Loading...
Creator
Brontë, Patrick Branwell, 1817-1848
Call number
Berg Coll MSS 186117
Physical description
0.21 linear feet (1 box)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Patrick Brontë papers, Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library
Repository
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Patrick Branwell Brontë (1817-1848) was an English painter, poet, and writer and the only brother of the English writers Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Brontë. His papers, dating from approximately the 1830s to 1845, are composed of holograph poems, short stories, and an unfinished novel. The collection also contains supplementary materials dating from the 1910s to the 1990s that describe the holographs' histories.

Biographical/historical information

Patrick Branwell Brontë (born 1817 in Thornton, England) was an English poet, writer, and painter. He was the brother of the English writers Anne, Charlotte, and Emily Brontë and was educated at home by his aunt, Maria Branwell, and father, Patrick Brontë. From childhood into adulthood, Brontë and his sister, Charlotte, wrote stories about an imaginary world called Angria.

Brontë rarely held a job for more than two years. He initially aspired to be a portrait painter and, in 1838, rented a studio in Bradford, England. When he failed to make a living as a painter, Brontë took jobs as a tutor, clerk, and railway worker.

After failing to stay employed as a tutor, Brontë returned home and tried to adapt stories about Angria into a novel titled, And the Weary Are at Rest (circa 1845). He wrote poetry and other stories that he sent to writers and publishers he admired. However, only a couple of his poems were published during his lifetime.

During the last three years of his life, Brontë became addicted to opium and alcohol. He died in 1848 in Haworth, England.

Scope and arrangement

The Patrick Brontë papers feature his holograph poems, short stories, and unfinished novel And the Weary Are at Rest, dating from approximately the 1830s to 1845. Aside from And the Weary Are at Rest (circa 1845), the holographs consist of fragments from two poems previously attributed to Emily Brontë, "In glimpses of a spirit shore" (1830s) and "To the horse Black Eagle" (1830s); and four short prose holographs, Elegant extracts (December 17, 1836), Not being in the humour (January 6, 1837), I rise (July 25, 1835), and fitly allied to other forms (July 25, 1835). The first line of text was used to identify holographs without titles.

The collection also includes additional materials dating from the 1910s to the 1990s, mostly written by Harry Buxton Foreman (1842-1917), an English bookseller and bibliographer. The materials consist of handwritten and typed correspondence; transcriptions of I rise, fitly allied to other forms, "In glimpses of a spirit shore," and "To the horse Black Eagle;" and informational essays that record the holographs' provenance and attribution history.

Arrangement

The papers are arranged alphabetically by title.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

W. T. H. Howe; purchased with the W. T. H. Howe collection by Albert A. Berg in 1940; gift of Albert A. Berg, 1940.

Processing information

Processed by Amy Lau in 2022.

Using the collection

Location

Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Third Floor, Room 320