Jane Eyre:

last of the 'three-deckers'

A scarce lifetime edition in a contemporary binding, and the last of the three-volume sets of Charlotte Brönte's classic Gothic novel, Jane Eyre.

After several rejections from various publishers for The Professor, Charlotte Brontë concentrated her attention on Jane Eyre, finishing her 'fair copy' on March 16th and delivering the manuscript to Smith, Elder & Co. on 19th August 1847. She made it clear to the publisher that she would not revise again: 'I know I should only further injure what may be already defective. Perhaps too the first part of "Jane Eyre" may suit the public taste better than you anticipate - for it is true and Truth has a severe charm of its own. Had I told all [underlined - author's emphasis] the truth, I might indeed have made it far more exquisitely painful...' (Margaret Smith, The Letters of Charlotte Brönte, vol. I, pp539-40). But the novel was received enthusiastically by their reader William Smith Williams and by the head of the firm, George Smith, and it was printed on the 19th October.

The third edition followed the critical and commercial success of the first, with Brönte noting in a letter to George Smith of 7th November 1848: 'I have received your letter containing a remittance of £100. I think I am chiefly glad of it for the proof it seems to afford that the 3rd edition of "Jane Eyre" does not lie a dead weight on your hands. I was afraid this might be the case, and it would chagrin me to think that any work of "Currer Bell's" acted as a drag on your progress' (Smith, vol. II, p.138). It would be the last of the 'three-decker' sets, with the fourth and fifth editions of 1850 and 1855 being 'cheap' one-volume copies printed in large runs.

The preface and dedication to the novelist William Thakeray is shared with the second edition published earlier that year, and although Thackeray was pleased with the honour, it led to embarrassing speculation that Jane Eyre was written by a former governess in his family: 'His wife's insanity, though quite unlike Bertha Rochester's, seemed to support this idea' (Smith, vol. I, p.582).

Third edition; 3 vols, 8vo; with relevant issue points: vol. I p.279 missing '9', p.287 headline without period, vol. III 'J' of headline missing, comma after Smith clipped on title-page, lacking half-titles and publisher's ads, p.19 of vol. I slight marked, else all vols internally clean and fresh; contemporary half green morocco over marbled boards, marbled edges, spines gilt in compartments, hinges of vol. III cracked but holding, restoration to spine tips and vol. III joints, slight rubbing to extremities and marbled covers, but an attractive set housed in custom green cloth slipcase.

Smith pp29-30; cf.Margaret Smith (The Letters of Charlotte Brönte).