Friday 5 September 2014

Tiny Bronte Books - Joan Lennon

Another delightful resource I wanted to share with you can be found here.  Nine tiny handmade books, written and constructed by Charlotte and Branwell Bronte when they were children - to just see these little objects through the glass of an exhibition case would be a treat ...





... but now we can read them as well!  
(photos from a Harvard Magazine article)
After painstaking conservation using surgical instruments and fibres of kozo paper no wider than a human hair, these minute Bronte volumes have been made available in full, free, online.  There is a fascinating article about the project in the Harvard Gazette.
So, whether for research or just for your own reading pleasure, here is the full list -
By Patrick Branwell Brontë:
Branwells Blackwoods magazine, June 1829
Magazine, January 1829
Branwells Blackwoods magazine, July 1829


And, with a certain sense that I may be lowering the tone, here is a video for something I long to own -





Joan Lennon's website.
Joan Lennon's blog.

4 comments:

Sue Purkiss said...

By, they were clever, those Brontes! Thanks, Joan.

Elizabeth Chadwick said...

How fascinating to see these. I knew they existed but to be able to see and read them is wonderful. Thank you for posting.

Carol Drinkwater said...

Looking at these photos of tiny little books made me think about the FUN they must have had creating these. No publishers on their backs, just two people doing something they clearly loved. Wonderful, thank you, Joan.

Penny Dolan said...

So much to investigate here, Joan, so thank you. This is going to be long cup of coffee! (Love the dolls!)