the subject ‘L’Amour Filial’ (the love of a child for parents), written during her time in Brussels, and marked by Constantin Heger, the married teacher with whom she was deeply in love.

Acquired by private sale for the sum of £50,000, and generously funded by private and public donors, the devoir was unknown until December 2012, when the Society was contacted with news of its discovery in a private library. Expert analysis of the handwriting confirmed its author was indeed Charlotte Brontë.

The single-page document, written on both sides, is composed in French and written on a topic assigned to Charlotte Brontë by Constantin Heger as part of her French lessons at the Pensionnat Heger school he and his wife ran in Brussels. Produced at a turbulent time in Charlotte’s life, it deals with the subject of love for parents in dramatic style, claiming that the child who treats a parent unlovingly is little more than a murderer in the eyes of God.

‘We know Charlotte had a deep love and respect for her father Patrick Brontë, but lost her mother at the age of just five, when she died from what is now believed to have been ovarian cancer,’ commented Brontë Society Executive Director Professor Ann Sumner today. ‘This new and exciting window on her love for her father, written at a time of great turmoil, is of incalculable value to our understanding of Charlotte’s interior life, and will form the focus of much new scholarship.’

Last month the Brontë Society launched a public appeal for donations to help fund the devoir’s purchase, and received over £3,000. ‘The response was magnificent,’ commented Brontë Society Chairman Sally McDonald. ‘Many individual members of the public sent contributions, big and small, and the Society was also generously supported by the V&A Purchase Fund, which gave us a grant of £20,000, and Friends of National Libraries, which contributed £5,000.

‘To all these donors we offer our heartfelt thanks that we can now preserve this significant manuscript for the nation as part of our unparalleled collection of Brontë manuscripts and artefacts here at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth.’

The devoir went on display to the public during the weekend of June 8/9, as part of the Society’s Annual General Meeting celebration weekend. News of its acquisition was conveyed to members during Saturday afternoon’s Annual General Meeting.

Pictured: Sampler from East Riddlesden Hall, 'Jesus permits thy gracious name to stand...'

For those of you who live in West Yorkshire, we've just launched a new branch of the Brontë Society, specially for you. If you're already a member, welcome to our events, and we hope you thoroughly enjoy them. If you're not yet a member but are thinking of becoming one, we invite you to try out an event, see if you like it, then decide whether membership is something you'd like to follow up. And if you're a Brontë Society member but don't live in West Yorkshire, you're welcome to attend as a visitor up to twice a year.

EVENTS, July-September 2013

Join us and other West Yorkshire members at a series of exclusive behind-the-scenes Parsonage events and special visits to other Yorkshire attractions.

Tuesday July 30, 6.30-9pm: Emily’s Birthday Garden Party

Join us for an exclusive viewing of our library’s most precious Brontë treasures, and talk by Collections Manager Ann Dinsdale, a close-up tour of the new Museum acquisitions, a tour of the garden by gardener Jenny Whitehead, and drinks on the Parsonage lawn with our Director Professor Ann Sumner.
Numbers are limited to 25, so book now! Tickets £15 per head.

Tuesday August 13, 2.30-5pm: Visit to East Riddlesden Hall

Step inside the house where 2009’s TV adaptation of Wuthering Heights was filmed. Director Ann Sumner lectures on 17th-century needlework and discusses the examples on display, then talks about the Brontës’ needlework over tea. Meet at East Riddlesden Hall. Cost: £5 entry fee for entrance to East Riddlesden Hall (National Trust members enter free). Members pay for own tea in café. You can book your place by clicking here.

Sunday September 15, Walk to Ponden Hall, Emily’s ‘Thrushcross Grange’, tour and tea

Parsonage Collections Manager and local historian Ann Dinsdale leads the walk from Haworth, pointing out places of interest en route, and Ponden Hall’s owners offer a personal guided tour, tea, cake and sandwiches. Return to Haworth by bus.

Meet at Brontë Parsonage Museum, time and cost to be announced. Sign up by emailing here.
____________________

If you have any queries, email us here, or phone Peter Morrison on 01535 640195.

If you were fortunate enough to attend our AGM Weekend events earlier this month, you may have heard our Director, Ann Sumner, giving a talk about Charlotte Brontë's beautifully detailed botanical drawings, and showing visitors the real-life paintings.

If not, you'll be delighted to hear you can purchase copies of these finely detailed and craftsmanlike watercolours as part of a new range of 'Brontë Botanicals', exclusive to our shop, and available online.

Choose from three of Charlotte's watercolours: Wild roses from nature (July 13, 1830); Study of a heartsease (November 3, 1832); and Blue convolvulus (December 1832), reproduced on a bookmark, spiral notebook, lined notebook, greetings card, fridge magnet, or to keep as a beautiful mounted print.

For more details, and to order, visit our shop.

It's not often the rooms of the Parsonage are filled with music, but in the Brontës' day this was certainly the case - Anne, Branwell, Charlotte and Emily were all gifted musicians, Branwell played the flute and the church organ, and of course you can still see their much-loved cabinet piano in their father's study.

Now we are delighted to announce that on July 13th, for one day only, the Parsonage will be filled with music once more, as gifted young cellist Ryan Madhok performs a selection of contemporary classical pieces from noon until 4pm.

Ryan discovered his passion for music very young, his mother encouraged him, and by the age of 11 he was attending  prestigious Chetham's School of Music, Manchester.

He was recently awarded a first-class music degree from the Royal Northern College of Music, is now a freelance musician, and appears at the Parsonage as part of a collaboration with the Yorkshire Live Music Project. All summer Ryan has appeared with his cello in a selection of odd and interesting venues. Don't miss him as he arrives at the Parsonage.

Free with admission to the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

The sun shone all weekend for our 2013 Annual General Meeting Weekend - and no-one present could ever remember such a thing happening before!

As usual we were lucky enough to have members and other Brontë enthusiasts arrive from far and near - many from America, many from the Brussels branch of the Society, and others from all over Europe and the rest of the UK.

There was a packed programme of events, as ever, ranging from Steve Wood's excellent delivery of the Brontë Society Annual Lecture - on the history of the Top Withins farms - to an evening of Brontë-inspired music from Val Wiseman, guided walks across the moors, excursions to Levens and Oakwell Halls, a performance of Michael Yates's The Brontë Boy, and a lecture by Ann Sumner on Charlotte's botanical paintings (see more, above).

We also said farewell to long-serving Trustees Rosemary Waxman and Ruth Battye, and welcomed to the Council Russell Watson, Danai Pampiglione and Stacey Brook. The Council is pictured, above.

If you have access to the members' section of the website, you can read Bronte Society Chair Sally McDonald's full version of events in her compilation of members' experiences this year, here.

And if you're inspired to become a member, you can join the Society here. You don't have to be a member to attend any of the events, though (except the Annual General Meeting itself), so whether you decide to take out membership or not, we very much hope to see you here in Haworth at the same time next year.

We had a wonderful evening at the Ilkley Players' performance of 'Wuthering Heights' on June 25 at the Ilkley Playhouse, an extra night of performance specially laid on for the Brontë Society. 

Thanks so much to co-playwrights Walter Swan (right, above) and Yvettte Huddleston (second from left) for inviting us, and for participating in the pre-performance 'in conversation' with our Director Professor Ann Sumner (left), and Brontë Society Vice-President and Brontë scholar Dr Patsy Stoneman (second from right).

Some of the production's key scenes are pictured, below, and if you're lucky enough to be in Cornwall from July 29 to August 2 (home of the Brontës' mother Maria Branwell, of course), you can catch it when the production moves from Ilkley to the world-famous, open-air Minack Theatre. More details here.

The Brontë Society is pleased to announce its triennial conference, ' The Brontës and the Condition of England', will take place on 29, 30, & 31 August 2014 at the Scarman Conference Centre, Warwick University.

In the nineteenth century the term ‘Condition of England’ was applied mainly to the economic and commercial problems of the nation. For this conference we would like to broaden the meaning to include, if possible, some of the other major national concerns of the day, which would have impacted on the Brontë family and possibly influenced their works. Some of the most obvious examples are: development of the railways; controversy over home-rule for Ireland; abolition of slavery; Catholic emancipation; Law reform; and the Chartist movement. The last topic is particularly pertinent, as Haworth was at the very centre of the rapid industrialisation of the former cottage industries of wool-combing, spinning, and weaving.

In addition to formal papers, we are looking to include a limited number of seminar sessions on the conference theme, and are calling for proposals and leaders for these sessions.

Abstracts for papers and proposals for seminar sessions should be sent to: The Conference Organiser, Brontë Society, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, Keighley BD22 8DR, or by email here.

Deadline for receipt of submissions: February 28, 2014 Abstracts should be limited to no more than 300 words. Successful speakers will be notified no later than March 31, 2014

As soon as we have further details for delegates wishing to attend, we'll send them in our next newsletter, and also post them on our website. We will keep you updated.

We are delighted to announce that the sculptor Diane Lawrenson has won the Society of Women Artists' award, 2013, for her lifesize bronze The Brontë Sisters. Diane, whose sculpture was previously exhibited in Halifax, was presented with her award at the Mall Galleries, London, on June 26, by Princess Michael of Kent.

Back in March, after The Brontë Sisters had appeared in Halifax, Diane exhibited it at the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art, Conwy, where it took pride of place at a day of special events to celebrate the first night of Charlotte Brontë's honeymoon there, 159 years earlier. Our Executive Director, Professor Ann Sumner, was also there to celebrate, and since then we've had the opportunity to meet Diane at several Brontë Society Events.

As a result, when she received her award from Princess Michael of Kent, both Ann Sumner and Bronte Society Chair Sally McDonald were there to support her, very proud that - yet again - the Brontës are the focus of so much public interest.

Pictured above at the awards ceremony are (l-r) Brontë Society Chair Sally McDonald; Diane Lawrenson; Princess Michael of Kent; Brontë Society Executive Director Professor Ann Sumner.

Diane's sculpture continues to be displayed at the Mall Galleries every day  from 10am to 5pm until July 6 (last day open until 3pm). If you'd like to visit, there's more information here.