Charlotte Brontë’s ‘A Book of Ryhmes’ published for the first time!

Almost two centuries after it was written by then 13-year-old Charlotte Brontë, ‘A Book of Ryhmes’ [sic] will be published for the first time. The hardback anthology of ten poems has been carefully transcribed and is accompanied by a foreword by legendary singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author and photographer, Patti Smith.

The original miniature handwritten ‘book’ is smaller than a playing card with a brown paper cover and is dated December 1829. This was the last Charlotte Brontë miniature manuscript book known to be in private hands before it was bought by the Friends of the National Libraries (FNL) in 2022 at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair and donated to the Brontë Society’s Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, where it was originally written.

Rebecca Yorke, Director of the Brontë Society, said: “When Charlotte created the original collection of these poems, she inscribed it as being ‘Sold by Nobody, and Printed by Herself’. How thrilled she would be – as we are – that so many years later, it is being published and available for anyone to have their own copy; it’s a very special way for us to mark the 209th anniversary of Charlotte’s birth (21 April).”

The Brontë Society has partnered with independent Yorkshire publisher Tartarus Press to publish ‘A Book of Ryhmes’. The book includes a transcript of 10 poems (including “The Beauty of Nature” and “On Seeing the Ruins of the Tower of Babel”) alongside images of Charlotte’s original manuscript and essays by Barbara Heritage, Associate Director of the Rare Book School, and bookseller Henry Wessells, who worked on the acquisition in 2022.

The original ‘A Book of Ryhmes’ is on display at the Brontë Parsonage Museum and the new publication is available to buy below.