There are a number of 1850 fourth editions of Jane Eyre in the Haworth archive, published in 1850, this one has a frisson of familial proximity in its precious inscription.
According to the inscription which is faded, making it hard to read, this book was originally presented to Tabitha Ackroyd by the Brontës’ father, the Rev. Patrick, in 1851.
Tabitha Aykroyd (also sometimes Ackroyd), better known as ‘Tabby’ was the faithful servant for 31 years in the Brontë household from 1824 when she was 55. She was such a part of the family that she was known in the village as ‘Tabitha Brontë’. She provided the maternal emotional warmth from her kitchen domain that was lacking in the children’s Aunt Branwell, who dutifully moved in to the house to help her brother after the death of his wife, Maria, the Brontës’ mother.
Tabby was a great oral storyteller who ‘held to the ancient anthropomorphic traditions of the countryside, claiming (according to Mrs Gaskell) to “have known people who had seen fairies”[1]. She told stories to the Brontë children by the kitchen fire and ‘her influence permeates the landscape of Wuthering Heights. Tabby has also been identified as the model for Nelly Dean in Wuthering Heights, and for the housekeeper Martha in Charlotte’s novel Shirley.’[2]
Interestingly for our study in reader engagement, however, she was illiterate. This is a fascinating paradox. She is the owner of a copy of Jane Eyre but one who would not have been able to read it yet, unlike all readers since, she had a unique influence on the imagination of the author Charlotte herself at a formative age and thus the contents of the book she cannot access.
There is a strong sense in the words of this inscription of the shift of power that has characterised the legacy of the Brontës. The Rev. Patrick Brontë, the patriarch of the family, is now subjugated to role of ‘the father of the Authoress’. Why did the Rev. Brontë give this copy to Tabitha who he must have known could not have accessed its contents? Perhaps it’s a testament to the esteem in which she was held in the family. Perhaps he knew how precious it would be to her even as an unread object. It certainly tells us that a copy of Jane Eyre was by its fourth edition seen as a valuable item of heritage.
The inscription then tells us the next step of the book’s ownership, that it was given by Tabitha to her ‘neice’ (sic) Mary Ratcliffe (Tabby had no children of her own). The date underneath appears to be December 30th 1853; at first glance it might be 1863, since the bottom of the third number is smudged into a circle but the slight line at the top of the third numeral indicates it’s probably a 5 rather than a 6, which certainly makes more sense since Tabby died in February 1855 (six weeks before Charlotte).
The final question of this intriguing inscription is who actually wrote it this inscription. Mary Ratcliffe, a working-class woman, would not have had the education to write in this way (if she were able to write at all). The Rev. Brontë’s handwriting was quite unlike this hand. It looks more like Charlotte’s, but it is hopelessly far-fetched to imagine that she would have written about herself in this way and misspelt the word ‘niece’. This merits further investigation.
[1] Bronte Parsonage Museum website
[2] ibid
My Jane Eyre 
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