Reading the Writing Desk: Charlotte Brontë’s Instruments and Authorial Craft

Abstract:Quill cutters, dip pens, inks, pencils, and writing papers—these were among the supplies that C19 writers used to compose their novels. Providing a holistic look into the writing desk of Charlotte Brontë, this article calls attention to how the sympathetic imaginations of literary critics have shaped interpretations of Brontë’s authorial practice, and how their Romantic readings have inadvertently undercut the skilled craft, intensive labor, and critical discernment integral to her process. This object-oriented approach to studying Brontë’s manuscripts offers a reassessment of her writing practice, and, by extension, critical-bibliographical methods for interpreting the work of other c19 women writers.