JANE EYRE Facsimile Manuscript to be Published

I came across an article in The Guardian about an interesting upcoming publication:  a facsimile of Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 manuscript of Jane Eyre in her handwriting will be published for the first time next month (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/04/jane-eyre-facsimile-manuscript-to-be-published-for-bronte-bibliophiles-edmund-garrett).

 

To commemorate the bicentenary of Charlotte Brontë's birth this year, a French publisher, Éditions des Saints Pères, will release 1,000 hand-numbered facsimiles of the final handwritten manuscript which Brontë submitted to her publishers in 1847.  

Printed from the only fair copy in existence held in the British Library, the manuscript includes "important" final revisions, allowing readers to experience Brontë's creative process.  According to the publisher, the fair copy is “neat, with most notable revisions and corrections centred around her portrayal of Jane’s encounters with Mr. Rochester”.

Éditions des Saints Pères is an independent publishing house based in France which specializes in the publication of facsimile editions of important manuscripts.

“Founded in 2012, Les Saints Pères’ conception is intimately linked with a love of literature as well as an appreciation of unique and beautiful objects. In the context of our increasingly digitized world, our goal is to restore the magic of the manuscript as a pure and untouched vehicle between the artist and their work. We feel strongly about the importance for today’s reader to be able to connect with the author’s hand, and delve into the text of the manuscript” (https://www.editionsdessaintsperes.co.uk/manuscrits/en/).

Éditions des Saints Pères has done a number of French titles but plans to follow this release with further titles in English next year.

The book, to be released on December 2, can be purchased for £229 ($385 CAN).  To order, go to the publisher’s website:  https://www.editionsdessaintsperes.co.uk/manuscrits/en/51-jane-eyre.html.