In the summer of 1847 George Smith, the younger partner in the small publishing house of Smith, Elder & Co. was asked by his father to read the manuscript of Jane Eyre. He was immediately captivated by Charlotte Brontë's story of the “poor, obscure, plain and little” governess who after many tribulations marries her employer, the enigmatic Mr Rochester. George Smith remembers that:

I could not put the book down. I scribbled two or three lines to my friend, saying I was very sorry that circumstances had arisen to prevent my meeting him, sent the note off by my groom, and went on reading the MS. Presently the servant came to tell me that luncheon was ready; I asked him to bring me a sandwich an

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Published 05 November 2001

Citation: Giles, Judy. "Jane Eyre". The Literary Encyclopedia. 5 November 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4360, accessed 9 February 2010.]

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