BRONTË, Emily.

£8,750 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Wuthering Heights. First US edition, the second edition overall. Although the work attracted hostile and uncomprehending reviews upon its publication in London in December 1847, Harper & Brothers remained keen to publish it given their previous successes with British novels like Jane Eyre. They soon became the principal American publishers of the Brontës, striking a deal with Smith, Elder & Company to receive advance sheets.The work's London publisher Thomas Cautley Newby sat on the manuscript for several months before rushing it into print to capitalize on the unexpected success of Jane Eyre, which was published in October 1847 by Newby's rivals, Smith, Elder & Company. The misattribution on the American title page of Wuthering Heights ("By the author of 'Jane Eyre'") was the result of contrived confusion over the nom de plume of each Brontë sister. Newby, who was aware of the difference in authorship, also tried to sell Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall to Harper's as being the work of Charlotte. Anne and Charlotte learned of through George Smith, of Smith, Elder & Company, and they visited Smith in London to prove that the Bells were three sisters.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.