Susannah Fullerton: Jane Eyre — its arrival in the world

Susannah Fullerton — Jane Eyre and its arrival in the world

In October 1847 a novel called Jane Eyre by an unknown person named Currer Bell was published by Smith, Elder & Co. The reaction was explosive - who had written this tale of a feisty governess who falls in love with a married man, whose mad wife is locked away in an attic? Was Currer Bell any connection with those other Bells, Acton and Ellis, who had just published Agnes Grey and Wuthering Heights? How did William Makepeace Thackeray react when the second edition was dedicated to him? And how did publication of her extraordinary novel change the life of Charlotte Bronte?

Susannah Fullerton tells the remarkable story of the arrival of this great classic in the world.

The State Library has recently purchased a first edition of the novel, which is on display, along with a selection of important rare editions in the Amaze Gallery on Level 1.

This event will be held in the Dixson Room, Ground Floor, Mitchell Building, State Library NSW.