Does a picture paint a thousand words? or in the case of Emily Brontë’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ —— 107,945.

Ever since ‘Wuthering Heights’ was published in 1847 —— there’s been ongoing debate about Heathcliff’s ethnicity, particularly the question; was he Black?

So is it any wonder then, that the second I set eyes on an 1844 engraving entitled ‘The African Prince’ —— a certain ‘Bell’ rang in my head; I wondered could the engraving have been the original seed thought for Heathcliff and Catherine? because date wise it’s a possibility. The origin of ‘Heathcliff’ the name —— got me thinking too. . .

‘Heathen’ is a non-believer in the Christian faith——or any other widely held religion. By the closing lines of ‘Wuthering Heights’ it’s clear that Heathcliff does not subscribe to a conventional idea of Heaven —— or Hell; he’s a heathen by definition, not because of the eternal, unanswerable question relating to his ethnicity. Maybe Heathcliff’s heathenism is the reason why Emily Brontë put the ‘Heath’ in Heathcliff? 

Because of my wont to trawl the Internet – looking at 18th and 19th century engravings —— searching for that seemingly non-existent “fashion-plate”; the one cited by literary critic Clement Shorter as the outright reason for dismissing the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ —— I happened upon ‘The African Prince’ in February 2021.

And because where the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ is concerned ‘Perseverance’ is my second name! —— I also happened upon a hitherto unknown fact about the ‘Woman In Leopard Fur’ a painting by Charlotte Brontë; that it’s a copy of an engraving after James Northcote. http://somethingaboutdartmoor.com/2021/01/11/the-woman-in-leopard-fur-by-charlotte-bronte-a-bronte-mystery-solved/ 

It’s quite obvious that the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ originates from an 18th century engraving ‘Wood-Nymph’ after an original painting by Samuel Woodforde https://www.woodforde.org/samuel-woodforde-ra/

On the subject of the Brontës’ wont to meticulously copy engravings, it’s important to read the following quote from Mrs Gaskell! —— in order that one gets a better grasp of their engraving obsession also!

 “It is singular how strong a yearning the whole family had towards the art of drawing. Mr. Bronte had been very solicitous to get them good instruction; the girls themselves loved everything connected with it —— all descriptions or engravings of great pictures; and, in default of good ones, they would take and analyse any print or drawing which came in their way, and find out how much thought had gone to its composition, what ideas it was intended to suggest, and what it DID suggest.” 

Please bear in mind the above excerpt from Mrs. Gaskell’s ‘The Life of Charlotte Brontë’ Chapter VII —— when considering this engraving entitled ‘The African Prince’. . .

‘The African Prince’ was published by Fisher, Son & Co London in 1844 —— in ‘A Gallery of Engravings’ Volume I —— edited by Rev’d George Newenham Wright. 

In common with Patrick Brontë, patriarch of the Brontë family —— George Newenham Wright was also an Irish Anglican clergyman. Because of his credentials —— I should think that his set of three volumes, stuffed full of engravings —— were right up the Brontës street——Main Street, Haworth!   

   “George Newenham Wright (c. 1794–1877) was an Irish writer and Anglican clergyman. He was born in Dublin; his father, John Thomas Wright was a doctor. He graduated B.A. from Trinity College Dublin in 1814 and M.A. in 1817, having been elected a Scholar of the College in 1812. He married Charlotte Mulock in 1819.

He held several curacies in Ireland before moving to St Mary Woolnoth, London.

By 1851, he was a teacher of classics, resident in Windsor with his wife. In 1861 he noted having a number of pupils boarding with him at Frome. By 1863 he was master of Tewkesbury Grammar School.

He died on 24 March 1877 at Pierrepont Street, Bath.

From the 1820s to the 1840s some minor topographical works and schoolbooks on subjects ranging from the Greek language to biography and philosophy by Wright were published . There were several on Ireland.” From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Crucially, ‘The African Prince’ —— was published in 1844, three years prior to the publication of ‘Wuthering Heights’ —— therefore from a timeline point of view, it’s perfectly conceivable that Emily Brontë might have seen it —— whereupon, the seeds of Catherine and Heathcliff may have been sown? 

Emily Brontë doesn’t directly state Heathcliff’s racial identity —— instead his ethnicity is left to the reader own interpretation. This passage in chapter VII —— when Nelly Dean consoles young Heathcliff, intimates that he was certainly not of Anglo-Saxon descent!  

   “A good heart will help you to a bonny face, my lad,’ I continued, ‘if you were a regular black; and a bad one will turn the bonniest into something worse than ugly. And now that we’ve done washing, and combing, and sulking—tell me whether you don’t think yourself rather handsome? I’ll tell you, I do. You’re fit for a prince in disguise. Who knows but your father was Emperor of China, and your mother an Indian queen, each of them able to buy up, with one week’s income, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange together? And you were kidnapped by wicked sailors and brought to England. Were I in your place, I would frame high notions of my birth; and the thoughts of what I was should give me courage and dignity to support the oppressions of a little farmer!”  Chapter VII ‘Wuthering Heights’. 

When one factors in that Heathcliff was found in Liverpool —— one of the main British ports for slave trading, the likelihood that he was Black is amplified by Nelly Dean’s narrative. . .

‘Wuthering Heights’ is set in the mid-to-late-eighteenth century.

The Slave Trade Act was passed by Parliament in 1807—— just eleven years before the birth of Emily Brontë in 1818, but in practice —— Emily was virtually an adult by the time slavery was abolished in most of the British Empire —— by 1833.

Emily’s humanitarian father, Rev’d Patrick Brontë —— spoke out against slavery —— to the extent that he was a friend of William Wilberforce, the leader of the movement to abolish slavery. So it’s no wonder then —— that an online image of ‘The African Prince’ stopped me dead in my tracks; I can well imagine that if Emily saw the exact same image only in it’s original format 177 years earlier – the engraving of ‘The African Prince’ might have had more than a passing effect on her too.

And though the Brontë Sisters lived most of their lives sequestered away in a remote Yorkshire Parsonage – their imaginations were off the page! The Sisters and their brother, Branwell —— lived vicariously through Literature —— and through Art.

To reiterate the words of Mrs Gaskell, “They would take and analyse any print or drawing which came in their way, and find out how much thought had gone to its composition, what ideas it was intended to suggest, and what it DID suggest.”

The engraving of ‘The African Prince’ depicts real people that lived. . .

   “The accompanying plate exhibits two interesting and real portraits. One, of an African Prince, who was brought to this country some years ago; the other of a young lady, daughter of a gallant officer, a relative of the late Sir Stamford Raffles.” —— from ‘The Gallery of Engravings’ Vol I. 

The woman is depicted clutching a small Bible in her left hand – which suggests she is teaching the man ‘The Lord’s Prayer’. There is a poem that accompanies the engraving that confirms this —— and can be read in full HERE. Click on the appropriate link on the ‘List of Plates, and Contents’ page —— courtesy of Google Books.

Because of the angle——and way the woman is looking towards the man with a look of pure love in her eyes — my first impression was that they’re not praying——but avowing their soul connection by touching hands. It’s something about the way his right forearm seamlessly transforms into the her right forearm before one’s very eyes! —— and it doesn’t matter how long I look at what is an optical illusion——I can’t not see them as soulmates ‘fused at the elbow’ so to speak!

Again, the engraving was published in 1844 —— ‘Wuthering Heights’ in 1847. . .

When I gaze upon the significance of ‘1847’ on the re-burnished coffin plate above —— that ‘as we speak’ quietly rests in peace——atop a coffin, inside a vault —— I’m caused to marvel at how the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ leadeth me to the most unexpected places——and individuals——dead——and alive.

So I wonder what Emily Brontë would have made of the 1844 engraving —— how would she have interpreted it —— IF indeed she ever set eyes on ‘The African Prince’? As said, it’s just a thought. . .

In the light of #BlackLivesMatter —— I hope the engraving’s subject matter is viewed in the context of this post —— as it is not my intention to cause offense by expressing ‘a thought’ about it. A thought that occurred to me the moment ‘The African Prince’ stepped out of the page. 

Cue ethereal Kate Bush in my favourite Kate Bush video! “Stepping out of the page” —— in her own inimitable, captivating, thought-inducing way. . .

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UPDATE:

‘A Short Tale of The Unexpected’ —— Sunday, 23rd. January 2022.

About a hard-to-find copy of ‘The People’s Gallery of Engravings’ Volume I —— bought from ‘Oxfam Online’ on the 8th. January 2022.

To me, this particular copy feels providential —— not because it’s a copy of the actual volume that contains the engraving ‘The African Prince’. . .But because the original bookseller’s handwritten ticket is still attached——something I only discovered on receipt.

‘Thomas Fenteman & Sons’ were Theological and General Booksellers. . .Thomas Fenteman was a deeply religious man who was an early patron of up-and-coming Leeds artist, John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836 – 1893) —— under the strict proviso that the artist didn’t work on his paintings on the Lord’s Day!

Thomas Fenteman & Sons’ premises are listed on page 67 A General and Commercial Directory of the Borough of Leeds 1839 —— as 13 Central Market, Duncan Street, Leeds. Atkinson Grimshaw’s father, David Grimshaw——a policeman in 1839 is also listed in the same directory——page 82. A little later, Fenteman’s moved to 42 Boar Lane as per the ticket.

The famous twelve wooden soldiers that Rev’d Brontë gave Branwell were bought in Leeds——indeed there’s an article in ‘Brontë Studies’ the Brontë Society’s own academic journal——telling how all the Brontë family loved to shop in Leeds. See page 362 below —— about how Charlotte wrote to her best friend Ellen Nussey and told how she bought a Bonnet of all things —— from ‘Hunt & Hall’s’ on the corner of Boar Lane!

‘The People’s Gallery of Engravings’ Volume I —— was published in 1844 —— I just love how buying this timeworn book has an unforeseen link to the Art World——to one of my favourite artists of the Victorian era John Atkinson Grimshaw——one couldn’t make it up!

Must see —— beautiful YouTube video shared below – a gallery of John Atkinson Grimshaw’s nocturnal world set to Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’. . . 

Thomas Fenteman’s patronage of Atkinson Grimshaw’s earlier works is mentioned in this article about the artist in The Yorkshire Post. https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/serenade-arts-master-yorkshire-moonlight-1839127   

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