JANE EYRE: An Autobiography. Edited By Currer Bell by [Brontë, Charlotte] Bell Currer (Pseud) - 1847

London: Smith, Elder and Co, 1847. 3 volumes. RARE FIRST EDITION of the great masterpiece by Charlotte Bronte. 8vo, in very attractive bindings of full tan calf, the spines richly gilt decorated in compartments between raised gilt decorated bands, the boards gilt framed, two of the spine compartments with contrasting red and green morocco labels gilt lettered and decorated. Publisher's ad catalogue is retained and bound in. [xiii], 303; 304; 304; with the catalogue of advertisements pp. A very fine copy, beautifully preserved and clean throughout. RARE, AND ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT-AFTER BOOKS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. JANE EYRE IS NOT ONLY THE FIRST NOVEL PUBLISHED BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE, but is also the first published of the Bronte Sisters. In an amazing year for them, all three published a work in 1847 under a 'Bell' pseudonym. Charlotte's was first, the two others were Emily's Wuthering Heights (published as Ellis Bell) and Anne's Agnes Grey (published as Acton Bell). All three are very scarce indeed.
JANE EYRE is especially scarce, the print run of the first edition was approximately only 500 copies. It is a cornerstone book of multiple collections; early novels, English literature, Women's literature. It is a work which helped to define the novel as we know it. With its internalization of action, its focus on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility it creates a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry and thus it revolutionized the art of fiction. It is also considered a full generation ahead of its time for the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of classism, sexuality, religion, and what has been coined 'proto-feminism'.