Beschreibung:

Property from the Workman Collection
[Brontë, Charlotte]The Professor, a Tale. By Currer Bell. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1857
2 vols., 8vo (200 x 122 mm). Half-titles 2pp. of publisher's ads at rear of vol. 1, and 16 pp. of ads dated June 1857 at rear of vol. 2 (rear hinge of vol. 1 cracked). Original plumb cloth, with "Bound by Westleys & Co. London" ticket to lower rear pastedown of vol. 1, cloth elaborately stamped in blind, spines gilt-lettered; some sunning to spines, joints of vol. 1 just cracked. In custom slipcase.
First edition of Charlotte Brontë’s first novel.
"I said to myself that my hero should work his way through life as I had seen real living men work theirs—that he should never get a shilling he had not earned—that no sudden turns should lift him in a moment to wealth and high station; that whatever small competency he might gain, should be won by the sweat of his brow; that, before he could find so much as an arbour to sit down in, he should master at least half the ascent of “the Hill of Difficulty;” that he should not even marry a beautiful girl or a lady of rank. As Adam’s son he should share Adam’s doom, and drain throughout life a mixed and moderate cup of enjoyment" (Preface).
The Professor, which was published after Charlotte Brontë’s death, drew heavily from her time in Brussels, where she was a student and then a teacher in a school for girls. Brontë’s submitted the work for publication in 1847, and while it was ultimately rejected by the publisher, Smith Elder encouraged her to send any longer work she might have. In August of that year, Brontë sent them Jane Eyre. Much of the material in The Professor was reworked in Villette (1853), but the novel still stands on its own merits as a distinct work.  
A handsome copy. 
REFERENCE:Parrish 96; Sadleir 347; Smith 162-166
PROVENANCE:John Gray (contemporary ownership inscription to front free endpapers)