The+Professor+by+Currer+Bell+and+The+Poems+by+Currer,+Ellis,+and+Acton+Bell

=The Professor by Currer Bell and The Poems of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell =

**Title**: //The Professor// by Currer Bell (Charlotte Brontë Wikispaces page); and //The Poems of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell// (@Charlotte Brontë Wikispaces page, @Emily Brontë Wikispaces page, Anne Brontë Wikispaces page) **Publisher**: Smith, Elder, & Co **Publisher** **Location**: 15 Waterloo Place, London **Publication** **Date**: 1888 **Printed** **By**: Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square, London **University of Victoria Call** **Number**: PR4167 P7 1888

//The Professor// is a novel written by Charlotte Brontë under the pseudonym Currer Bell, and the poems which accompany this edition are //The Poems of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell// written by Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. //The Professor// was written before Charlotte Brontë's //Jane Eyre//, yet was published posthumously, as consented by her husband, A. B. Nicholls, in 1856. //The// //Poems of Currer, Ellis, and Acton// Bell were published earlier by Aylott and Jones in 1846 but only selling two copies (Bauman 45). However, when Smith, Elder & Co acquired the publishing rights of the Bront ë's they published the poetry of Anne and Emily Brontë in their respective novels, such as //Wuthering Heights// and //Agnes Grey// (Bauman 45). Smith, Elder & Co Brontë novels were often accompanied with their poetry "to appear to the Victorian reading public as the authoritative source of all things Brontë" (Bauman 45).

Book Audit of //The Professor//
This edition of //The Professor// was published by Smith, Elder and Co. in 1888. This edition does not contain any illustrations or any book traces. The novel is prefaced by Currer Bell (Charlotte Brontë) as well as an added consent for //The// //Professors'//s publication by Charlotte's husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls. The novel also contains //Poems// by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, as well as //Selections from the Literary Remains of Ellis and Acton Bell// by Currer Bell. The novel subsequently ends with eight pages of advertisements for other works by the Brontë sisters, as well as Mrs. Gaskell's novels and tales, a selection of other popular novels, works by W. M. Thackeray's, illustrated editions of popular works, other Smith, Elder, & Co.'s publications, works by Robert Browning, an advertisement for Cornhill Magazine, and the "Molly Brawn" series of popular novels.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">W. M. Thackeray was the "literary hero" of Charlotte Brontë, which her second edition of //Jane Eyre// was dedicated (Alexander par. 37). Elizabeth Gaskell was a genuine friend of Charlotte Brontë and would become her biographer (Alexander par. 45;47). The head of the publishing house of Smith, Elder, and Co, George Smith <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 1.5;"> inclu <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">ded advertisements in the back of novels, such as The Professor, to appeal "to the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 1.5;"> Victorian consumer's fondness for 'sets' of books" (Bauman 57).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The pages are thin and clean cut; octodecimo in size (4" x 6 1/2").

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//The Professor// by Currer Bell
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">On 8 February 1842, Charlotte and Emily travelled to Brussels where they enrolled, and were eventually invited to teach, at the Heger boarding school – Charlotte would teach English and Emily would teach music (Alexander par. 28). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">After the death of their Aunt Elizabeth Branwell, Emily would return and stay at home at Haworth whereas Charlotte resumed her teaching position in Brussels on 27 January 1843 (Alexander par. 29). Without meaningful companionship from her sister, Charlotte’s loneliness and dampened spirits grew increasingly. She became enamoured by her mentor, Constantine Heger, creating a “hero-worship that bordered on obsession” (Alexander par. 30). Charlotte readily returned home to Haworth near the end of 1843, yet her experience in Brussels would develop into significant material for her novels, such as //The Professor// and //Villette//.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The Professor was completed on 27 June, 1846 and was part of the triage of novels the Brontë sisters were offering to various publishers for printing, included with Emily Brontë’s //Wuthering Heights// and Anne Brontë’s //Agnes Grey// (Alexander par. 34). //The Professor//, however, was repeatedly rejected and was never published in Charlotte’s lifetime, only printed by Smith, Elder and Co. posthumously on 6 June 1857 (Alexander par. 34).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> This edition of The //Professor// contains a title page which remarks the authorship of Currer Bell's (Charlotte Brontë) more popular novels like //Jane Eyre, Shirley,// and //Villette//. Because //The Professor// was never a popular novel, Smith, Elder & Co. “used every means at their disposal to maximize its appeal” often printing advertisements of the unpopular works of the Bells and linking them with their best-selling author, Currer Bell (Brauman 51).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//Poems// by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In September 1845, Charlotte Brontë discovered one of Emily Brontë’s notebooks of poetry and, after much persuasion, she convinced her and Anne that their verses deserved to be published (Alexander par. 33). Using male pseudonyms to avoid gender-based criticism, nineteen poems by Currer, and twenty-one each from Ellis, and Acton Bell were submitted as //Poems// to be published by Aylott and Jones in 1846, costing the sisters £31.10s (Smith par. 10; Alexander par. 33). However, this first volume of the Brontë's poetry was not a commercial success as only two copies of the volume were sold (Bauman 45).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The failure of //Poems// may be the fault of the publishers, Aylott and Jones, "who were primarily booksellers and stationers rather than publishers, [and] lacking distribution outlets", but it is also noted that poetry as a genre was not as coveted by the public as it was at the start of the century: "the commercial boom of poetry was over" (Bauman 46). When Smith, Elder and Co. adopted the publishing rights of the Brontë’s, they were willing to try and resell the unpopular book of poems. Smith, Elder proceeded to buy the remaining 961 copies of Poems from Aylott and Jones, yet their 1848 reissuing of //Poems// did not fair well either and by July 1853 only 279 copies had been sold (Brauman 47).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Nevertheless, Smith, Elder and Co. merely changed the form the Brontë’s poems would appear. The Brontë novels, like //The// //Professor//, would simultaneously include "Charlotte's selection of Emily's and Anne's verses and her explanatory notes" (Bauman 50). Having full control of her sisters's work, Charlotte was capable of using their poetry as she deemed suitable. As indicated by Charlotte, she wanted to use her sisters's "graceful verse to recuperate their reputations from the notoriety that had surrounded both //Wuthering Height//s and //The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.//" (Bauman 45). Ultimately, the inclusion of the Brontë’s poetry within their novels was abused by Smith, Elder & Co. but resulted in their poetry reaching a wider audience (Bauman 51).

dc.Engl386.Uvic.Spring2016

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Works Cited:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Alexander, Christine. “Brontë, Charlotte (1816–1855).” //Oxford Dictionary of National// Biography. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 16 Apr. 2016.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Barker, Juliet. “Brontë, Emily Jane (1818–1848).” //Oxford Dictionary of National Biography//. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 16 Apr. 2016.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Bauman, Susan R.. “In the Market for Fame: The Victorian Publication History of the Brontë Poems”. Victorian Review 30.1 (2004): 44–71. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Bell, Currer. //The Professor.// London. Smith, Elder, & Co.. 1888. Print.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Smith, Margaret. “Brontë, Anne (1820–1849).” //Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.// Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 16 Apr. 2016.