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One of our most precious items in Elizabeth Gaskell's House is the Keats poetry book (pictured open, on the left in the photo above) given as a gift, fondly inscribed by William to Elizabeth on December 25th 1854. The book was sold

I have visited Italy several times and of course a highlight is always wonderful food. Usual attempts to recreate memorable meals at home often don’t quite work, but last year, thanks to an Italian friend, I made a discovery that may help

'We are really truly coming to Rome!!!!!!....I don’t believe it. It is a dream! I shall never believe it, and shall have to keep pinching myself!' So wrote Elizabeth Gaskell to her friend Mrs Story in February 1857. Elizabeth did indeed travel

Elizabeth’s plan was to reframe Charlotte Brontë as a proper lady in order to counter the scathing reviews of Jane Eyre by Lady Eastlake, who accused the author of: ‘a total ignorance of the habits of society, a great coarseness of taste,

Once the commission to write the biography of Charlotte Brontë had been accepted, Elizabeth needed to collect information from as many sources as she could. Her first two points of contact were Ellen Nussey, Charlotte’s friend, and George Smith her publisher. George