Transcribed from the 1897 Service & Paton edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org JANE EYRE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY by CHARLOTTE BRONTË ILLUSTRATED BY F. H. TOWNSEND London SERVICE & PATON 5 henrietta street 1897 The Illustrations in this Volume are the copyright of Service & Paton, London TO W. M. THACKERAY, Esq., This Work is respectfully inscribed by THE AUTHOR PREFACE A preface to the first edition of “Jane Eyre” being unnecessary, I gave none: this second edition demands a few words both of acknowledgment and miscellaneous remark. My thanks are due in three quarters. To the Public, for the indulgent ear it has inclined to a plain tale with few pretensions. To the Press, for the fair field its honest suffrage has opened to an obscure aspirant. To my Publishers, for the aid their tac…