Portrait of Charlotte Brontë by John Hunter Thompson © The Brontë Society
As Patti Smith writes in her introduction to the first-ever publication of A Book of Ryhmes, the poet, a thirteen-year-old Charlotte Brontë, must have transcribed her ‘ryhmes’ (the misspelling is on her title page) into the tiny handmade book while sitting at the kitchen table in Haworth Parsonage. The 1829 winter was severe, Barbara Heritage tells us, and we all know something of the circumstances of the Brontë family at this time whether or not we realize that many of the myths have been reconsidered by researchers. Charlotte’s adolescent poetry may be rather derivative, but it was very accomplished for a child of her age and circumstances, and it was obviously heartfelt. Charlotte aspired to being a serious poet, while at the same time she imagined her verse to be written by the characters who populated the imaginary worlds she shared with her siblings.
Charlotte Brontë’s intention was to make a book in imitation of the published volumes she read and admired, with a title page, contents, etc, lettered in imitation of printing, rather than in cursive handwriting. But it was not just the Brontës at Haworth who created juvenile facsimiles of books and magazines; other children, such as the Winkworths (Catherine Winkworth would later become a friend of Charlotte) also made miniature books, and rather more illustriously, so did John Ruskin. In every century children have had the capacity for taking such games very seriously, especially when they have aspirations to continue their interests into adulthood. And Charlotte was very serious, as we can see in the manuscript of A Book of Ryhmes. It is likely she set out to make fair copies of verses she had already composed but, despite her best intentions, she did what every poet has done over the centuries, and made alterations and corrections. Her fair copy is marred by these changes, but she must have decided it was better to improve upon her verse than simply make it look good.
A Book of Ryhmes is a fundamental part of Charlotte Brontë’s development as a poet, even if it must be considered juvenilia. Mrs Gaskell recorded the existence of A Book of Ryhmes along with Charlotte’s other miniature books and those created by her siblings, and they were sold in 1914 by the family of her husband, Arthur Nicholls, who had died in 1906. One early owner of A Book of Ryhmes, a ‘Mr Maggs’, paid £34 for it, and only two years later the book sold at auction in New York for $520. However, it disappeared from view and was subsequently considered ‘lost’. No doubt it was treasured in a private collection, but all the time it was not in view there was the possibility of its value not being recognised as it passed through generations of ownership. A Book of Ryhmes finally reappeared over a hundred years later, in 2022, when it was offered for sale at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair. It was bought by the Friends of the National Libraries for the Brontë Society and is now on display at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire.
It was something of a privilege to be among the small number of guests invited to the handover of A Book of Ryhmes at the Parsonage. My partner, Rosalie Parker, and I were invited by Henry Wessells (of James Cummins Booksellers of Manhattan) who had negotiated the sale in association with Maggs Bros. Ltd, London. It just so happened that we knew both Henry and Ed Maggs, and it was a good excuse to meet up with old friends. We were introduced to Ann Dinsdale, Principal Curator of the Brontë Parsonage Museum, and because we run Tartarus Press, a very small Yorkshire publishing house, Ann asked, informally, how the Society might consider publishing A Book of Ryhmes. We suggested various alternatives, not expecting to be asked to publish it ourselves.
Rosalie and I are immensely proud that over our thirty-five years in business we have published a number of books by authors who have gone on to make names for themselves. We publish books because we are essentially enthusiasts, but to be given the chance to publish Charlotte Brontë!
When we consider the thirteen-year-old Charlotte making her imitation book, it is worth considering whether children do the same kind of thing to today? I am sure that some do, although they may well embrace contemporary technology and publish their work on blogs or on social media. As a teenager I had aspirations to be a writer and a publisher, and in the 1980s I made single copies of booklets and magazines using photocopiers, trying to make them look like the real thing. In its way my methods are now just as out of date as those of the young Charlotte who, in 1829, dipped her pen in ink and fashioned her letters in imitation of traditional printing. We all start somewhere, and as admirers of Charlotte Brontë, Rosalie and I are grateful to be able to play our own small part in the continuing appreciation of her writing.
A Book of Ryhmes by Charlotte Brontë, with an introduction by Patti Smith and essays by Barbara Heritage and Henry Wessells, will be published by Tartarus Press in association with the Brontë Society on April 21. You can buy a copy here.
