[Brontë (Charlotte)], "Currer Bell". Villette, 3 vol., first edition, vol. 1 lacking publisher's catalogue at end, presentation inscription from Brontë to William Makepeace Thackeray "W. M. Thackeray Esq. from the Author" to preserved front free endpaper in vol. 1, dated Jan. 29th but year partially trimmed, ink gift inscription "Miss J Mathews from R Ferguson, Oct 3 1877" beneath in a different hand, vol. 1 with unidentified heraldic ink-stamp to front free endpaper, Thackeray's small embossed stamp to head of titles, vol. 3 title and following 2 ff. loose, occasional light soiling, spotting to endpapers and very occasionally elsewhere, 19th century half calf over marbled boards, by Geo. Coward of Carlisle with his ticket to pastedowns, spines gilt and with red morocco labels, some wear to extremities, lightly rubbed, [Smith 6 pp.138-142], 8vo, Smith, Elder & Co., 1853.

⁂ A remarkable presentation copy linking two of the great figures of 19th century English literature. Brontë is known to have held Thackeray in high esteem, dedicating the second edition of Jane Eyre to him, after much admiring his recently released Vanity Fair (1848): "I see in him an intellect profounder and more unique than his contemporaries have yet recognised; because I regard him as the first social regenerator of the day". The two first met at a dinner party given by publisher George Smith in late 1849, the meeting reputedly stilted by Brontë’s shyness. Another dinner party, held by Thackeray in Brontë's honour in June 1850, appears to have been no more successful, with Brontë perceived as serious and in outmoded dress by her fellow guests. Despite moments of awkwardness, the important literary relationship between Brontë and Thackeray evidently stemmed from a deep mutual appreciation.

Villette was Brontë’s last novel to be published in her lifetime. Thackeray posthumously published her fragment ‘Emma’ in his Cornhill Magazine (April 1860), accompanied by a personal tribute: "An impetuous honestly seemed to me to characterise the woman...Hundreds of those who, like myself, recognised and admired that master-work of a great genius, will look with a mournful interest and regard and curiosity upon this, the last fragmentary sketch from the noble hand which wrote Jane Eyre".