Four works in eleven volumes. All first editions except for vol. III of Jane Eyre, which is a second printing. All uniformly bound in later half calf over marbled boards with morocco title labels. Floral endpapers and speckled edges. All half titles where called for. A near fine set, with all copies well margined, and the pages clean and crisp. The bindings are in uniformly excellent condition with virtually no wear. A small section excised from K4 of vol. I of Villette, affecting a few words. The missing words have been tipped in manuscript to the front endpaper of that volume.

A complete set of the novels of the most prolific of the Bronte sisters and one of the most important novelists of the nineteenth century.
Having collaborated with her sisters in an unsuccessful self published volume of poetry, Charlotte embarked on writing a novel, The Professor. This was declined by all the publishers it was sent to and, stung by the fact that both her sisters had found publishers for their novels, she set about writing a new novel on an entirely different emotional scale. Jane Eyre was swiftly completed and immediately found a willing publisher in Smith, Elder. The book was published in an edition of just 500 copies and was greeted with almost instant acclaim. William Thackeray, to whom Charlotte dedicated the second edition, "lost a whole day in reading it." To this day it remains one of the most popular and widely read English novels.
Following the death of her younger sisters, Charlotte embarked on writing further novels: Shirley and Villette. Now overshadowed in the popular consciousness by Jane Eyre, both were well regarded at the time as excellent novels in their own right, subtly dealing with the role of women in society. After her death in 1855, The Professor was finally published.
Some 170 years after her death, her legacy, popularity amongst readers and influence amongst other novelist remains undimmed: a trailblazer for women writers who redefined the role of the female protagonists as intelligent, passionate and fiercely independent.

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