Villette

3 Vol., FIRST EDITION, 324pp, 319pp., 350pp., no half titles as issued, contemporary diced calf, boards ruled in gilt, spine gilt, red and green morocco labels, marbled edges, 8vo, London, Smith, Elder and Co., 1853.

“The novel, like its predecessor The Professor (then unpublished), is based on the author’s experiences in Brussels, here renamed Villette, and also has as its centre a pupil-teacher relationship. The novel combines a masterly portrayal of Belgian daily life with a highly personal use of the elements of Gothic fiction; Charlotte Brontë uses hints of the supernatural. to heighten the impression of her heroine’s nervous isolation and heroic fortitude; but all the apparitions are found to have realistic explanations” (The Oxford Companion to English Literature).

Smith, Brontë, 6. Wolff 828 (publisher’s catalogue dated March 1854). HBS 68801.