Editing Anne Brontë (section)

==Education==
[[File:Anne Bronte.jpg|thumb|Anne Brontë, by [[Charlotte Brontë]], 1834]]
Anne's studies at home included music and drawing. The Keighley church organist gave piano lessons to Anne and Emily and Branwell, and John Bradley of Keighley gave them art lessons. Each drew with some skill.<ref name="Barker 150">Barker, ''The Brontës'', p. 150</ref> Their aunt tried to teach the girls how to run a household, but they inclined more to literature.<ref name="Fraser 45">Fraser, ''The Brontës'', p. 45</ref> They read much from their father's well-stocked library. Their reading included the Bible, [[Homer]], [[Virgil]], [[Shakespeare]], [[John Milton|Milton]], [[Byron]], [[Walter Scott|Scott]], articles from ''[[Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine]]'' and ''[[Fraser's Magazine]]'' and ''The Edinburgh Review'', and books of history and geography and biography.<ref name="Fraser 45-48">Fraser, ''The Brontës'', pp. 45–48</ref>

Their reading fed their imaginations, and their creativity soared after their father gave Branwell a set of toy soldiers in June 1826. They gave names to the soldiers, or the "Twelves",<ref>The soldiers appear in ''[[The Twelve and the Genii]]'', a 1962 children's fantasy novel by [[Pauline Clarke]].</ref> and developed their characters. This led to the creation of an imaginary world: the African kingdom of "[[Angria (fictional country)|Angria]]", which was illustrated with maps and watercolour renderings. The children devised plots about the inhabitants of Angria and its capital city, "Glass Town", later called Verreopolis or Verdopolis.<ref name="Barker 154-155">Barker, ''The Brontës'', pp. 154–155</ref>

Their fantastical worlds and kingdoms gradually acquired characteristics from their historical world, drawing from its sovereigns, armies, heroes, outlaws, fugitives, inns, schools, and publishers. The characters and lands created by the children were given newspapers and magazines and chronicles written in tiny books with writing so small that it was difficult to read without a magnifying glass. These creations and writings were an apprenticeship for their later literary talents.<ref name="Fraser 48-58">Fraser, ''The Brontës'', pp. 48–58</ref>