The concluding volume of the "Haworth Edition of the Life
and Works of Charlotte 13ronte and her Sisters" (Smith, Elder, and Co., Cs.) contains The Life of Charlotte &ante, by Mrs. Gaskell, furnished with an Introduction and Notes by Mr. Clement K. Shorter. Mr. Shorter has no difficulty in showing that Mrs. Gaskell's book, admirable as it is, wanted annotation. Boswell has been copiously annotated, and Boswell ranks by common consent in the very first class of biographers. The Life of Charlotte Brontli was written more than forty years ago, and appeared two years after her death. A few mistakes were found in it, one or two of them causing some trouble. These were cor- rected in the third edition. But many things can now be said that had then to be omitted, and not a few have been communi- cated from various quarters that add to the interest and com- pleteness of the narrative. Certainly the Life has gained much in interest in Mr. Shorter's hands.
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