The Brontë Society Transactions 1895‐2001: An Index and History

The long and illustrious history of the Brontë Society is reflected in the pages of its Transactions. These began in 1895 with the publication of a “Bibliography of the works of the Brontë family”. Since then a variety of publications in formats varying from specially commissioned monographs, reprints of articles, reviews and reports of the business of the Society have appeared at regular intervals. In 2002, the title was changed from Transactions of the Brontë Society to Brontë Studies: The Journal of the Brontë Society.

This volume is a combination of a history up to 2001 compiled by Bob Duckett, and the index compiled by Arthur Walker covering 122 issues, six supplements and 8,414 pages. It contains a wealth of information about the Brontës, both literary and personal. The minutiae of their daily life sit alongside substantial literary criticism, notes on sources, reviews of the numerous books, plays and films about them.

The scene is set with a thoroughly researched and readable introduction by Bob Duckett, the Society's Honorary Publications Officer and current Editor. His task was, however, by no means straightforward as the publishing history of the Transactions was extremely complicated. Duckett provides a lucid unraveling of the various monographs and articles that together formed the early Transactions. He is generous, but analytical, in his assessments of early editors, especially Butler Wood who steered the Transactions through its first 26 years, attracting leading scholars to contribute. Subsequent editors also made their own distinctive contributions, as for example, J.A. Symington. However, modern scholars “today curse the double numbering system of issues of the Transactions” which he introduced. The numbering system adopted by the volumes is itself a bibliographical nightmare and to this Duckett provides a clear explanation. A series of useful tables include a list of all the editors and – essential for those trying to unravel the complex numbering system – a list of the dates and numbers for each volume of the Transactions.

What emerges from this study is a revealing insight into the way in which a scholarly journal is conducted. Students of publishing history can learn much about how editors resolve conflicts between balancing scholarly articles with reporting on the more mundane aspects of the conduct of a Society's business. For instance, the practicalities are covered in a clear exposition of the problems of dealing with wartime paper shortages, and the day‐to‐day management of a journal. It is a pity that more journals are not treated to such meticulous analysis of their histories. All too often, the attention is on their content and their most illustrious contributors. Duckett does not overlook this aspect of the journal's history and draws our attention to the many distinguished names who contributed, including authorities such as Professor Kathleen Tillotson. A glance through the accompanying index reveals just how much the journal was at the forefront of literary scholarship. Reports on scholarship from all parts of the globe ranging from Japan to Scandinavia demonstrate its international importance.

The main part of the volume is the index compiled by Arthur D. Walker. It also includes material from the Brontë Society Gazette from 1990‐2001. Although a short introductory statement explains the way in which articles and book reviews are cited, no explanation is given concerning the arrangement of the index. This appears to be a simple alphabetical author/subject sequence but some explanation would have helped to clarify this. The work avoids long strings and is clearly set out, with each entry on a new line. Random checks of entries against the volumes showed an impressive degree of accuracy. Inevitably, it raises a few odd queries. For instance, it would have been helpful to have a see reference from “Tabby” to “Tabby Aykroyd”. Overall, it displays magisterial dedication and the authors deserve our congratulations for imposing order and enabling multi‐faceted access to this extremely important resource. If only more journals were the subject of such useful and impressive research.