ABSTRACT
There is probably nothing more interesting to be related in the whole story of Thackeray’s life than the account of his slight acquaintance with Charlotte Brontë, whom he first met about this time. Even before he knew her name or sex he had sent her a copy of Vanity Fair, inscribed With the grateful regard of W. M. Thackeray,’ and he was not a man to send indiscriminately inscribed copies of his works, even to the most famous writers. On the other hand, it has already been told how greatly the lady admired the works of the great novelist, and therefore, when the authoress of Jane Eyre came up to town in 1849, she eagerly accepted the offer of Mr. Smith, her publisher and host, to introduce Thackeray to her.
