SOURCE: An introduction to The Letters of Mrs. Gaskell, edited by J. A. V. Chappie and Arthur Pollard, Manchester University Press, 1966, pp. xi-xxix.

In the following introduction to Gaskell's collected letters, Chappie and Pollard discuss the significance of the letters as reflections and commentaries on her experience and writing.

I

'Don't you like reading letters? I do, so much. Not grand formal letters; but such as Mme Mohl's, I mean' (195).¹ Mrs Gaskell knew the fascination of other people's let-ters. Writing to her sister-in-law, Mrs Charles Holland (née Elizabeth Gaskell), she wondered 'if odd bundles of old letters would amuse you in your confinement' (145). She also recognised the importance of letters written by famous people. Her own biography of Charlotte Brontë relies substantially upon its subject's correspondence. It does so, because Mrs Gaskell realised the supreme value of letting Charlotte speak for herself. In this way, she knew...