• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ransom Center Magazine

  • Articles
  • Sections
    • Art
    • Books + Manuscripts
    • Conservation
    • Exhibitions + Events
    • Film
    • Literature
    • Photography
    • Research + Teaching
    • Theatre + Performing Arts
  • Print Edition

Authors

There really is “Something About Arthur”: A peek into Charlotte Brontë’s childhood

March 6, 2012 - Kelsey McKinney

Signed title page of Charlotte Brontë's "The Green Dwarf." September 2, 1833.

The daughters of Patrick Brontë built a literary empire. Combined, the three women published seven novels and two books of poetry. In 1847 alone, Charlotte published Jane Eyre, Emily published Wuthering Heights, and Anne published Agnes Grey. For the Brontës, literature was a way of life that started young. Charlotte’s unpublished juvenilia book “Something About Arthur,”—housed at the Ransom Center—provides an active look into the childhood imagination of a woman who would become a major part of the Western literary canon.

Charlotte Brontë wrote “Something About Arthur” at the age of 17 shortly after returning from boarding school. The text is 25 pages long and includes a 42-line poem. It is the story of a struggling artist who battles an arrogant aristocrat for the heart of the heroine, Lady Emily Chalwort. Like many of Charlotte’s juvenilia books, “Something About Arthur” is small enough to fit in one hand, measuring only 5.7 cm by 9.5 cm (2.5 inches by 3 5/8 inches). Charlotte’s handwriting is microscopic and barely legible.

Charlotte’s motivation for creating such small books is debated. Patrick Brontë was by no means a poor man, though it is suspected that he may not have wanted to fund the paper cost of his children’s fantasies. The distance from the Brontë house to the nearest store to buy paper could be a reason. Some suspect that the small words kept the stories secret from adult eyes or that Charlotte was merely trying to imitate newspaper print. The most common theory, however, is that the books were originally created for a group of toy soldiers. In 1826, the year the first small manuscript was created, Patrick Brontë returned from a conference toting a set of 12 wooden soldiers for Branwell, the second eldest and only male child. Eventually, each child chose his or her favorite soldier. The stories in these juvenilia manuscripts, it is speculated, were not about the soldiers, but created for them. Thus, the size of the book would need to be in direct proportion to the size of the soldier.

When creating the worlds for their toy soldiers, the Brontë children were divided. Charlotte played primarily with the next eldest, Branwell, leaving Emily to play with Anne. Charlotte and Branwell created an imaginary kingdom and filled it with the characters of their imagination. They named the imaginary world Verdopolis. They created characters with names, occupations, and motivations. Charlotte transcribed their fantasies in her tiny, illegible hand. These fantasies became “Something About Arthur” and what is known as the “Glass Town” series. The majority of Charlotte’s juvenilia novellas are set in Verdopolis. “Something About Arthur” was written three years later, and Charlotte stopped writing about the characters of Verdopolis by her mid-20s.

The Brontë sisters’ fiction has long been the subject of biographical interpretation. The Brontë children were known to be social recluses. Charlotte especially was timid and often struggled to cope with her surroundings. Some scholars claim that because the Brontës spent the majority of their lives secluded, the fiction they produced must be the product of their own circumstances. Yet others dispute this claim. We may not see Charlotte herself in the characters of “Something About Arthur,” but we do see Charlotte’s evolution as a writer. This tiny book shows her love for strong heroines, current events, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Her writing mimics gothic literature and the adventure novel, two devices she would discard in her later works. “Something About Arthur” is the beginning of a craft that would be skillfully and carefully honed.

The Ransom Center acquired “Something About Arthur” in 1952 through the Nelda C. and H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation. Fannie Ratchford, esteemed figure in the Ransom Center’s history, orchestrated the entire affair.  Miriam Lutcher Stark pledged her entire library to the university in 1925. Knowing that his library contained a similar Brontë juvenilia piece titled “The Green Dwarf,” Miss Ratchford prompted Mr. Stark to acquire “Something About Arthur” in 1952 when she found it on the market. He did just that. Today both juvenile manuscripts, and Miss Ratchford’s correspondence with Lutcher Stark, can be found in the Ransom Center’s collections.

In December 2011, another of Charlotte’s juvenilia books sold at auction to Le Musee des Lettres et Manuscrits in Paris. This book was the first in the “Glass Town” series. It too is believed to have been written for the wooden soldiers.

Click on thumbnails below for larger images.

First page of Charlotte Brontë's manuscript for "Something About Arthur." The size of the manuscript papers is 5.7 cm by 9.5 cm (2.5 inches by 3 5/8 inches).
First page of Charlotte Brontë’s manuscript for “Something About Arthur.” The size of the manuscript papers is 5.7 cm by 9.5 cm (2.5 inches by 3 5/8 inches).
Second page of Charlotte Brontë's manuscript for "Something About Arthur." The size of the manuscript papers is 5.7 cm by 9.5 cm (2.5 inches by 3 5/8 inches).
Second page of Charlotte Brontë’s manuscript for “Something About Arthur.” The size of the manuscript papers is 5.7 cm by 9.5 cm (2.5 inches by 3 5/8 inches).
Third page of Charlotte Brontë's manuscript for "Something About Arthur." The size of the manuscript papers is 5.7 cm by 9.5 cm (2.5 inches by 3 5/8 inches).
Third page of Charlotte Brontë’s manuscript for “Something About Arthur.” The size of the manuscript papers is 5.7 cm by 9.5 cm (2.5 inches by 3 5/8 inches).
Last page of "Something About Arthur," signed by Charlotte Brontë and dated 1833.
Last page of “Something About Arthur,” signed by Charlotte Brontë and dated 1833.
Leather case for Charlotte Brontë's manuscript of "Something About Arthur." The size of the manuscript papers is 5.7 cm by 9.5 cm (2.5 inches by 3 5/8 inches). Photo by Anthony Maddaloni.
Leather case for Charlotte Brontë’s manuscript of “Something About Arthur.” The size of the manuscript papers is 5.7 cm by 9.5 cm (2.5 inches by 3 5/8 inches). Photo by Anthony Maddaloni.
Signed title page of Charlotte Brontë's "The Green Dwarf." September 2, 1833.
Signed title page of Charlotte Brontë’s “The Green Dwarf.” September 2, 1833.
Manuscript page of Charlotte Brontë's "The Green Dwarf." September 2, 1833.
Manuscript page of Charlotte Brontë’s “The Green Dwarf.” September 2, 1833.
Seller's description of the manuscript of Charlotte Brontë's "The Green Dwarf."
Seller’s description of the manuscript of Charlotte Brontë’s “The Green Dwarf.”
Seller's description of the manuscript of Charlotte Brontë's "The Green Dwarf."
Seller’s description of the manuscript of Charlotte Brontë’s “The Green Dwarf.”

Filed Under: Authors, Books + Manuscripts Tagged With: Authors, Books, Bronte family collection, Bronte sisters, Charlotte Bronte, juvenile books, Lutcher Stark, Lutcher Stark Foundation, Manuscripts, permanent collection, Something about Arthur

Three Ransom Center authors announced as finalists for the 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award

February 22, 2012 - Kelsey McKinney

Russell Banks, Don DeLillo, and Anita Desai were selected as finalists for the 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
Russell Banks, Don DeLillo, and Anita Desai were selected as finalists for the 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Authors Russell Banks, Don DeLillo, and Anita Desai were selected as finalists for the 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.  The Ransom Center holds the archives of Banks, Delillo, and Desai.

Banks was nominated for his twelfth novel Lost Memory of Skin, DeLillo was nominated for his collection of short stories The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories, and Desai was nominated for The Artist of Disappearance, a collection of three novellas.

DeLillo was awarded the PEN/Faulkner award in 1991 for his novel Mao II (1991). Banks was previously nominated for Affliction (1990) and Cloudsplitter (1999). This is the first nomination for Desai.

The winner of the 2012 PEN/Faulkner award will be announced on May 5, 2012.

Filed Under: Authors, Books + Manuscripts Tagged With: 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, Anita Desai, Authors, Books, Don DeLillo, giveaway, literature, Lost Memory of Skin, Russell Banks, The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories, The Artist of Disappearance

Tom Stoppard’s "Arcadia" opens this week in Austin

January 31, 2012 - Alicia Dietrich

ArcadiaPlaywright Tom Stoppard wanted to incorporate ideas of chaos theory and thermodynamics into the intricately structured plot of his play Arcadia. His archive shows how he consulted with his son, a physics graduate student at Oxford University, and with his son’s colleagues to get the details just right.

The play opened to acclaim at the National Theatre in London on April 13, 1993, and now Austinites can see an Austin Shakespeare performance of Arcadia, which opens Thursday and runs through February 19 at the Rollins Studio Theater at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

The Stoppard archive, which was acquired in batches between 1991 and 2000, spans more than 60 years and includes materials related to Arcadia and other well-known works, such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1968) and Shakespeare in Love (1998).

Filed Under: Authors, Theatre + Performing Arts Tagged With: Arcadia, archives, Austin Shakespeare, Authors, Tom Stoppard

« Previous Page

Primary Sidebar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4_kazYMjNM

Recent Posts

  • Celebrate with us in 2023
  • Photographer Laura Wilson delves into the lives of writers with stunning portraits
  • A childhood gift inspires a lifelong passion for India and map-collecting
  • “Dog” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
  • A Greek fragment is the first-known New Testament papyrus written on the front side of a scroll

Tags

acquisition Alice's Adventures in Wonderland archive archives Art Books Cataloging Conservation Council on Library and Information Resources David Foster Wallace David O. Selznick digitization exhibition Exhibitions Fellows Find Fellowships Film Frank Reaugh Frank Reaugh: Landscapes of Texas and the American West Gabriel Garcia Marquez Gabriel Garcia Marquez archive Gone with the Wind I have seen the Future: Norman Bel Geddes Designs America Lewis Carroll literature Magnum Photos Manuscripts Meet the Staff Nobel Prize Norman Bel Geddes Norman Mailer Performing Arts Photography poetry preservation Publishing Research Robert De Niro Shakespeare theater The King James Bible: Its History and Influence The Making of Gone With The Wind Undergraduate What is Research? World War I

Archives

Before Footer

Sign up for eNews

Our monthly newsletter highlights news, exhibitions, and programs.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

About

Ransom Center Magazine is an online and print publication sharing stories and news about the Harry Ransom Center, its collections, and the creative community surrounding it.

Copyright © 2023 Harry Ransom Center

Web Accessibility · Web Privacy