However, research by Sally Jaspars, who is studying Brontë as part of her Ph.D. at the University of Aberdeen, has revealed that Brontë was also a skilled rock collector with an active interest in geology. In fact, the author built up a collection of attractive specimens before her death in 1849.
It’s to be noted that it was previously thought that Brontë collected items because of their aesthetic value. However, Jaspars’ research has revealed that she was an informed and skilled geologist during science’s golden age.
“Her interest in geology is mentioned in her literary works – indeed in The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall she references the science and a book by Sir Humphry Davy directly,” Jaspars was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
Along with experts from the University of Leeds and a specialist spectroscopy company, Jaspars found that as well as the carnelians and agates (both types of stones) Brontë collected in Scarborough, where she worked as a governess, the collection contains flowstone and a rare kind of red obsidian that originated outside of the UK.
“This is the first time that Anne’s collection has been systematically described and fully identified, and in doing so we add to the body of knowledge on Anne and show her to be scientifically minded and engaging with geology. She was an intelligent and progressive individual who was in tune with the scientific inquiry of the time,” Jaspar was further quoted as saying.
The research has now been published in the journal Brontë Studies.
Meanwhile, for the unacquainted, Anne Brontë was the daughter of Maria and Patrick Brontë, a poor Irish clergyman in the Church of England. In 1846 she published a book of poems with her sisters and later two novels, initially under the pen name Acton Bell. Her second novel, ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’, is thought to be one of the first feminist novels.
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