83. Jane Eyre. " An Autobiography. " Edited By " Currer Bell. " In Three Volumes. " Vol. I. " London: " Smith, Elder, And Co., Cornhill. " 1847.

Under date of August 24, 1847, Miss BrontË wrote a letter to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co., in which she said: "I now send you per rail a MS. entitled 'Jane Eyre,' a novel in three volumes, by Currer Bell." The novel was accepted, was printed and published by October sixteenth, and on the nineteenth the publishers received the following:

"Gentlemen,—The six copies of 'Jane Eyre' reached me this morning. You have given the work every advantage which good paper, clear type, and a seemly outside can supply;—if it fails, the fault will be with the author,—you are exempt. I now await the judgment of the press and the public. I am, Gentlemen, yours respectfully, C. Bell."

Their judgment was decisive, and the book was so great a success that a second edition, dedicated to Thackeray, was issued January 18, 1848.

Octavo.

Collation: Three volumes.