Charlotte Bronte and Turner.

Letter to W. S. Williams (31 July 1848)

I have lately been reading Modern Painters, and I have derived from the work much genuine pleasure and, I hope, some edification; at any rate it made me feel how ignorant I had previously been on the subject which it treats. Hitherto I have only had instinct to guide me in judging of art; I feel now as if I had been walking blindfold — this book seems to give me eyes. I do wish I had pictures within reach by which to test the new sense. Who can read these glowing descriptions of (J. M. W.) Turner’s works without longing to see them? However eloquent and convincing the language in which another’s opinion is placed before you, you still wish to judge for yourself. I like this author’s style much; there is both energy and beauty in it: I like himself too, because he is such a hearty admirer. He does not give Turner half-measure of praise or veneration; he eulogizes, he reverences him (or rather his genius) with his whole soul. One can sympathize with that sort of devout, serious admiration (for he is no rhapsodist) one can respect it; and yet possibly many people would laugh at it. I am truly obliged to Mr. Smith for giving me this book, not having often met with one that has pleased me more.

• Charlotte Brontë, on Modern Painters, Vol. 1 (1843), by John Ruskin. Letter to W. S. Williams (31 July 1848) The Letters of Charlotte Brontë

gutenberg

Frosty Morning was painted from a scene that Turner had witnessed in Yorkshire and when Claude Monet saw the painting decades later, he declared that Turner had painted it with “wide-open eyes.”
arteyewitness/turner-constable

Charlotte Brontë wrote in 1848 to WS Williams on reading Ruskin’s Modern Painters.
A year later on 5 December she sent a letter to her father from London:

‘I have seen the pictures in the National Gallery.  I have seen a beautiful exhibition of Turner’s paintings’.

carefully distinguishing one from the other (as Heather Glen notes in Charlotte Brontë: The Imagination in History OUP 2002).  On 14 February 1850 she wrote to her friend Margaret Wooler of having seen

‘one or two private collections of Turner’s best water colour drawings’ as well as ‘his later oil-paintings’. turnerintottenham

What became the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), published by Smith, Elder & Co. under the anonymous but authoritative title, "A Graduate of Oxford," was Ruskin’s response to Turner’s critics. wiki/John_Ruskin

Paintings of Turner. google/Turner 

Emily Bronte's birthday and the diary papers she and Anne were writing on her birthdays.

 

Today we celebrate

the birthday of Emily Bronte

 

Emily Bronte was born on 30 juli 1818

Emily and Anne Bronte

had agreed to write each a kind of reminiscence

 every four years

 to be opened by Emily on her birthday

 

Here the drawings Emily made on these diary papers

 

 

 

 The table was featured in an 1837 diary paper sketch by Emily,

 showing herself and Anne writing at the table with all their papers scattered before them.

  

 

 

Aren't they great these drawings?

 

Can we not imaging Emily

 sitting in her small room with Keeper at her feet

Or laying on her bed watching the stars in te night

 creating her beautiful strong poems and Wuthering Heights?

 

 

No Coward Soul is Mine

No coward soul is mine,

No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere:

I see Heaven’s glories shine,

And faith shines equal, arming me from fear.

 

Remembrance

Cold in the earth—and the deep snow piled above thee,

Far, far, removed, cold in the dreary grave!

Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee,

Severed at last by Time's all-severing wave?

 

Read all: wuthering-heights/emily-bronte-poetry

 

 

 Clement Shorter: The last words that I have to say concerning Emily

 are contained in a letter to me from Miss Ellen Nussey.

‘So very little is known of Emily Brontë,’ she writes, ‘that every little detail awakens an interest.  Her extreme reserve seemed impenetrable, yet she was intensely lovable; she invited  confidence in her moral power. Few people have the gift of looking and smiling as she could look and smile.  One of her rare expressive looks was something to remember through life, there was such a depth of soul and feeling, and yet a shyness of revealing herself—a strength of self-containment seen in no other. She was in the strictest sense a law unto herself, and a heroine in keeping to her law. She and gentle Anne were to be seen twined together as united statues of power and humility. They were to be seen with their arms lacing each other in their younger days whenever their occupations permitted their Union. On the top of a moor or in a deep glen Emily was a child in spirit for glee and enjoyment; or when thrown entirely on her own resources to do a kindness, she could be vivacious in conversation and enjoy giving pleasure. A spell of mischief also lurked in her on occasions when out on the moors. She enjoyed leading Charlotte where she would not dare to go of her own free-will. Charlotte had a mortal dread of unknown animals, and it was Emily’s pleasure to lead her into close vicinity, and then to tell her of how and of what she had done, laughing at her horror with great amusement. If Emily wanted a book she might have left in the sitting-room she would dart in again without looking at any one, especially if any guest were present. Among the curates, Mr. Weightman was her only exception for any conventional courtesy. The ability with which she took up music was amazing; the style, the touch, and the expression was that of a professor absorbed heart and soul in his theme. The two dogs, Keeper and Flossy, were always in quiet waiting by the side of Emily and Anne during their breakfast of Scotch oatmeal and milk, and always had a share handed down to them at the close of the meal. Poor old Keeper, Emily’s faithful friend and worshipper, seemed to understand her like a human being.  One evening, when the four friends were sitting closely round the fire in the sitting-room, Keeper forced himself in between Charlotte and Emily and mounted himself on Emily’s lap; finding the space too limited for his comfort he pressed himself forward on to the guest’s knees, making himself quite comfortable.  Emily’s p. 180heart was won by the unresisting endurance of the visitor, little guessing that she herself, being in close contact, was the inspiring cause of submission to Keeper’s preference. Sometimes Emily would delight in showing off Keeper—make him frantic in action, and roar with the voice of a lion.  It was a terrifying exhibition within the walls of an ordinary sitting-room.  Keeper was a solemn mourner at Emily’s funeral and never recovered his cheerfulness.’gutenberg CHAPTER VI

academic.brooklyn/diary_papers 

bl.uk/collection-items/emily-brontes-diary-1837

More about Clement Shorter: independent

lib.udel.edu//shorter

 

 

Clement Shorter received the diary papers from Arthur Bell Nicolls when he was visiting him in Ireland after the death of Charlotte Bronte. I am still searching on the internet of  a story about this happening.

 

Anne repplies: It's my understanding Arthur found these papers hidden in a tin box in 1895 . If it was Charlotte who destroyed Emily and Anne's papers, she missed gems because they were hidden.

Arthur found them when looking over what he had for Shorter...He didn't know of them before. Nicholls said to Shorter, that if he had not asked him to look for items, it's likely this box would have been discarded when Arthur passed ...and what if he had not brought that box from Haworth 40 years before ?!

We can't fault Arthur for being possessive when we have benefited by it so richly. Many Bronte items would have been lost if he had not held on to them for those 40 years When giving Shorter the diaries , Arthur said with feeling " Those poor girls!"

Bronte Waterfall

Astrud Turner ‏@astrud_turner l.

Bronte Waterfall in #Haworth only drawback of it being a sunny day is that there wasn't much water!

De Literaire Toerist: Brontë Bedevaart | Lezentv.nl: Iedere week boekenweek

De Literaire Toerist: Brontë Bedevaart | Lezentv.nl: Iedere week boekenweek

Keeper's collar

 

Keeper's collar

 

bronteparsonage