Page "Brontë family" Paragraph 34

The periodicals that Patrick Brontë read were a mine of information for his children.

The Leeds Intelligencer, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, conservative and well written, but better than the Quarterly Review that defended the same political ideas whilst addressing a less refined readership, ( the reason why Mr Brontë did not read it ); were exploited in every detail, and Blackwood's Magazine in particular, was not only the source of their knowledge of world affairs, but also provided material for the Brontës ' early writing.

For instance, an article in the June, 1826 number of Blackwood ’ s, provides commentary on new discoveries from the exploration of central Africa.

The map included with the article highlights geographical features the Brontës reference in their tales: the Jibbel Kumera ( the Mountains of the Moon ), Ashantee, and the rivers Niger and Calabar.

The author also advises the British to expand into Africa from Fernando Po, where, Christine Alexander notes, the Brontë children locate the Great Glass Town.

Their knowledge of geography was completed by Goldsmith's Grammar of General Geography, which the Brontës owned and heavily annotated.