Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell was a volume of poetry published jointly by the three Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne in 1846 (see 1846 in poetry), and their first work to ever go in print. To evade contemporary prejudice against female writers, the Brontë sisters adopted masculine first names. All three retained the first letter of their first names: Charlotte became "Currer Bell", Anne became "Acton Bell", and Emily became "Ellis Bell". The book was printed by Aylott and Jones, from London. The first edition failed to attract interest, with
Beth Ellis within it. As the "New York Times" wrote of her fourth novel in 1910: "The book is a good one of its kind. But, of course, some censorious reader will inevitably ask: 'Has not its kind been done to death?'" Today Ellis is remembered chiefly for her book on Burma, described by one authority as "one of the funniest travel books ever written." The British and Canadian editions appeared under the name Beth Ellis, the American ones under the name Elizabeth Ellis. Selections of Ellis's work have also appeared in the following anthologies: Beth Ellis Elizabeth Ellis (1874–1913) was a