The authoritative text reprinted in this volume is the third edition, published in 1848 (the last edition corrected by Charlotte Bronte). The notes to the text pay particular attention to literary and Biblical allusions and to words and phrases not readily available in desk dictionaries. They also include translation of French passages. The backgrounds section of this Norton Critical Edition offers generous samplings of Charlotte Bronte's early writings, letters, and poems. It also included pertinent passages from Mrs. Gaskell's biography as well as a sampling from the children magazine The Children's Friend, demonstrating a particular kind of oppression Jane Eyre suffered.