New landmarks in Brontë bibliography

The purpose of this paper is to alert students, scholars and librarians to the many recently published works of reference on the life and works of the Brontë family. The paper aims to present an account of new major reference works, which are transforming the nature of Brontë scholarship, giving an insight into the development of literary studies in a field which has reached maturity and provides a benchmark for studies with other classic authors.

The paper takes the form of a literature review set against developing scholarship.

After 150 years of scholarship, Brontë studies have reached a peak of maturity in the areas of biography, bibliography and textual transcription.

The greater reliability of recent texts necessitates a re‐evaluation of biographical and critical studies on the Brontë family. The paper indicates the rigorous standards required in author bibliography.

Librarians need to update their reference collections.

The paper brings together disparate sources to provide a coherent overview.