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Primary sourceBook1910 edition (written earlier, published posthumously in 1857)

The Professor

Charlotte Brontë · 1910 edition (written earlier, published posthumously in 1857)

Charlotte Brontë's first novel, written early in her career but not published until after her death; this is a 1910 edition.

Charlotte's first novel, showing her early writing before she became a published success.

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The Professor
Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, 1910 edition. Scanned book, Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This is an edition of The Professor, a novel written by Charlotte Brontë. Although it was her first novel, it was not published until after her death in 1857. This particular copy is a 1910 edition with an introduction by May Sinclair.

Why it matters

The novel shows Brontë's early development as a writer before her breakthrough success with Jane Eyre. Its posthumous publication reveals how much of a writer's work can remain unseen during their lifetime.

  • Why might a publisher wait decades to print a writer's earliest work?
  • What might this novel show about Brontë's writing before she became famous?
  • How might an introduction added later by another writer shape how readers understand the novel?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Charlotte Brontë on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Charlotte Brontë sources

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Title page of the first edition of Jane Eyre, an Autobiography, edited by Currer Bell, in three volumes, Vol. I, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., Cornhill, 1847. Cream-colored paper with black printed text.Book

Primary source

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë · 1847

Pencil and chalk portrait on a pale tan paper of a woman with her hair pulled back in smooth bands, wearing a high-collared dress with a frilled lace collar and a tied bow at the neck. She gazes to one side with a slight smile. Handwritten inscription in the lower left corner.Painting

Primary source

Charlotte Brontë (chalk portrait by George Richmond)

George Richmond · 1850

Painted group portrait of three young women against a dark background with a pale green-yellow vertical light band. The woman on the left wears a grey collar and dark dress, the one in the centre wears a green dress and has curly hair, and the one on the right wears a dark brown dress with a grey collar. A wooden table edge is in the foreground.Painting

Primary source

The Brontë Sisters

Branwell Brontë · c. 1834

Title page of the 1857 London first edition of The Life of Charlotte Brontë by E. C. Gaskell, in two volumes, Vol. I, published by Smith, Elder & Co., Cornhill. Includes an Aurora Leigh quotation.Book

Secondary source

The Life of Charlotte Brontë

Elizabeth Gaskell · 1857

Title page of the 1853 first edition of Villette, reading 'VILLETTE.' followed by 'By Currer Bell, author of Jane Eyre, Shirley, etc.', 'In Three Volumes, Vol. I', and publisher lines for Smith, Elder & Co., London, and Smith, Taylor & Co., Bombay, dated 1853.Book

Primary source

Villette

Charlotte Brontë · 1853

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