Bringing Charlotte Brontë’s Little Book Home at Midland Hotel

In 2011, a tiny, hand-written book by Charlotte Brontë was auctioned at Sotheby’s. It formed part of the second series of The Young Men’s Magazine, consisting of six issues, four of which were held at the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Despite a very high-profile and successful fundraising campaign, the museum was outbid at the auction and the little book was acquired by the Aristophil collection in Paris.

In 2018, museum staff were alerted to the fact that the little book was likely to come back on the market. In November 2019, following a second fundraising campaign, the Brontë Parsonage Museum was successful in purchasing the little book at auction in Paris.

Join Ann Dinsdale and Rebecca Yorke from the Brontë Parsonage Museum as they discuss the literary and cultural significance of the little book and other Brontë treasures, the political implications of private ownership versus public preservation, and their incredible campaign to bring the book back to Haworth.