“I have an inward treasure”: Charlotte Brontë and Jane Eyre | Behind the Bookcase

Registration

• Admission is $30. Members receive exclusive discounts on our programs and courses. Not a member? Learn more.
• This is an in-person program at The Rosenbach. Please check your spam folder for your email confirmation. If you have questions, please call (215) 732-1600 or email [email protected].
• Registration opens for Delancey Society on August 16, for Rosenbach members on August 23, and for the general public on August 30. 

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Description

Did you first encounter Jane Eyre in a high school class, on a family bookshelf, at the local library, or perhaps in a film adaptation? In this tour, we will see (and even feel!) the various ways Brontë’s brilliant 1847 work has taken physical form, from its first incarnation in three simple, cloth-covered volumes to an early 20th century binding depicting Jane as an Edwardian beauty. We will hold copies of Brontë’s novels that have passed through the hands of Lewis Carroll, Marianne Moore, and Maurice Sendak—into our own. And we will examine one of the Rosenbach’s great treasures: a preface to Jane Eyre in the author’s own hand, in which she famously cautions small-minded critics that “appearance should not be mistaken for truth.” Bring your own beloved copy of any of the Brontë authors’ novels to this special Behind the Bookcase tour as we consider how any book—whether a pristine first edition or a tattered paperback—constitutes a treasure as long as we cherish it. 

Image Credit: Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre. Chicago: M.A. Donohue, [undated, after 1900]. From the collection of Marianne Moore. MML 0166. 

About Your Guide 

Christine Nelson curated the 2016 exhibition Charlotte Brontë: An Independent Will at New York’s Morgan Library & Museum and authored the companion volume The Brontës: A Family Writes (Scala Arts Publishers). She was the Morgan’s longtime Drue Heinz Curator of Literary & Historical Manuscripts. The first “adult” novel she read was Jane Eyre. 

About Behind the Bookcase: Hands-on Tours at The Rosenbach

Behind the Bookcase: Hands-on Tours offer unparalleled access to see, and even touch, rare and important items not usually on view to the public. Each program is dedicated to a different author, theme, or topic and grants a truly hands-on experience with materials in The Rosenbach’s inspiring collection.

See all upcoming tours here. Space is limited and advance registration is strongly recommended.