This is a six-volume set of novels written by the Bronte sisters and bound and published by Riviere in the early 1900's. Four were written by Charlotte Bronte and one was written by Emily and the other by Ann Bronte. The four titles by Charlotte are Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette, and The Professor; the one by Emily is her one and only novel, Wuthering Heights, and the novel by Ann is The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Gray. Charlotte Bronte, 1816 to 1855, was an English novelist and poet, and the eldest of the Bronte sisters who survived into adulthood, Emily lived from 1818 to 1848, and Anne lived from 1820 to 1849, so they had short lives and their novels became classics of English literature. The books were all bound by Riviere & Son and published in London by Robert Riviere, and they all were illustrated by Edmund Dulac. The stamped signature on the first blank endpapers say "Bound by Riviere & Son", which means the books were bound by Riviere after 1880, and the notes in the Introductions suggest they were bound in 1905 and 1932. Edmund Dulac (1882 - 1953) was a French-born naturalized citizen of Britain who illustrated books, magazines, and stamps, and in 1905 he received his first commission to illustrate the novels of the Bronte sisters, as you can tell by the beautiful colored frontispieces here. The books are 3/4 bound, with five raised bands, six compartments with gilt lettering and gilt decorations on the spine, cloth boards, marbled endpapers, the half-titles, then the Dulac illustrations, a protective tissue guard, the title pages, a short introduction, and the top edges are gilt. Jane Eyre has a ten-page Introduction and 459 pages of text; Shirley has a six-page Introduction, a list of books by the Bronte sisters, two pages of Contents, and 511 pages of text; Villette has a nine-page Introduction, a leaf listing the works of the Bronte sisters, two pages of Contents, 451 pages of text, and an eleven-page Appendix which translates French phrases into English; The Professor has a three-page Introduction, a two-page Author's Preface, 237 pages of text, and a seven-page Appendix with translations of French phrases; Wuthering Heights, which was probably the most popular of the Bronte books along with Jane Eyre, has a seven-page Introduction, a list of their books that goes to 1932, seven pages of Biographical Notes of Ellis and Acton Bell, an Editor's Preface that runs for five pages, and 288 pages of text, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Gray has a four page introduction and 548 pages of text. The Bronte sisters used the pen names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell to avoid prejudice against female writers, and so they adopted the masculine first names described in the Biographical notes. The books measure 7 x 4 1/2 in. wide apiece, with tight bindings and clean pages. There's tads of rubbing on some of the heels and crowns, and at some of the tips, light shadows or soiling near some of the leather triangles on the covers, Jane Eyre has creases on pages 9 - 12, some creases at the bottom corners of a few pages and a small chip on page 128, Wildfell Hall has a tear on page 33, and that's it for over a thousand pages of reading. The books are bright and an attractive set for anyone who fancies works by the Bronte sisters. #61 #1545